Chelsea v Man.Utd player ratings

[zolayes 14,489]

the mail ...made Rooney MOM ...tells everything about them

[zolayes 14,489]

The guardians rating for Micheal Essien is a joke, he was fantastic all night.

for younger and overseas members.

The Guardian was until fairly recently called "The Manchester Guardian " printed in Manchester ...

[Tomo 21,681]

the mail ...made Rooney MOM ...tells everything about them

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

<span style="color: rgb(63, 67, 73);">Cech - 6.5 <br>

Ivanovic - 6.5 - Great assist for Luiz, defensively average tonight<br>

David Luiz - 8.5 - MOTM<br>

Terry - 7<br>

Cole - 7 - Ran up and down that flank all night, great to see him playing with passion<br>

<br>

Ramires - 8 - Absolute warrior, keep it up<br>

Essien - 6.5<br>

Lampard - 7<br>

Malouda - 3 - Should have scored, poor attitude, poor vision and distribution<br>

<br>

Anelka - 4<br>

Torres - 6.5 - Didn't score but can't come much closer - a disallowed goal which really could easily be allowed, great dribble and wanted to play, wanted to pass and shoot, improving every day<br>

<br>

Zhirkov - 7 - Impact was amazing, earned penalty, hunger<br>

Drogba - 7 - Like the commentator said "That's one angry man right there", full of motivation, showed passion and GREAT ball control. Urged his team mates from the sidelines, communicated with fans to make more noise, brilliant Drogba. That's who we've been missing aswell. Torres-Drogba back on agenda<br><br><br><br>Conclusion: Torres-Drogba start, Zhirkov to start<br></span>

[5354 204]

I think Cole's performance for the past few matches is quite average...for the last match maybe a bit better but during the patch of bad form he played pretty bad as well...

[dodojojo 510]

Does Malouda know Torres is on Chelsea now? Doesn't seem to see or want to pass to Torres

Funny, there’s a thread about this and I’ve pointed out the same things you did in my post there (before coming here)

At times he was very involved and other times he seemed to drift wide trying to find space, the ball, or something. Counted a few times when he was open, unmarked, waving for the ball. Think he and the team are still trying to find each other's wavelengths

Think Torres will eventually score goals this season and get close to the 20 goal mark for the season (Liverpool and Chelsea combined). Think he'll be a bright spot next season with the summer off and this time with the team under his belt. He's a 5 1/2 year contract and hopefully he's part of a bright future for Chelsea.

No matter what Carlo says about scoring for Torres, he's a striker and the goals need to come. Have belief they will.

What struck me about last night’s game is how different the setup is to what Torres got in Liverpool. And honestly, I don’t see him scoring at the same rate unless he adapts (really difficult to radically change his game at this stage of career) or if Chelsea adapts the game to him. And obviously, the team should do what’s right for the team and if it means winning but Torres not scoring as much, then that’s the way to go. But people won’t see that and he’ll carry on the flop tag. He spent a lot of time so far away from goal. Thus, even though he was sharper last night in overall play, he was less of a goal threat than in the Copenhagen game where he got off a handful of shots. Other than the disallowed goal, did he have any other close calls otherwise?

[Tortilla9 390]

Funny, there's a thread about this and I've pointed out the same things you did in my post there (before coming here)

What struck me about last night's game is how different the setup is to what Torres got in Liverpool. And honestly, I don't see him scoring at the same rate unless he adapts (really difficult to radically change his game at this stage of career) or if Chelsea adapts the game to him. And obviously, the team should do what's right for the team and if it means winning but Torres not scoring as much, then that's the way to go. But people won't see that and he'll carry on the flop tag. He spent a lot of time so far away from goal. Thus, even though he was sharper last night in overall play, he was less of a goal threat than in the Copenhagen game where he got off a handful of shots. Other than the disallowed goal, did he have any other close calls otherwise?

Not saying Chelsea plays like Spain but it seems a little reminiscent of Spain where he plays up top with another striker, usually Villa. Villa praises him highly for the work he does for the team although it's usually Villa who gets the glory, ie the goals. An announcer mentioned last night "With a 50 million striker you should build your team around him but they seem to be fitting him in". With the timing of his introduction to Chelsea that's probably the case. We'll see if it's

different next season.

He had a few chances last night from difficult angles that were more speculative than anything. If they'd gone in they would have been fantastic goals. His closest shot nearest goal was in the 94th minute.