Antonio Conte’s new makeover with three men at the back continued to wreak havoc on teams and Manchester United has been their latest victim. Stat wise United were mostly on par or better but that can be thrown into the bin as United were absolutely in shambles. Conte deserves the credit for turning Chelsea’s fortunes around while Mourinho has a lot of work in hand with Manchester City coming up sooner than people think.
How they lined up?
United started with just one change from their last premier league game looking to utilize Pogba as a number 10 while Fellaini was meant to be a physical presence. He did keep Eden Hazard in check for the first half but, in all honesty, a goal that fast (0:29 seconds into the game) can destroy any team. Chelsea have been brilliant thanks to some great performances from all the players, being more of a team than standout individuals.
United were horrendous in defence
It is indeed a ‘Captain Obvious’ fact but United’s defense lacked any composure whatsoever. The lack of a defensive Regista has been a recurring problem with the likes of Carrick playing the occasional cup games. Playing with three central midfielders meant that there is no one to break the attacks from the middle. While Carrick plays for United he sits deep, providing cover for United’s defence. With the lack of that security for the defence, we saw how shambolic they were. Smalling was the one of the worst, if not the worst player on the pitch responsible for all the goals with varying contributions.
Smalling was caught day dreaming during a corner taken by Victor Moses. What’s even odd is that he looked away from the ball for a second and then realizes that Cahill is behind him. The concentration levels were of a disinterested school-goer and the marking was non-existent; nothing much more to reflect on this goal. Cahill executed his finish coolly.
Eden Hazard is enjoying life under Conte
Antonio Conte’s 3-4-3 has given Eden Hazard the freedom of a lifetime as he has less expectations in defence and can move around freely looking for chances to score. The formation gives him freedom in a manner that, the centre midfielders provide security from the centre and the wide midfielders, Moses and Alonso remove any defensive duties that are expected of him. Fellaini handled this to an extent in the first half but Mata was toyed with later.
The space (red line) behind Mata is ample enough for Hazard to go on an exploration trip, which he did thanks to a brilliant pass from Matic. Mata took his eyes of Hazard as the pass went on to Kante resulting in total exposure of United’s defence.
Mata was left for dead while Matic gives a brilliant ball back into a lethal Hazard running on to get through and score a low shot.
United’s space between midfield and defence seems similar to the Bermuda Triangle
Pogba’s defending for the goal was weak, to say the least. A lack of effort to catch up with Kante who darted through the defence like a knife through butter was the final nail in the coffin for the night. Once again it was the lack of marking and provision of excessive space that gave Chelsea time and freedom to get another goal. Better attention from Smalling to provide cover would’ve been appreciated but United looked dead by then. While Pogba may have cost 89 Million the Frenchman might as well be off the pitch. A little less focus on dabs and more focus on his duties as a player might help the team.
Chelsea were clinical, United were not
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had another game to forget having missed another sitter from a clear cut chance. United created 14 chances to Chelsea’s 10 (source: – Squawka); one score none while the other scored 4. Antonio Valencia deserved better finishing from three brilliant crosses that ended up being nothing more than chances. 9 chances from the wings and 5 from the middle but not one single goal imply that United need to sort their game plan. Considering most of our crosses come from the wings, United need Mkhitaryan badly and Carrick must play more often.
Conclusion
Mourinho needed this loss in all honesty. If a team doesn’t lose they don’t improve and if they don’t improve luck helps only for a short span. It’s better than United got thrashed now rather than the end of the season and they can regroup and recover, hopefully, to end up in a better position at the end of the season than they are now. The egos need to calm down and do a better job on the field to go hand in hand with the few players who work hard and end up being disappointed. Hats off to Conte for turning around the fact that a 3 man defence is naive for a league like the Premier League; the pundits will love this one.
