Man Utd 3-1 Chelsea

[chelsea_4_eva 1,182]

check out fergie... at it again... doesn't he have match touchline bans to worry about....

on about ashley tackle on hernandez -> http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11668_7187426,00.html

[Tomo 21,751]

Funny that there has been more optimism in after this game than any we have won

[teignman 441]

Funny that there has been more optimism in after this game than any we have won

I agree. I am surprised at myself as I am not terribly fussed about this match. We played much better than the scoreline. We were just rather unlucky, and that luck will turn sooner than later especially if we keep playing well. For now, let's take our frustrations out on the Cottagers and Swans.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Re: Lukaku - this is the only thing I can moan about today in terms of our performance/AVB's decisions. The occasion was far too big for just his second Chelsea appearance, bringing on Malouda would have been a better choice. Lukaku just needs games, I am excited to see what he will do from a starting position on Wednesday!

[Tomo 21,751]

Re: Lukaku - this is the only thing I can moan about today in terms of our performance/AVB's decisions. The occasion was far too big for just his second Chelsea appearance, bringing on Malouda would have been a better choice. Lukaku just needs games, I am excited to see what he will do from a starting position on Wednesday!

Bit off topic but how did i do on TC twitter yesterday?

I hope i did okayish for the first go

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Yeah it was fine mate thanks

[Madmax 9,219]

:541: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1oO92cKLms

[francozola 2,040]

The stat for penalty conversions this season is ridiculous! The commentators didn't mention it but anyone know what it is after the granny shaggers miss yesterday?

Edited September 19, 2011 by francozola

[eldo 868]

Second?

[Madmax 9,219]

The stat for penalty conversions this season is ridiculous! The commentators didn't mention it but anyone know what it is after the granny shaggers miss yesterday?

Before this weekend, 9 out of 15 had been missed. That's 60%.

[steve5221 91]

This is my first post regarding the game - I would imagine that alot of what I am going to say has been disccused by now - but I think the following points are relevant for the remainder of the season.

1. AVB is the man - he is the only manager we have had in the Ambramovich era that is capable of delivering the type of football Roman wants. Indeed I have been watching Chelsea for 25 years and I cant remember a manager who plays as attacking as him. We will lose games this season but we will win alot and we will be thoroughly entertained along the way.

2. AVB must be gven 3 years - can you imagine what our team we be like is he is given money and allowed to buy the players he wants. If we stick with him for that amount of time our squad could rival Barca's.

3. Lampard is gone - I am not baseing this on one game and he is not a bad player but he simply is to slow to fit into our new style of football. His midfield position means that Mierlies is being wasted further back. He wont even be able to play holding midfield due to his lack of pace, he is however still 100% committed and strong on the tackle.

4. Our whole season depends on Mata - we should pick and chose this boys games wisely because our success this yr purely depends on him. When he plays just off the striker he is amazing. The problem is we have no other like him.

5. Lakuka will be a bad buy for us - harsh compared to his game time but all his attributes and strengths are not based on our new style of football. If we are gonna mix our style up dependant on personnel then fine but this signing does not make sense to me(I think it was a Roman buy).

6. Torres is back - yes he missed one of the sitters of all time but he created that chance by rounding the keeper. once he got his goal his confidence rose and he was back to beating defenders and getting shots off. I think if Mata stays fit he will score alot of goals this year.

Anyone agree/disagree with the above??

[EskWeston 696]

What a cracking game that was, we fought like champions in this game and were it not for a few things not going our way (2 offside goals, Ramires and Torres missing clear chances) we could have easily drawn or won that game. As AVB has said before this game, you can prepare as much as you like but there are always the things that happen you cannot predict. Had this game been 2 months down the line i think we could have edged it even more. Some brilliant football was played and some great performances, Torres looked sharp and lively even with the miss, his goal was exceptionally well taken. Ramires is becomming a key player for us in my opinion such energy. Meireles is looking at home and offers something new to the holding role. Mata is one hell of a signing, just what we have been needing.

The signs are good, AVB is going to create something special at Chelsea, i can feel it, it may not all come together this season but it will. Was interesting to see how well we played without Lampard, to take on the Mancs without Lamps even a year ago would have been unthinkable but we did. Defeat, but with some huge plus points.

[manco 38]

Can you remind me who's from the delivery for Torres' second goal... ?

One good pass doesn't cancel out all the stupid things he did, such as the first miss where he stole a goal from

Sturridge and of course the fail to play a one-two from a corner. He has a few good moments but you can just

see that he's lacking "match intelligence".

And apart from that it's really sad the Torres scores and despite that misses 2 other easy ones, the last one

prob. the worst miss ever

[Badboy 1,526]

Come on peeps we can only take positives from this performance !

[DavidEU 2,023]

Come on peeps we can only take positives from this performance !

Only? No.

There's ALOT of work to be done. And a lot of it is basics.

There's no excusing leaving Smalling and Evans COMPLETELY unmarked from a free kick, whatever the circumstances. This is Man Utd at Old Trafford, do that and you get punished.

Not going to harp on about it, but £68m of talent was responsible for missing two open goals yesterday. Goals that, could have won us this match.

Frank was poor, Mikel was poor when he came on. And a lot of Bosingwa's positioning throughout the game was school boy.

The thing that angers me is that we played so well, we finally found that space for Fernando, Mata and Meireles were superb, and we created enough chances to win the game. If we miss out on the title by one or two points this year though, the mistakes in this are what I'll remember.

[i.am.blue 61]

the difference in the chelsea team when lampard doesn't play is immense

[1chelsea 864]

it time i say what i had in mind

AVB had good team selection and he is moding torres mind to get his spark on.

Good goal he got gave him confidence and am lookin forward to more. The miss is some of those that happen but he is pickin himself up after some scum make use of how his is wortless and so many haed line made from paid writter and journos.

Mata also made an exellent spreadin of the ball it what all chelsea fan hoped for long, now if we stay in shape to the next transfer and get another winger or a creative midfielder then chelsea will be a team to watch.

Love you all who made your comment to encourage our and making us praud of the as things is soon to change as i love u all no humo

[eldo 868]

When someone is offside it's normal that he has more space. Lino should do his job there.

[Guest justin_3d]

Don't miss the point

Chris Kamara's Premier League talking points

Chris Kamara Posted 19th September 2011 view comments

Every Saturday afternoon, Chris Kamara heads to stadiums up and down the country to deliver his unique match reports for Soccer Saturday.

On Sundays you can see him back in the Sky Sports studios as he brings you all of the highlights on Goals on Sunday.

And then on Mondays you can find Kammy right here on skysports.com as he brings you his views on the weekend. Join us every week as he runs through his highs and lows...

Forget that miss... Fernando Torres is back

Torres: Kammy says the spark is on the way back

I had doubts about Fernando Torres after watching him in Europe in midweek. He was searching for his form and seemed pleased just to provide a couple of assists. But on Sunday we saw the Torres of old and that's the first time we've seen that in a Chelsea shirt. Never mind that miss; lots of strikers miss opportunities, he got himself in the position and that's something he hasn't done much lately. He walked past the goalkeeper as if he wasn't there and even though he missed the target, his performance told me that Chelsea will now start to see the player that Liverpool had.

Of course, that miss will be a bit of infamy for him and when he hangs up his boots I'm sure he'll look back on it and giggle. He won't laugh about it right now, and I'm sure his team-mates won't let him forget it in training, but overall I think he's back to his best.

They may have lost, but Chelsea played very well

You'd have to say that, as a team, Chelsea are back as well. Sunday's match was a Premier League classic, an incredible game, and I thought the away team did very well. They probably couldn't believe they were 3-0 down at half-time, but United were clinical and put away most of the chances they had in the opening 45 minutes. Nani's goal, in particular, was something special.

[Guest justin_3d]

Cole knew exactly what he was doing

By: Paul Parker

Sir Alex Ferguson had every right to be furious with Ashley Cole's challenge on Javier Hernandez on Sunday. As far as I am concerned the Chelsea left-back knew exactly what he was doing when he steamed into the striker at Old Trafford.

With Chelsea 3-1 down, Cole had given up the ghost. He was thinking 'Hernandez is going to score this' and just went for the man. He should have been sent off, not just given a yellow card. There is no excuse.

I found it incredible that Cole then had the gall to moan about the yellow card. I was astounded. The man was just born to snarl all the time, born to scrunch his face up. He moans about every decision but he should have been dismissed at Old Trafford. As Sir Alex said, dangerous challenges are part of Cole's game because he is indisciplined in everything he does. He can be reckless when things are not going his way; we saw that at Arsenal and we have seen even more evidence of it at Chelsea.

Villas-Boas suggested that the tackle was borne of frustration but he does it all the time so he must spend his life frustrated. There is no excuse for what he did. He jumped at the man - you could tell that much by how high his boot was when he made contact with Chicharito's shin.

There is too much petulance in Cole's game. It was a nasty tackle and initially when I saw the incident in slow motion I had to look away as I thought he had definitely broken Hernandez's leg. Thankfully he didn't, and I just hope it is heavy bruising at the most.

Should it have been a penalty? I think the linesman called it right as the ball just crossed the line before contact was made. Credit to the official, he made the right call, but Phil Dowd's response should have been to send Cole off and I think he may get a slap on the wrist from the Football Association for failing to deal with the incident properly.

Despite the victory, United had their poorest performance of the season so far. To borrow a phrase from Ferguson, they were very careless. They gave the ball away too frequently and I think they missed the presence of young Tom Cleverley in midfield. Despite the extra energy of Darren Fletcher, Cleverley doesn't cede possession - and in his absence Chelsea were able to hit them on the counter-attack, especially in the second half.

Andre Villas-Boas was very bold at half-time as he removed Frank Lampard, brought on Nicolas Anelka and got Juan Mata operating in a more central role. Lampard was a real problem for Chelsea in the first half as he wasn't in the match. He hasn't been at the top of his game for a long time for his club or his country and while it was a big decision for Villas-Boas to take to remove one of Chelsea's modern greats, it certainly benefited the side.

Chelsea looked a far better team when Anelka came on and he quickly set up Fernando Torres for a lovely goal. They had much more energy and were more potent in attack, and they moved the ball quicker, which of course is something that Torres has publicly stated he wants them to do. Prior to Lampard's removal they were too slow in possession.

Torres certainly looked a much better player, his horrendous miss aside, and his goal was a thing of beauty as he lifted the ball over David de Gea. Chelsea must be happy that Torres showed what a good player he can be if he is given the right service and if he plays with the right personnel. I think Torres can only improve now, especially if Villas-Boas is brave with how he evolves his team and gets them playing how he wants. That is not the Jose Mourinho way, but the quick, attractive style that accompanied his four trophy wins at Porto last season.

I think that may well entail dropping Lampard and possibly bringing Mata into the centre of the pitch, as Villas-Boas needs players who can run with the ball at their feet and play a quick passing game. Lampard is not that kind of player. If he doesn't score a goal you don't know he is there, and Chelsea, and Villas-Boas, need more than that if they are to challenge Manchester United.

Lampard has won trophies and scored goals by the bucketload, but he is 33 now and sentiment does not win you trophies. I think Villas-Boas has a very big decision to make when he picks his next team.

The scoreline very much flattered United. Chris Smalling and Nani appeared to be offside for the first two goals and Chelsea created plenty of chances; however, we must remember that had Wayne Rooney not emulated John Terry's Moscow penalty then United could have won by a bigger margin.

Ultimately I think United got through the game and secured the result thanks to the speed with which they have gelled as a team and as a unit this season. Their continuity has been a real asset in the early stages.

------------------

I see a lot of people criticize Paul Parker, but almost all his articles i read are very well thought out.

Of course there is sometimes when he goes one sided towards United as he was a player from United, but overall his analysis are far better then some of the older people in the media!

As i said, i like more and more younger writers, cause they tell you the truth like it's suppose to be told!

Edited September 19, 2011 by justin_3d