737 replies to this topic

[That Boy Brandinho]

TheWestwayWonder, on 05 February 2012 - 07:50 PM, said:

All joking aside, that was one of the most gutting results I can remember. Even at 3-0, I felt uneasy, and was just waiting for something to go wrong.

Quite simply, they did to us today what we should have done to them in September.

Edit: this is from someone too young to remember relegation or 1994. This one is Overboesque, or like those European semi defeats with the scousers.

It feels awful to only grab one point when we were up 3-0 (even if the score flattered us), but the fact is that if you had asked me prior to kickoff if I'd be okay with a draw, I'd have said yes. I'm trying to keep that in mind to avoid being too upset given how the game ended. The penalties were definitely soft, though I'd definitely stop short of calling it Ovreboesque.

[Liam]

As soon as we went 3-0 up we dropped so deep it was frightening. Allied to that our midfield stood off them more than I think I've ever seen before. We put absolutely no pressure on the player at all allowing them time to find Rooney. At 3-3 we decided to pressure them again and they looked ordinary. It's disappointing that we surrendered the initiative like we did.

[icecoolguy22]

Not the worst result, but when you are 3 up at home, really should close off the game. Needless to say, another strange sub at the end, which contributed to the lose of 2 points. De Gea is poor with aerial balls, for the second time this season we played to his strength, and never tested his weakest link. Enough Torres bashing, he did a few good things, just didn't believe he had in himself to finish the game off. It's interesting to read somewhere there was no cross on the left for him the whole game, guess who was playing on the left hand side?

[Lane]

icecoolguy22, on 05 February 2012 - 09:55 PM, said:

It's interesting to read somewhere there was no cross on the left for him the whole game, guess who was playing on the left hand side?

ive seen malouda try to find torres a number of times but his passing today was, literally, one of the worst ive ever seen from a chelsea player. i couldnt believe what i was seeing, he couldnt play an accurate ball to save his life

[ozboy]

Well I will have to watch the game again to get a better feel.

Mata: Fantastic game
Essien: As much as could be expected given injuries and lack of match fitness.
Sturridge: A very mixed bag. Not a great team player but capable of winning games.
Cahill: Good game for his first start.

We all think Malouda should have been the one to come off. For mine I'd have made that sub 10 minutes earlier. On the other hand defensively helped out Bossy.

The penalties? There is always an argument.

Disappointed to give up a 3 goal lead of course but actually I think it showed that we are competitive.

Torres: Is there anything else to say? He is a bitter pill because he obviously does still have the pace and the touch but is clearly not in the right mental place in front of goal. At the start of the season we noted how important torres was going to be to where we finished in the league this season. 5 goals from him could still make the difference between 4th and 5th. The test of AVB is not the subs on the pitch its whether he can motivate the players to do what it takes.

Overall the point is important. We have a tough run in and 4th spot will be an achievement. To get to 4th we have to keep out Arsenal and Liverpool both of whom are traditional top four finishers. Lets hope the boys are up for it.

[ozboy]

I should add that De Gea was very athletic for some of those saves. We'd have won the game against most other keepers.

[CFCCAN]

Unfortunately I had to record the game so I am trying not be influenced by the previous posts. At the start of the week I had Chelsea to win, I believed this is just one of those fixtures that gets the players juices flowing and tactics seem to go out the window and the players play on passion and grit. I thought SAF would be playing for penalties as they would attack Luiz and Bosingwa, both liable for providing a bad tackle in the box during the game. I think my thoughts were correct, except it wasn't Luiz and Bosingwa who I thought had a decent game against Valencia.

Utd's movement up front and their transistion game is excellent whereas ours for a majority of the time is slow and the movement through the transition during the first half was virtually non existent, with everyone one of the forwards and attacking midfielders having to come back and fetch the ball or standing still minimizing the passing options for the player with the ball. I've said this time and time again, Torres cannot play with his back towards the goal, he needs the ball on the ground alongside him or ahead of him to run onto; saying that he played well laying the ball off to others, although he was doing that 30 yards from goal..not on the edge of the 18 yard box, although it appears he has morphed into a setting up role than a scoring one. I guess AVB was forced to play Malouda with Frank out, but as everyone has said...he was awful and why he gets selected is beyond anyones understanding and I can only guess he impresses in training. Sturridge is young and hungry and I can forgive him every now and then for making the wrong decisions, but he has been making wrong decisions since game one...we are now 20+ games into the season and he is still making the same bad decisions, so I can understand AVB's decision to pull him off because he wasn't doing the job he was assigned to do.

Yes dubious calls from Webb but we can only blame ourselves for dropping these two valuable points, we clearly are not good enough...yet.

On another note Craig Burley was having a Utd w**k fest in the first half.....he was however very silent when we went 2-0 up and even quieter when the game was 3-0...I even think he was stunned and even for the few minutes that we were likely to win and Burley having to eat crow was probably the best moments of this game...

[The Brit]

didn't deserve to be 3-0 up in the first place and lost the plot completely the moment we gave first pen away...played like individuals not as a team...real frightening insight into life without jt and other experienced players...no-one talked to each other and they just ran about like headless chickens...no idea what formation was and yet all utd players, especially rooney and scholes had all the space in the world...not gutted we drew the game in many ways cos we didn't deserve too...if we finish in top four it will be a miracle

[CFCCAN]

The Brit, on 05 February 2012 - 11:20 PM, said:

didn't deserve to be 3-0 up in the first place and lost the plot completely the moment we gave first pen away...played like individuals not as a team...real frightening insight into life without jt and other experienced players...no-one talked to each other and they just ran about like headless chickens...no idea what formation was and yet all utd players, especially rooney and scholes had all the space in the world...not gutted we drew the game in many ways cos we didn't deserve too...if we finish in top four it will be a miracle

I think the next couple of weeks will determine our fate somewhat, we have Everton away which will be a toughie but we need the three points, the teams around us are all playing each other with each result influencing where we stand in the next coming weeks. A good result tomorrow will be a draw between Spurs and Liverpool and next week a win for Utd over Liverpool will help us. The Spuds also play Newcastle so the Spuds could help us by beating them, but Newcastle are playing well enough to force a draw, again a good result for us....providing...we beat, Everton, Bolton and WBA all winnable games. If we are still 5 or 6 points ahead of Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool by the end of the next three games we have a good chance to secure 4th if we can win the games that ae winnable, throw points away like Wigan, Fulham, Villa etc and things will will be a whole lot different. AVB needs to show us he can actually manage this team over these next couple of weeks.

[erskblue]

Can't believe we were 3-0 up and never took all 3 points.

I admit that I'd have taken a draw before the game.

However it feels like a defeat and a sickening one at that...

[Zola You Beauty]

Why do I feel(and I hate to say this) that Sturridge is taking the role of Drogba very well, selfish and whining all the time.

Edited by Zola You Beauty, 06 February 2012 - 06:54 AM.

[sizzler85]

Gutted at the loss , We cant be a top team with this slow passing and inefficient possession . Lot to learn !

[Damnation]

If he played Romeu instead of Malouda right after the 3-0 lead... it could work out much better. He was just late with it, it was already 3-2 when put him up and instead of the wrong player..

[Mexicanman]

Romeu had a poor game by his standards, usally a player that can keep possession 99% of the time let a few passes run wide of their mark a couple of times. However he is young and being brought into a game as frantic as yesterday, maybe im being harsh on the lad.

Edited by Mexicanman, 06 February 2012 - 08:05 AM.

[mclovin83]

Couldn't face the forum last night and don't feel much better now.
As others have said I would have taken a point before the game but obviously surrendering a 3-0 lead makes it feel like 2 points lost and walking out of Stamford Bridge yesterday felt like we had lost.
Not seen replays and I hear that Webb gave a few decsions our way but from what I saw live he seemed to give them everything. The second penalty was so soft and after the first u just can't give that. But I knew he would.

I am going to try and focus on the positives- Essien is back. Mata is just a joy to watch. We got a point.

Edited by mclovin83, 06 February 2012 - 08:20 AM.

[G4 Squared]

The Brit, on 05 February 2012 - 11:20 PM, said:

...played like individuals not as a team...real frightening insight into life without jt and other experienced players...no-one talked to each other and they just ran about like headless chickens...no idea what formation was

Sad story of most games this season Brit, without JT's on-field leadership we'd probably be in the bottom half.

[rahul]

mclovin83, on 06 February 2012 - 08:07 AM, said:

Couldn't face the forum last night and don't feel much better now.
As others have said I would have taken a pint before the game but obviously surrendering a 3-0 lead makes it feel like 2 points lost and walking out of Stamford Bridge yesterday felt like we had lost.
Not seen replays and I hear that Webb gave a few decsions our way but from what I saw live he seemed to give them everything. The second penalty was so soft and after the first u just can't give that. But I knew he would.

I am going to try and focus on the positives- Essien is back. Mata is just a joy to watch. We got a point.

When Chelsea are playing these days, a mere pint doesnt suffice. I need liters.

[mclovin83]

rahul, on 06 February 2012 - 08:17 AM, said:

When Chelsea are playing these days, a mere pint doesnt suffice. I need liters.

haha, u got there before I could get in and edit my post!

[Castiel]

Gutting result but I don't blame AVB.

Tactically his plan (to me): Play a 4231 with Mata in the hole. Malouda is the only option on left wing. This worked.

Play Bosingwa at LB (Vindicated).

Get a lead and revert to a 433 by taking Essien off at around 60 minutes for Romeu (going by his usual timing).

All of this seemed to go well until Webb stepped in. I usually like Webb doing our games but yesterday he was absolutely atrocious. He missed one free kick outside the box which could have been a good scoring opportunity for them and decided to make it up to them for the rest of the game. To me, Evra conned the ref on the first one. Sturridge was just shielding the cross and you can see him change direction and just barge into him and fall over. The only other option he had was try to cross through Sturridge.

The second one speaks for itself. Usually when you score 3 legitimate goals, and restrict your opposition to 1, you win a game. AVB's tactics were fine for me, except taking Sturridge off when Malouda was so ineffective. Sturridge wasn't doing enough in defence, but Malouda was doing less in everything. It was a while ago but it can be argued that they've had 2 offside goals and 2 soft penalties against us this season. If those had gone differently, City would be running away with the title and we wouldn't be where we are.

All ifs and buts, this is football. Its hard to swallow, but I don't blame AVB. He did almost everything he could do right, and as mentioned the one decision I didn't like had a good reason.

[blizeH]

Agreed with the above that bizarrely we somehow looked more solid with Malouda on rather than Romeu. I rate the latter very highly but it certainly wasn't his best game yesterday.

As undeserving as we were of a 3-0 lead, we were even more undeserving of the three goals that came next. A moment of absolute madness from Sturridge, a moment of predictable gullibility from Webb, followed by a good goal by them that we could have, and should have defended better. Not to mention De Gea having by far the best game he's ever had in a United shirt.