Chelsea vs Manchester United

[chelseablue 2]

we lose due to our own striker did not take their own chance..

[Madmax 9,219]

Okay, thoughts

1. First of all, I'm not too disappointed with the performance. It was a good run-out for the players. We certainly deserved to draw the game and with better finishing and better luck, would have done so.

2. Our defensive line was poor. We tried to play a high line but with slow defenders like Terry and Ivan in the middle, it was too easy for United to run in behind. There was no organisation at the back and the players seemed to lack a bit of agility and weren't synchronized and decisive in their actions.

3. We were also very narrow at the back, especially on the left where Cole was tucked inside too much. United always found a ready outlet on their right in the shape of Valencia and their first two goals were down to the frailties mentioned above.

4. The passing was a bit off today, especially in the first half and there were too many heavy passes, but that can be put down to the players still not being fully fit and lacking match practice.

5. Carlo got it wrong by not taking Kalou and Anelka off at HT.

6. Our game improved greatly in the second half, the players played with more freedom, purpose and conviction. The passing got much better but the defence was still quite worrying.

7. I really liked our fluidity and movement up front. United spent much of the second half defending deep and clearly on the backfoot. Good interplay between Malouda, Drogba, Sturridge, Kalou.

8. Essien was really impressive in the DM role. He got caught up the field once or twice but that is understandable given we were really pressing for goals. His vision and passing seemed to hit a whole new level once he was put there.

9. I think we lacked a creative spark in midfield. We kept the majority of the possession throughout the game, but didn't really have anyone to change the game with a moment of magic when United sat deep with 2 banks of 5.

10. Overall, an okay performance marred by a lack of clinical finishing and clumsy defending.

[chelseablue 2]

yes..we did lose to man u..but i still have confidence in our team..because when sturridge,Drogba,benayoun was brought in.we play well.only lack of the finishing..the defence maybe shaky.but i am sure we will improve on that..i think we can win west brom by few goals if we put sturridge,Drogba and benayoun..

[Steve 10,227]

I am happy with what I saw at times, but we just lacked a bit in the creativity side. We pretty much tried to do the same thing over and over again, going down the wing and crossing it which resulted in over hit crosses or corners that went straight to the keeper. I am happy because we went out and attacked and did not stop running which is good for match fitness.

I would of preferred to play how we did and lost 3-1 in a pre-season game, then play like united did and play counter attack football and not work on match fitness.

Essiens ball was just amazing, deserves a finish on the end of it, but i think Daniel just shot a bit too early. All in all, i am looking forward to the start of the season and i am pretty confident if we play with some pace and get the defensive side of things correct.

[Steve 10,227]

[chrismada9 1,948]

lol @

:lol:

Nice to see your opposing fans give ya stick, that's what loyal support is! :541:

[Manuf 1,448]

:lol:

Nice to see your opposing fans give ya stick, that's what loyal support is! :541:

You got it wrong! It's

Nice to see yo on fans booyin ya, yo so cold suppotes

[Alee. 182]

I know community shield counts for only so much, but i cant say im not a tad bit worried about the coming season - Seems like we really do need more firepower up front, Drogba alone is not enough, Anelka is running out of fuel, Kalou and Sturridge can not be relied upon.

Our defense is struggling, and we desperately need a better reserve keeper, imagine if Cech gets injured (very probable) in mid-season, and we have to play teams like Barcelona, Inter etc or even Liverpool / Arsenal, i would not at all be comfortable with the fact we have two incompetent keepers as back up.

[Madmax 9,219]

I just think though that it might not be that bad for the likes of Terry, Lampard and Cole to get some more minutes on the pitch against Hungary. Of course there's always the threat of injury, but they looked a bit short of match fitness today and maybe just maybe the midweek international might help with their fitness.

[chrismada9 1,948]

You got it wrong! It's

Nice to see yo on fans booyin ya, yo so cold suppotes

... and that means ... :unsure:

[Manuf 1,448]

... and that means ... :unsure:

translating:

Nice to see your own fans booying you, you so called "supporters".

[Laylabelle 9,305]

Bleh.Dont get how as well Man U fans were making their way out same time as the Chels fans! Cant be that far back to Surrey...nice support there! Mean we saw Chels get their medals and went soon as got down the slopey bit sea of red! Or quick presenation

Erm...I dont think we played that bad!! Werent to great defending at times and up front but wouldnt look at us and think 'yep we're fucked' and then look at Man U and go 'they'll win it' the way some people have.We were just a bit off at times.Started ok lol just couldnt finish chances and VDS was on pretty good form

Today doesnt matter...next week is where it all begins...begin where we left off!

[Mart 29]

I don't see why people are insulting Benayoun, he is a very talented player and he needs to be given time to find his feet in our squad.

I hope we sign Neymar or similar, and Ramires. It would really complete our squad.

[Laylabelle 9,305]

I don't see why people are insulting Benayoun, he is a very talented player and he needs to be given time to find his feet in our squad.

Yeh I didnt think he did to bad today.Mean werent amazing but werent complete crap

[5354 204]

 I didn't know font size 7 will hurt one's eyes.

WTF is this? Watch your font size mate. Have mercy on our eyes.

[The Big Drog 1,110]

A few observations.

Whats wrong with our defence? Or to be more precise the left side of our defence(the English side) do Ashley Cole and John Terry not realise they are wearing a Chelsea kit, not an England one, they are so often reliable for us but against Hamburg and again today they dont look like their at the races at all.

I hate to beat a dead horse but Im going to have to say it, as much as I like Obi Mikel the man is just so slow. He is slow when in possession of the ball, his role in the side is to shield the back four and the great's at doing this, the Makelele's, have most of their work go un-noticed, I know that but honestly I cant see what Mikel does when we dont have the ball, he struggles to get about the pitch, you rarely see him make many tackles, the total opposite to Makelele whose reading of the game was second to none and would hardly have allowed Man Utd the time they got today on the edge of our box, I hope the Ramires deal is done and dusted before the start of the season.

Kalou continously runs into the wrong places with the ball.

Where is Nic going? Really what is he doing? Has the man got some deep lying desire to be a Xavi like playmaker? He was supposed to be our striker yet he rarely made a run in behind, it was bizzare.

On the positive side of things, Essien had another good game today, player a beauty of a pass to set up Sturridge who should have scored and was quick about the pitch.

Ivanovic looks at home at centre back.

Drogba looked good when he came on and we looked a much better and more threatening side with him and Yossi on the pitch.

The biggest positive was Sturridge who was really up for it today. I wouldnt be surprised at all if by the end of the season he has established himself as a regular in our starting XI over Anelka.

[eldo 868]

There was also a reserve game of Man Utd and Chelsea today, and our Blues won 4-1!

[epicsarah-ous 329]

Hopefully that will cheer some of you guys up