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| photo by mtstradling | via PhotoRee |
Coming as a mild surprise to only those dyed the deepest shade of red, Manchester United's 3-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge yesterday afternoon laid utterly bare the issues enveloping the club at the present moment: devoid of confidence, lacking both conviction and any kind of cutting edge, and if not for the invention of young Belgian Adnan Januzaj, a squad that looks bereft of both leadership and skill at all levels. Serenaded by Chelsea fans begging him to stay on the job for as long as possible, United manager David Moyes could only offer up his pat stable of excuses on the post mortem of his team's latest defeat, the seventh of the current campaign: playing well at times, United were victims of "bad luck" and "did not deserve to be 2-0 down at half time."
Noting that his team "showed a lot of good things today," Moyes will be busy trying to figure out just quite how things could have gotten so far off track that his opposite number, Jose Mourinho, was able to spend the vast middle of what used to be a competitive match sitting comfortably on the sideline enjoying some banter with the fans before shutting down his team's attacking intent with more than a half hour still to play -- seemingly trying consciously not to embarrass his opposite number.
How did it come to this, that the reigning Champions of England are viewed as victims who need to be pitied...? The answer may be partly in the player ratings below, but it has become increasingly clear that this is a club with a major problem in its midst: the current manager and how to get him "up to speed" before the spit truly hits the fan:
De Gea: Stranded by Carrick for Chelsea's opener and little he could have done for Samuel Eto'o's third. Will be slightly disappointed with himself to have given up a second before the break. 6.5
How did it come to this, that the reigning Champions of England are viewed as victims who need to be pitied...? The answer may be partly in the player ratings below, but it has become increasingly clear that this is a club with a major problem in its midst: the current manager and how to get him "up to speed" before the spit truly hits the fan:
De Gea: Stranded by Carrick for Chelsea's opener and little he could have done for Samuel Eto'o's third. Will be slightly disappointed with himself to have given up a second before the break. 6.5
Rafael: Decent interplay on the wing with Antonio Valencia but gone completely missing for Chelsea's second goal of the afternoon. 5.0
Vidic: Still commanding in the air, but not the same player he once was. 5.0
Evans: More well hidden than Edward Snowden. 4.5
Evra: Absolutely shambolic defending for Chelsea's second. Completely switched off. 4.0
Valencia: Ultra-predictable and not a single decent cross to his credit. 4.0
Jones: Rushed back into service, he looked off the pace early, and was beaten like a mere schoolboy by Samuel Eto'o. 4.5
Carrick: Unlucky to score at the wrong end of the pitch. 5.5
Young: Denied by Petr Cech during United's torrid early start. Never seen again after that. 4.0
Januzaj: Appeared to be the only player trying before the break, but was relatively uninvolved in the second half. 6.5
Welbeck: Never really in the game but still should've equalized when it was still a one goal game near the 40 minute mark. 4.5
Substitutes:
Smalling (Evra), 51: Serviceable job in replacing an injured Patrice Evra. 5.0
Smalling (Evra), 51: Serviceable job in replacing an injured Patrice Evra. 5.0
Hernandez (Young), 56: The fact he didn't start against Chelsea should be a dark mark on Moyes CV. Still managed a goal to remind everyone how much he loves scoring against the Blues. 6.5
This is farlieonfootie for January 20.
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