Becks

Difficult to name man of the match. Azpilicueta won the ball so many times, Cahill and Terry cleared every cross that came in the box, Willian was also very good. Great team performance overall, could've won the game if the finishing was better but still a good result.

Thanks for the comments guys, glad you enjoyed the article. Will try to post more often.

I think it would be better for Bamford's development to play regularly at this stage of his career. A loan season at a PL club and then evaluate his squad status in Chelsea. Would like to see Dybala as our second striker but only at a reasonable price which seems unlikely at the moment.

Both teams were missing key players for this match and it was interesting to see how the two managers would replace them. Chelsea were without two of their strikers in the likes of Diego Costa and Loic Remy which meant that Jose Mourinho had no other choice but to play Didier Drogba. Willian was ill and this meant Oscar starting on the right wing. United had more problems and had to deal with the absences of Michael Carrick, Daley Blind, Marcos Rojo and Phil Jones. Some of those players were key to United's recent rise and Louis van Gaal would've certainly preferred them to be fit for this clash. The Dutch manager chose to drop Wayne Rooney in midfield and replace him with Falcao while the changes in defense were obvious. Luke Shaw is better offensively than Blind and caused the Blues many problems with his forward runs. The match began with dominance from United and a couple of problems with Chelsea's approach became clear. There was too much space for United's centre-back to dribble through the middle and seeing that the hosts were defending deeply there was a gap between the striker and the midfield. This was partially caused by the lack of efficient pressing from Drogba and Fabregas who were easily bypassed by United's passing. Herrera dropped back deep to get the ball which meant United had an extra man to help them build from the back, but the striker and attacking midfielder were focused on marking him which left space for the central defenders. In the fourth minute, United probably had their best chance in the game. While Fellaini was engaging Zouma and Ivanovic was more focused on Ashley Young, Oscar didn't track back and left Luke Shaw unmarked, who, thanks to his pace, outran Ivanovic and found the unmarked Wayne Rooney outside of the penalty area. Zouma and Matic can be faulted because they weren't aware of Rooney's position and couldn't stop the shot. Chelsea were lucky that the English striker couldn't find the target or the game could've played out differently. United's centre-back Paddy McNair often stormed forward and tried to catch Courtois by surprise with long shots, but the Belgium goalkeeper was aware of the danger and managed to keep them out. After the first twenty minutes Chelsea started to look for counter-attacks and were unlucky on a couple of occasions. Eden Hazard was the man who had to create upfront and United often left him one on one against Valencia. Fabregas was also trying to be more direct and made a couple of runs at the opposition's defense. Chelsea managed to neutralize Falcao for most of the match by marking him tightly and not allowing him much time on the ball. That played a role in Chelsea's goal as John Terry won the ball off the Colombian striker and that started the attack in which Hazard made a great run off the ball through the center of the pitch. That caught Ander Herrera off guard and he couldn't follow him quickly enough which ultimately lead to the goal. United's defense was high up the pitch and if Chelsea had a faster striker than Drogba that could've caused them much more problems. In the situation where Matic intercepted a pass and played Didier through, the Chelsea striker should've done better, but he isn't young anymore and doesn't possess the same pace as he did a couple of seasons back. Mata was completely taken out of the game because Azpilicueta marked him tight and didn't allow him any time on the ball. The Spanish maestro was invisible for most of the game and was reasonably substituted. Most of Chelsea's problems came from the left side where Manchester tried to overload the zone with Young, Fellaini and Shaw. The English full-back often overlapped Young and Ivanovic had a hard time against him. That's why Mourinho brought on Ramires on the right side and shut down the zone. Falcao was frustrated most of the game and didn't have the space he needs to pose a threat. He tried finding the space between Cahill and Ivanovic which lead to Zouma making a mistake but luckily United's number 9 blasted the ball into the post. Jose Mourinho's experiment with Kurt Zouma in midfield was once again successful and the Frenchman countered Fellaini's aerial influence. Chelsea's boss gave United the attack and relied on counter-attacks like he has done many times in the big games. He played not to lose, had a little bit of fortune and won, so shouldn't be faulted for his approach. Constructive criticism is always appreciated. If you enjoyed this article make sure to follow me on Twitter where are post links to my other work.

United will look much weaker without Carrick, Blind and Jones. Expect a nervy game with maybe a set-piece goal deciding it in our favor. I just hope Remy plays and we make use of the space behind their defensive line because that won't happen with Drogba.

It would be terrible if both Fabregas and Matic were suspended against United and Arsenal, but it would be even worse if we lost points here. There will be nerves, hope these two don't give into the pressure and get a stupid booking.

I wonder if Jose will try playing Azpilicueta/Luis in midfield in something like a 4-3-3 like he did against Atletico at home. Just don't see how we'll start with Ramires and Fabregas in the pivot unless Jose wants to go all in and press them high most of the game which seems unlikely. Very interesting to see what the line-up will be.

They tried to take the pressure of themselves by reducing the suspension but only to two games which still affects us hugely.

Zouma, Luis and Cuadrado need to start imo. If we have a comfortable lead maybe sub off Cesc and Eden 20 minutes before the end. Costa needs minutes to get back into match fitness, so probably full 90min. for him would be best.

Wrote a short preview before the match, you can check it out here. Anyways very excited the CL is back, hope we can progress. PSG shouldn't be underestimated but I think if the lads give it their best and stay concentrated then we shouldn't have many problems. Interesting to see what line-up will Jose choose...

I try to schedule most stuff when Chelsea aren't playing. Though I was the only one who was this weird. If there's nothing extraordinary stopping me then I'm watching the game.

Amazing game for him. Nobody expected Willian to score the deciding goals but he clearly started taking more responsibility.

The players showed great character today. Very important 3 points!

Well, it looks like a suspension is unavoidable. The question is for how many games...

Great match from Tibo once again. Zouma was a little shaky at the start but from then on he was like a rock. We clearly played better with Ramires in midfield, the question is why didn't he start. Hazard tore them apart! We're going to Wembley!