You win some, you lose some
Well there isn’t much that I can complain about from Saturdays game, in the end the game came down to a good bit of play by Chelsea that was finished off by their talisman Hazard. The performance our players put in was one of the best of the season, especially when you consider that it was at Stamford Bridge against Mourinhos Chelsea. The players continued the form they have had over the last six games and although the loss is disappointing, there is a lot of hope looking forward to the last five games and also to next season.
Without trying to make excuses for the defeat, Friday dealt every fan and also the team a big blow. When we finished the derby last week with ten players and watched Carrick walk off injured I think a lot of people had the feeling that if he didn’t make it back for the Chelsea game then the challenge we would already face would be a lot harder. As I said, the news from the press conference on Friday then revealed at what cost the derby win had come at. Jones, Rojo, Blind and Carrick were all confirmed as unavailable for the game at Chelsea. Over the season I have criticized different players at different times, however, the starting XI for the recent games seems to be strong and understand each others play. So to see Jones injured was disappointing as he and Smalling have looked as though they have started to grow as individuals and a partnership. Rojo has been very good all season but has lost his place due to our current form, his injury took the obvious replacement for Jones away meaning that most likely McNair or Blackett would step in. The next problem the manager faced was the injury to Blind. With Blind injured Shaw stepped in but it left us with no replacement for Carrick. The whole injury problem overall caused a complete change in the game that was played on Saturday. We lost our main striker as he had to move back into midfield and replaced upfront by Falcao, Herrera had his role changed and was told to sit more, his work with Valencia and Mata has been crucial in recent weeks. The opposite flank, the left had a similar problem, Blind, Fellaini and Young have been tearing teams apart with their teamwork but one change in that makes all the difference. Despite the changes that were made though, we still managed to put in a good performance and control the game with our possession but I’ve said it before and now I’ll say it again, possession alone does not win games.
Falcao. What can I say about Falcao? Firstly, in my personal opinion, he’s free to leave our club. I was so excited when it was announced that he would be joining our club this year, one of the best strikers in the world with an absolutely amazing strike rate. I was aware that it would take time for him to settle and also recover fully from is knee injury. We waited patiently for his first goal and when he scored the winner against Everton I though that it had started, goals would be flying in all over the place and he’d be unstoppable. The Falcao of Porto, Athletico and Monaco did not arrive at Carrington in September, some guy posing as him arrived and has since been in a downward spiral similar to that of one Fernando Torres. He has had chances in the team and every time he managed to get a goal I again let myself believe that it would be the start but it has never happened. When he comes on now he looks lost, he runs around like someone who has no idea or plan in their movement and it has become quite obvious that his team mates have little faith in him. The game against Chelsea left him as a bystander who merely watched the game move around him and when he did receive the ball it was only a matter of seconds before he lost it. In fact that is where their goal came from, although it can be said that it was a foul, I think that Falcao needed to be stronger to shield the ball; had he been stronger, the challenge on him may have been given as a foul due to the force that would have been used to get to the ball. With players like Welbeck and Hernandez (who I had lost faith in) leaving the club at the beginning of the season, I can’t help but think that they would have served the club better if they had stayed in and Falcao had not joined. I desperately wanted Falcao to be good for us but alas it has not happened. His agent keeps saying ‘many clubs are interested,’ I no longer think Manchester United is one of them.
Like I said I’m not too disheartened by the game as the makeshift team that was put out put in a great performance, unfortunately we just didn’t find the back of the net (even though De Gea and all our fans thought we had). The Chelsea goal although a tad lucky not to have given a foul away at the start of the build up was a great goal. Hazard is probably the best player in the league now and most likely favourite to win Player of the Year and maybe Young Player depending on how Harry Kanes season is rated. We were close to getting Hazard and that would have been perfect as he is a player that can pick the team up, put them on his back and carry them through the sticky periods of the season and this year has shown that a lot. A player of that calibre is indespensible to a club, it was what Ronaldo was for us, what Bale was for Spurs and although I don’t rate him as highly as others he is was Gerrard has been for Liverpool. Unfortunately for us in this game our player that can drag us through games was not in his position but to be fair to him Rooney put in a good performance for what he could do. The fact that we had 71% of possession in the game shows that we have settled as a team and have started to understand the philosophy. Chelseas 29% in possession is actually the lowest they have had since Opta started keeping records of stats in 2006. The only thing I can really complain about in the game was the substitutions made, I don’t think Young or Mata needed to come off, similarly I don’t think Di Maria or Januzaj needed to come on. The only sub that needed to be made was RvP on for Falcao and even that probably wouldn’t have made a difference, for some reason that sub did not happen and for what ever reason our last sub was Shaw off and Blackett on; I can only assume this was to take care of Shaw.
Anyway we move swiftly onwards to the next game against Everton. Another away game which will be tricky as they have started to find their feet again but I think with the teams current form and good performances we can go and win there. Hopefully at least a couple of our injured players will return and we can get back to the winning line up we had before. The main goal is to now finish as high as possible and second is the most realistic chance we have so we must hunt down Arsenal, stay close and deal with them on their next visit to Old Trafford. The other priority is staying above City. Something we can easily do but we can’t take our foot off the pedal. I think we might actually press down a little harder on it now. To the end boys!! Forever United.
