Chelsea Shows Far Too Much Respect to the Big Four

By Ed Fernandez
10 years Ago

Manchester United are an incredibly weak team. Their players know it. Their manager Louis van Gaal knows it. The assistant coaching staff knows it. Their medical personnel know it. The VIPs in the box know it. Every fan watching the game knows it. Every pundit worth his salt, yours truly included, knows it too.

But apparently, the only people this most obvious of facts eluded, were the 11 who took the field in Chelsea kits. In what should have been a game as lopsided as the best of them, Chelsea’s starting XI were rocked back on their back foot by a Manchester United side intent on dominating the midfield.

Despite the likes of Fabregas and Oscar in the middle, it was Marouane Fellaini who ruled the roost – comfortably tucking Fabregas in his back pocket. Until the corner that Didier Drogba scored off of, Fabregas went missing for the whole game except when he plays a bit-part role in the neat little 1-2s Eden Hazard dragged him into. Chelsea sorely missed Diego Costa’s perennial threat up-front.

Willian was so besotted with the idea of seeing his name on the score-sheet, that he took every chance he got when faced with just the slightest glimpse of goal – when the sensible thing would have been to look for a teammate in a better position. Willian played the game as though his team were minnows desperately searching for an equalizer, when what was needed the calmness and resolve that comes with knowing your team have a solitary goal lead.

Didier Drogba may be applauding himself for his heroics, but his spirit can no longer mask those aging legs. Once a dominant presence on the field, Didier was more often than not the point that slowed down Chelsea’s attack. As Hazard excelled, Drogba huffed and puffed failing to reach the stratospheric levels he once called home.

Chelsea’s defenders were once again imperious and despite Manchester United’s penchant for headlocks on John Terry and Cahill, it took an incredibly rueful decision from Phil Dowd to swing the ending in United’s favor. With the softest of fouls on Angel di Maria, Ivanovic was sent packing off into the tunnel. To put this in context, Phil Dowd dished out 8 yellow cards and 1 red in a game that was cagey at best, and lacked any sort of punch for the most part.

Whether Phil Dowd was sent here under explicit instructions to wreck the United-Chelsea game to keep the Blues from extending their lead on the top of the table to 8 points over Manchester City, or to keep United from plunging closer to the relegation zone, is unclear. But what is surprising is how someone seen as one of the more experienced heads in the game tasked with ensuring minimum nuisance during the encounter, could make himself an utter bother to everyone within his blast radius by losing his head while every player around him collectively maintained their own.

For Jose Mourinho to walk up to Louis Van Gaal and offer his congratulations for the unlikeliest of Manchester United wins, must have been incredibly chastening. But his decision to bring on the fresh Kurt Zouma and John Obi Mikel at the very end, and task them with influencing a game they had been spectators of for all of regulation time, was questionable to say the least. This isn’t a matter of pretending Obi Mikel would have made much of a difference even if he had come on earlier. The Nigerian has not been decisive in a game ever since he got red-carded in a clash with Manchester United under Avram Grant’s watchful eyes.

The biggest loser of the day, though, would have to be Juan Mata – whose once domineering presence on the field has now been reduced to a sideshow. Like the Wizard of Oz, the curtains have been pulled back to reveal a minnow of a player incapable anymore of being the defining influence in a game. The stage was all set for Mata to make Big, Bad Jose Mourinho – the man who had sullied his Chelsea career – rue the decision to send him packing to any team that would have him.

Instead Mata proceeded to certify Mourinho’s genius as a footballing god, by not only being terrible at defense as is his wont, but by also contributing so little to the game in terms of attack that you could be forgiven for thinking he was absent on the field and was quarantined a million miles away with some talentless version of Ebola.

Chelsea’s inability to kill the game against a big side this season, is a real problem. Fortunately, for them, Manchester City lost 2-1 to West Ham and seem to be afflicted by the same hex that saw Chelsea crash routinely to smaller sides. Chelsea may very well do just enough to coast to another Premier League title, but this is a team that treats its erstwhile Big 4 rivals with the respect they may no longer deserve.

Categories: Chelsea FC, English Premier League, Features
Tags: Chelsea FC Drogba Manchester United

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