Manchester United and Chelsea drew blanks last night in a much anticipated game but both sides defended well and struggled to create any clear cut chances. And for some Chelsea fans, the game and result was pretty much a disappointment to them. Picking up a draw at the home of the Premier League Champions is not exactly a bad result. There have been some criticisms of Mourinho’s game plan in the game but personally, I do not think there was anything wrong. Defending deep, allowing Manchester United to dominate possession and hitting them on the break was the perfect game plan. There was no reason to go all-out attack with a young and inexperienced side consisting of players still developing together against a rather more experienced Manchester United. David Moyes’s side did not entirely have majority of the possession as it was 55%-45% to them but in recent games, those stats have been in favour of the Chelsea. By sitting deep, Chelsea did exactly what Manchester United would not have wanted. If there is anything United love doing, it is flying forward and utilize their pace to catch opponents out on the counter. Their wingers and full backs will maraud forward looking to score in counter attacks whenever they are given the chances to do so. As a result of Chelsea’s approach, Moyes’ side were forced to play differently and struggled. The absence of a creative player in United’s midfield was exposed as they found it difficult to create many chances when in possession and this is also indicates the idiocy of Chelsea if they allow Mata to leave for United to strengthen them. Had Chelsea approached with an attacking game plan, United would have fended off Chelsea’s attack and will be looking to hit them on counter attacks especially when the Blues backline is not the most solid for such match. Let’s look at the heat map above. We can clearly see that Man United struggled to get the ball into goal scoring positions as they mostly had in positions that were not threatening. The shape which Mourinho deployed made it tough for United to break his side down and this approach resulted in majority of United’s goal attempts coming from distance with only 1 of them actually coming from inside the penalty box. So why is Mourinho receiving so much criticism despite getting a good result? Apparently, some fans thought their Monday night entertainment is more important than Chelsea getting a result at Old Trafford. Do you want to see Chelsea going all gung-ho and only to then watch United pick us on the break? Would you rather see Van Persie celebrating with a knee slide and arms stretched in pride or see Van Persie looking quiet upfront? Furthermore, Mourinho should also receive praise for recognizing the threat of Michael Carrick. Oscar marked him tightly throughout the game in a similar fashion to what he did against Andrea Pirlo of Juventus in the Champions League last season. Carrick usually sits in the midfield and plays important passes to his teammates in the offensive third as he boasts a passing accuracy of 88% with 75.1% of his passes being played forward. He also amassed 2, 394 passes in the Premier League last season with 202 of them being long passes as well as playing 33 key passes and having 4 assists. Some pretty impressive stats and not even mentioning his defensive contributions. The use of Ivanovic at right back was also useful especially at defending set pieces given Manchester United scored the most goals from set pieces in the Premier League last season with 26 and then followed by Chelsea with 24. The full table may be seen here. Moreover, Man United are famously known for putting in loads of crosses into the box given they play with wingers and so, having an extra aerial presence at the back post or basically just another figure to head them away is useful. And when it comes to heading, you would not find many better than Branislav Ivanovic. Here are Manchester United’s crossing stats: So Mourinho had the perfect game plan. He would make it difficult for United to score and try to nick a goal on the break. That is why he played Schurrle because his pace is useful for such approach. The manager explained as much as before the match about wanting ‘mobility’ by playing Hazard, Schurrle, De Bruyne and Oscar indicating that he wants to exploit that weakness in United’s backline. Mourinho had hoped he might get a goal or two from counter attacks but obviously did not due to the sloppy passes played and his side left Old Trafford with a 0-0 draw that reasonably alright for him. It seems senseless of some fans would dare to say a word against Mourinho after what was a brilliant tactical display by the Portuguese manager. Some have often said to win a title, you have to win these games. I beg to differ. You win a title by winning the games you are meant to win. Manchester United won the Premier League last season despite losing to closest rivals Manchester City and Chelsea. In the infamous 2004/05 season in which Chelsea won the Premier League and broke several records - fewest goals against in a Premier League season (15), most clean sheets kept in a season (25), most wins in a season (29), most consecutive away wins (9), and the most points in a season (95) – Chelsea drew both of their games against Arsenal who were the champions the season before but still went on to win the title by a staggering 12 points. The Blues got a point at the home of the champions and people are still complaining. Mourinho did not want a goal fest and made sure he got it. In recent years, all of Chelsea major games have been filled with goals with usually 4-6 goals but as Gary Neville said, last night’s game showed the big games used to be tight with few chances created and you have to capitalize on the those few chances that one gets. *Stats and Action Heat Map & Goal Attempts graphics obtained from Squawka* Click here to view article
