Manchester United-Chelsea: Spry Blues Overcome Sir Alex's Geriatrics

Is it easier to rejuvenate an aging squad with new talent, or to dismantle and build anew?

That is a question Sir Alex Ferguson must be pondering after losing 2-1 to a significantly better Chelsea side.

Joe Cole initiated the scoring in the 20th minute with a deft touch after a threatening run from Flourent Malouda who, on the balance, was my vote for man of the match. 

Didier Drogba was blatantly offside when putting the Blues two up in the 79th minute. Say what you want about the officiating, but missed calls are a fact of the game, and Drogba made no mistakes after coming on for Nicholas Anelka.

Federico Macheda pulled the champions back into the game in the 81st. He didn't know too much about the goal, but his movement was significantly better than that of Park Ji-Sung, whom he replaced.

Chelsea's victory was deserved. This game was won in the midfield. In a game where Man U fielded Neville, Scholes , and Giggs, their geriatric side did not cover enough ground. Darren Fletcher was in the center of the midfield, and he was quite isolated—never a good side.

You would think that the big story from the game would be Berbatov not being able to fill Rooney's shoes. While there is certainly a case to be made for that argument, this game did not provide too much evidence. He had two or three half chances, but the midfield was primarily culpable for their lack of service.

The often-spouted rationale for keeping veteran players like Scholes and Neville are for big games like this. Their experience will prevent them from making costly mental errors—so they say.

Manchester United's problems were not mental, they were physical. Neville, who turned 35 in February, looked like garbage when going against Malouda. Scholes looked his typical mediocre self while picking up his token yellow card for a poor tackle. I continue to be baffled how this man starts over Darron Gibson.

Their side is ailing and they continue to be too one dimensional. Sir Alex has dismantled sides before, and I think that he would be smart to have a busy transfer season. There is no easy cure, but something should be done.

Perhaps it was the Champions League game in the middle of the week, but Manchester United were second best today. I expect that that will be reaffirmed by the table at the end of the season.