Thoroughly deserved win, should have won by 2 or 3 with a bit of luck, but who really cares. Only someone as thick as Jose or Neville would claim United deserved anything, sure they forced a good save after 85 minutes, but you'd expect them from any other teams in the league. For once we dominated the midfield, and just made everything else looked so easier. The only time we got into trobule was after taking off Cesc, and decided to get back into the shell and stop keeping the ball. Thank god we didn't let one slip, or we will be hearing about Jose's tactical genius until the cow walks back to the barn. Morata is getting stroner, thought he started winning those physical duels in the past 2 games. Christensen justified his selection once more, and Alonso played one of his better games. Lastly, Kante is just amazing considering he had almost a month out, he'd walk into any team in the world right now.

God, how we've missed Kante. We looked a different team yesterday, and to echo what others have said, he's arguably our most vital player.

Lots of positives from yesterday. Christensen was commanding at the back, and the trio of Kante/Bakayoko/Cesc looked our most balanced midfield. If Kante manages to pass over some of his composure to Baka, along with some tips on winning 50/50's, we will have a fine box-to-box midfielder for years to come. Morata's confidence looks back, and the only time Utd could get close to Hazard, they fouled him.

My main concern with this team is consistency. The player's seem to 'up it' when the chips are down, rather than give 100% every single game. Hopefully this is the turning point.

 

 

18 hours ago, 54veteran said:

Was Lukaku even playing? 

He's exactly what i have always suspected him to be, a very limited and basic player who has some natural attributes that alow him to be a flat track bully. I initially thought he would get about 15 goals this season, reason being would be packed deference. He started well but again yesterday, he didn't occupy our defenders. You don't always have to score but sign of a good striker for me is how much are you working the defenders when its not going in the back of the net. Look at Morata, he got in-front of his man so may times, brought other players in to the game, not perfect, some mistakes with passing and finishing but i grantee you that none of the united back 3 enjoyed marking him. 

Lukaku is not in the same league as a Kane, Aguero or Costa. 

but as Mourinho said, the teams were even and he deserved at least a draw...

4 hours ago, BelgradeCFC said:

 

 

14 hours ago, brownindian said:

+ Special shout out to Mourinho for actually playing a positive game and not parking the bus. I was expecting an ugly boring affair. This was 2 teams going for each others juggular.

I think he did. He did a similar approach to the cup game at The Bridge, they pressed us for the first 10 or so minutes before retreating. We however seem to have no problem whatsoever playing vs a Jose bus. I notice we tend to play the ball a lot faster to counter that and get through United's deep line, that was evident both today and in the cup match.

On a side note, is this the first time Jose has lost the same big away game two years on the spin? Even at Real he didn't lose two years in a row at the Camp Nou?

Infact is this the first time he has lost the same fixture (in any competition) three times on the spin?

Edited November 6, 20178 yr by Argo

Emenalo just resigned. I think Conte his definitely winning his battle with the board..

Next step is Roman Firing that Woman. Dont mean to sound sexist but i have no idea what her name is

1 hour ago, mojo said:

 

 

I smiled so big that this. 

55 minutes ago, The Don Antonio said:

Emenalo just resigned. I think Conte his definitely winning his battle with the board..

Next step is Roman Firing that Woman. Dont mean to sound sexist but i have no idea what her name is

Just heard the reason for Emenalo quitting the club was he got fed up being the mediator/buffer between Conte and Marina...   Now i am actually worried for Conte because we all know who wins in a battle of both.. SMH

I wanted to share this great analysis of the match that I found on YouTube - this dude got it right - ok he didn't go into details of the final moments of the match, but for most of the match this guy spells it out

 

21 hours ago, mojo said:

Was that mind games by Mourinho waiting to greet all the players?

11 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Was that mind games by Mourinho waiting to greet all the players?

he's always at it - can't help himself

29 minutes ago, Strider6003 said:

Was that mind games by Mourinho waiting to greet all the players?

He did it when he returned with Inter too, but these bunch don't have the same connection with Jose that Lampard, Drogba etc did so can't see how any attempt to unsettle them would have worked.

A very enjoyable performance, and at no time did I feel that we were going to lose.  I did think at the end they would possibly equalize due to our failure to take chances.

It is amazing the confidence that Kante gives the rest of the team.  If he's playing them it frees up Cesc even more so (as is evident in him getting the MoTM award).  I also thought that this game was one of the more involved i'd seen Bakayoko play, and that can't be a coincidence.

As for the Luiz fiasco, it will be interesting to see what comes of this.  I've seen the post match comments, but i'm unsure what lead to this riff in the first place.

Major pisser: International break killing our momentum 

16 hours ago, mad_mac said:

Major pisser: International break killing our momentum 

Personally, I think we need this break. Gives us a chance to wind down a bit and after the win, media won't be at the club's back as much.

Could also give us a chance to practice the 352

On ?11?/?6?/?2017 at 04:57, coco said:

That header is up there with Osgoods winner in the FA cup, magical when it comes off.

It reminded me of one of the few really good goals that Torres scored for us a few years back, when he scored from a bullet header from about the same spot where Morata was when he scored.  My memory fails me about whom we were playing, but that goal, as well as the second Barca goal, stand out for me as two nice goals by Torres when he was wearing a blue shirt.

1 hour ago, Phillip said:

It reminded me of one of the few really good goals that Torres scored for us a few years back, when he scored from a bullet header from about the same spot where Morata was when he scored.  My memory fails me about whom we were playing, but that goal, as well as the second Barca goal, stand out for me as two nice goals by Torres when he was wearing a blue shirt.

Villa 2012

Nice cross by Dave as well.

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 20178 yr by Scott

Thank you, Scott.  Wow, Torres was even farther away from goal than Morata.  And I forgot that Dave provided the cross for both goals.

6 hours ago, Scott said:

Villa 2012

Nice cross by Dave as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Good goal, but i liked the Morata goal better, it left De Gea stationary.

Still buzzing from this game days after. Considering the pressure Conte was under, considering we have been playing poorly of late, and considering we were coming off the back of a tough game away in Rome where we were well beaten, this performance is even more impressive.

 

A lot of the focus has been on how poorly Utd played and very little of it has been on how well we played. I can seldom remember Chelsea playing so well, this was one of the stand-out performances for me, one of our really great games. I think I would put it in top three performances under Conte, along with Everton last season and Atletico this season. Yes we've had more impressive results but in terms of performance, we've seldom played better.

 

Every single player was on their game, our midfield trio were magnificent, as were Hazard and Alvaro. We were proactive, we went after a strong opponent in a high pressure game, missing chances and having a decent shout for a goal disallowed. It could have affected our confidence but we carried on, looking for the goal, taking the game to them, in a controlled manner, dominating them for large spells. We were clearly superior on the day. Whatever Antonio had said to them worked. We looked like we meant it. We were right on it.

 

Everyone expected us to be vulnerable, to be fragile. I think we gave everyone a shock, including Utd. That's remarkable management in my book, not that we won, but that we played with so much conviction, so much belief.

 

Sky usually focus on their MOTM and do a little montage, showing their best bits. There was none of that in their coverage, no clips of Fabregas or Hazard or Kante or Morata, no mention of Christensen although they did speak about Dave briefly. All their focus was on Utd. I feel like our performance went a little under the radar and Antonio didn't get the credit he deserved, especially given the massive call he made regarding Luiz.

 

Imagine if Utd had won and Matic had overshadowed Bakayoko, a massive deal would have been made of that, or if Lukaku had outshone Morata, imagine how they would have revelled in it. Did Utd buy the wrong guy? If they had first dibs on everybody, as we're continually told, you'd think they'd at least pose that question. Not a word.

 

It was an outstanding performance, a massive result and it really puts our season back on track. Call me mad but I think we can still win the title. I think we've got a great manager, who's had to iron out some problems but it looks like, with this performance, the message may have finally got through to the players, and he may have found a way to make 352 work, a formation which, when played this way, with Bakayoko bombing forward, seems to get the best out of Fabregas. Early days but we will see. What I do know is City haven't come under pressure yet, wait till they drop points, see how they cope. Maybe wishful thinking on my part but there's a long way to go still and we have the experience of last season to draw on, whereas for most of them it's new territory. If we can apply pressure, if we can hang in there, I reckon it could still be interesting.

 

That performance has given me a lot of cause for optimism.

 

Obviously we need Morata to stay fit. My hope for January is that we sign a striker because I don't think Conte trusts Michy, and that we sign a LWB who can compete with Alonso for the spot. Alonso is the weak link in this team for me. I may be in a minority but I don't think he's good enough. I think we're now finding out his true level and it's a notch below last season's. We need more pace on that flank, more aggression and more quality. I would go in hard for Luke Shaw this winter, who is completely out of favour at Utd and will seemingly never win his manager's trust. If not him someone else but I would make LWB a priority.

 

Last thought, I thought Bakayoko played really well, full of energy, but he lacked a bit of quality in the final third, which is fair enough, because he isn't accustomed to bombing forward. If we're going to persist with this formation however and a midfield trio, it may be a role Loftus-Cheek is perfectly suited for. I imagine he was watching the game on his telly at home and I imagine the thought may have crossed his mind.

On 11/6/2017 at 10:39, Argo said:

I think he did. He did a similar approach to the cup game at The Bridge, they pressed us for the first 10 or so minutes before retreating. We however seem to have no problem whatsoever playing vs a Jose bus. I notice we tend to play the ball a lot faster to counter that and get through United's deep line, that was evident both today and in the cup match.

I think he did so because of our recent troubles. He got the impression that they could beat us if they went for it, and that turned out to be a blessing in disguise for us. We may have struggled more against a parked bus. 

On ?06?/?11?/?2017 at 13:41, RIP Mourinho said:

but as Mourinho said, the teams were even and he deserved at least a draw...

No way did Man Utd deserve anything out the game. Should have been 3 nil. Also how dirty were they? Lucky they left field with 11 men.