Is it just me or was Chelsea’s defense unusually sloppy. For his goal, Ji Sung Park was left completely unmarked to score from a rebound Petr Cech unusually let loose. For now, I’d put this down to Carvalho being injured and subsequently replaced during the match. But it was just unusual to see the lack of organisation.
On the other hand Man United, despite missing one half of the Vidic-Ferdinand partnership, gave a strong defensive display. Special mention must go to Rio Ferdinand, who submitted a simply monstrous performance in defense. I admit that I used to have doubts about Rio. All I used to see was an error prone defender, someone more interested in joking about than being a leader. But he has been a revelation over the past couple seasons. And, for me, he has now overtaken Terry as England’s best defender.
Despite Rio’s defensive ability, I expected more from Nicolas Anelka, Chelsea’s leading striker on the day. On Sunday, he looked like a man playing with fear. At many clubs he’s shown the ability of a top striker. However, missing the several good half-chances that he had, in an important match like this, is exactly the difference between a great striker and a good striker. This would worry me if I was Scolari. In the crucial matches during the latter stages of the Champions League I don’t think he’ll be able to make the difference.
Finally, I liked Scolari's respect of the officials. The week was tarnished with a number of refereeing blunders. So it was admirable to see a manager showing some common sense and seeing the bigger picture. On not receiving a penalty during the match Scolari wisely replied, “It’s over now. He (the referee) made a decision, it cannot be changed, we will accept it.”
How refreshing.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Manchester United articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
0 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete