Man United vs. Chelsea: Red Devils' Dominance Not Good Enough for Ferguson

Manchester United has spent their early Premier League season steamrolling opponents. That domination continued in the first half against Chelsea. The Red Devils scored three goals in the first half and didn't surrender any.

They were not as sharp in the second half. They missed several opportunities and gave up more to Chelsea; however, they still won in convincing 3-1 fashion. And considering this match came against the squad that figures to be their toughest competition for the EPL crown, you think the end of the match would find nothing but smiles on the Red Devils.

Not so fast.

Sir Alex Ferguson does not like even the slightest signs of vulnerability, and that is what he saw in the second half.

Here is Ferguson after the match, as quoted on guardian.co.uk:

"

For the neutrals it was fantastic and open. Some of our football was terrific, but we were so careless we could have thrown it away. We did OK when we got the ball to Nani and Ashley Young [in the wide positions], but when we tried to be clever in the middle of the field we kept botching it up and Chelsea kept counter-attacking.

"

Ferguson wants these guys playing straight ahead and aggressive football. "[We were] making things hard for ourselves by giving the ball away so many times in attacking areas."

Ferguson let it be known that no player is free from criticism. He even took the spectacular Wayne Rooney to task.

Ferguson, from the above linked article, blamed Rooney for "a terrible pass, a really bad pass."

Ferguson has to do what he can to keep these guys sharp. He saw them playing below their standard of excellence, and he called them out for it. That is good coaching. He can leave the marveling at Man U's greatness to the rest of us.