Lewis Baker: Youth success, loan policies, and a career yet to properly start

“Watmore do you want, Watmore do you want!"

"Oooh that's unreal!”

The year is 2016 and the England under-21's are having an evening training session in France. While the senior team was in turmoil with Gareth Southgate having just replaced the disgraced Sam Allardyce, the group he had just left were loving life. As you would, really. Being an England U21 is a pretty sweet deal. 

You’re so good at football that you’re with the best of your age group in the country, with the exception of three or four truly elite players who skip the age group entirely. You get to represent England, but with none of the pressures of the senior team. Instead, you’re largely hanging about with your mates, visiting different countries with the coaches still telling you the emphasis is on improvement rather than results. You’ve probably played a good chunk of senior football, but even if you haven’t, you’ve definitely signed a pro contract for a lot of money. Scouts, video games and journalists alike are predicting a big future. Moreover, knowing who the new manager of the seniors is, you’re tantalisingly close to the England team.

It’s no surprise then, that on the England Youtube channel, the players who seem to be having the most fun in their training videos are the U21’s (at least until Southgate changed the culture completely). The video that the above quotes come from (‘Lewis Baker's unbelievable rabona crossbar challenge - Eng U21 Shooting Session’) is no different. It’s one of my favourite football videos on the internet, simply because the amount the players are enjoying themselves and loving being footballers is infectious. If you’ll indulge me, here is an incomplete list of some great moments in the video. 

James Ward-Prowse applauds an empty ground in France on his way to the pitch, saying “what a vibe” into the camera. Nathan Redmond literally dances his way onto the field. The keepers, including Angus Gunn, mess about with a handling drill, and get to flick the ear of the goalkeeping coach. Harry Winks tells the camera “I don’t miss” after scoring his two penalties. Tammy Abraham is delighted the cameraman has caught him doing a trick. At the end Redmond collapses after a beautiful bit of ball juggling saying with a smile to Nat Chalobah “I’m too tired bro, let’s call it a day”. The enthusiasm and hunger to get better is obvious, but one figure in particular is the hype man for everyone.

The shooting drill starts and Lewis Baker shouts out the line I wrote at the start, after Duncan Watmore unleashes a left footed volley that flies past the keeper. The second line arrives after a Ward-Prowse trivela. “Unbelievable” he says as he hugs his skipper. Of course Baker isn’t just bigging up his teammates. He hits the crossbar with a right footed rabona, and then scores two left footed penalties, joining in with the ‘awwww’ sound everyone makes when the keeper gets his hand to the second one. Jack Grealish gets a big build up from the coach for his penalty “Here he comes, the boy Grealish. Friend of the people, housewives favourite”. He misses, and therefore has to collect all of the balls; Chelsea’s Baker is the first among many to playfully celebrate his misfortune.

Now scrawling through YouTube comments in search of any insight whatsoever is probably a waste of time, but in this exact case I think it’s instructive. For a start, the positivity is almost alarming, as the comments are full of praise for the players’ relaxed and happy attitude to training, along with the bond that is clearly present among the group. But Baker commands attention. “Lewis Baker is England's most technically gifted player, he's that good with both feet”. A reply to that comment echoed my thoughts at the time, that you’re still figuring out what his strong foot is. Many pleaded with Chelsea to give him a chance. 

A lot of the players in the video went on to play for the England senior team and rack up countless appearances in the Premier League. Baker is not one of them, and given that he will be 27 next month, the smart money is on him not even coming close to reaching the potential that he was seen to have had. His superb technique, powerful ball striking with either foot, and a cultured style had earned him rave reviews long before he made his debut for Chelsea at 18 as a late sub for Oscar in an FA Cup tie at Derby. So what went wrong?

It’s too simplistic a question to ask if you’re trying to work out why a star of youth football didn’t quite make it to the top. Firstly, the under 21's are quite a curious beast in general. They might have plenty of enjoyment as outlined above, but I think for the top players it can be a bit of a waste of time. An example of this was the 2015 euros when Harry Kane, fresh off his first 20 goal season in the league, was playing in a team whose first choice midfield was Chalobah and Jake Forster-Caskey, who were playing for clubs - Reading and Brighton respectively - who had finished in the bottom half of the Championship that season. I can’t imagine Kane got much out of the experience when his team didn’t get out of the group and explains why the prodigies can skip this step entirely.

Baker was often impressive for the England youth sides

Of course player development isn't linear and someone like James Milner, proud owner of a record 46 U21 caps, would be the counter argument. All those games for the premier youth team definitely played their part in his long career at the top level. But in general I think it’s fair to say that Baker’s impressive record for the side (8 goals from midfield in 17 appearances) was not a guarantee he would turn into a Chelsea player. Go through any England U21 tournament squad and you get a real mix in terms of what level their career ended up at. 

Baker’s finest moment in an England shirt came at the 2016 Toulon Tournament which England won. He scored the first goal in the final vs France, clinching the golden boot. To continue the point about youth internationals being only so valuable for predicting the future, it might be relevant to point out not a single player of the France squad has made their senior debut at the time of writing. 

The 2017 U21 Euros was to be Baker’s final tournament at age group level and a strong England side was expected to do well. Off the back of an individually successful season with Vitesse the midfielder was in the regular England starting XI. Although he didn’t pull up any trees in the group stages, in the semi final 2-2 draw with Germany he played all 120 minutes and scored his penalty in the shootout which England went onto lose. He had put in a fine performance for the biggest game, but had just fallen short. Disappointing, but satisfactory overall. It definitely didn't look like the performance of someone who would struggle to get into a championship team the season after. 

So what of his domestic career? At club level, Baker progressed quickly through the Chelsea ranks and even by the standard of players they were churning out on a regular basis at Cobham, he stood out. As early as 2012, at just 16, he scored in the final against Blackburn to help win the FA youth cup. A year later, as Chelsea narrowly lost to Norwich in the same competition, he was captain of a side that featured Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. As he grew, he was adding muscle to his technical style, allowing for numerous runs into the box to complement his on the ball quality that was rare for an English player. A year further on in July 2014, no less as harsh a critic of young players as Jose Mourinho was enamoured enough by his talent to say this:

“My conscience tells me that if, for example, [Lewis] Baker, [Izzy] Brown, and [Dominic] Solanke are not national team players in a few years, I should blame myself…They are part of a process the club started without me. In this moment, we have players who will be Chelsea players. And when they become Chelsea players, they will become England players, almost for sure.”

“This group of players – Baker, Brown, Solanke and [Jeremie] Boga – these four are not all going to be in my squad, because I cannot have 30 in my squad, but these four are going to work with us all season and these four are going to be Chelsea players.”

Mourinho wouldn’t have said this about Baker - or the others -if his talent wasn’t obvious. The Portuguese gaffer was a year and a half into his 2nd tenure at the club before he allowed Baker to go on loan to get some mens football under his belt. That was a January loan to Sheffield Wednesday, until the end of the 2014-15 season. The next time he returned to Chelsea to spend any serious length of time was in the 2021-22 season.

Not the career summary Baker was expecting when he was younger

Here we arrive at the crux of the issue with Baker, and Chelsea in general. He is primarily seen as one of many players swallowed up by the Chelsea loan machine. Indeed, he has been on no less than eight (yes, EIGHT) loans from his boyhood club. Maybe it was just bad timing - he straddled the very end of Chelsea’s refusal to use their extensive youth team graduates. Abraham, for instance, was a crucial two years younger; Mason Mount and Reece James younger still, benefiting to the full extent of both the 2019 transfer ban and the appointment of Frank Lampard. Conversely, Baker himself was part of the generation that was promised more opportunities in the wake of the lack of a breakthrough for players older than him, such as the highly rated Josh McEachran.

Two names Mourinho named checked in the aforementioned quote were Izzy Brown And Dominic Solanke. They in different ways point to structural issues at Chelsea at the time that hampered youth stars. Brown had a similar experience to Baker, finally leaving Stamford Bridge for Preston in 2021 after seven loans of dubious quality, including 13 Premier League games for Brighton. Solanke was an even bigger talent than Baker, breaking scoring records in the youth teams and being a star in various England age group sides. Mourinho doesn’t have to ‘blame himself’ as Solanke does own 1 cap, but that came after he left Chelsea. He ran his contract down after complaining that he would never get a chance, and who could blame him?

But striker Solanke can barely be compared to Baker - for a start he is two and a half years younger. He also was considered good enough to get on the pitch 27 times for Klopp’s Liverpool in the 2017-18 season although they almost exclusively were cameos, causing frustration. A £19m move to Bournemouth has, after a difficult start, proven to be a smart move. He is currently one of the deadliest strikers in the championship, and will probably have another crack at the top flight next year. 

It’s easy to blame Chelsea. But while he was out on loan, was Baker demanding through performances to be given a chance, in the way Mount, Fikayo Tomori, James and Abraham did at Derby, Wigan and Aston Villa respectively? 

That Sheffield Wednesday loan was terminated early, Chelsea thinking a drop to League one and Mk Dons would be more suitable. The midfielder impressed, helping the franchise get promoted, with Karl Robinson full of praise. The next loan was to Chelsea’s feeder club, Vitesse, along with Brown and Solanke. It was a solid, if unspectacular season, as the club finished 9th in the Eredivisie. Baker played in 31 of the 34 league games, scoring 5 goals. 

He stayed at Vitesse for a further year, and 16-17 - the season in which the Youtube video falls - Baker really showed his quality. He seemed happy in Holland and Vitesse had a brilliant year, finishing 5th and winning the Dutch Cup, the clubs first major honour in their history, and the loanee was a massive part of it. He played in central midfield yet ended up with 15 goals in 39 games in all competitions, in no small part thanks to his brilliant dead ball skills. His free kicks, corners and penalties were a reliable source of goals and assists for Vitesse through his two years there, and now seemed primed and ready for a step in quality from the Dutch league.

We’ll never know if this was 2019 instead of 2017 if Baker would’ve been given a chance at Chelsea off the back of this loan. But Antonio Conte, frustrated at not getting his main transfer targets, was probably not the perfect manager for Baker, who at this point was already 22. Danny Drinkwater signing for £30m was evidence enough for how Chelsea saw Baker’s medium term prospects. If we take a step back here, one great season for Ajax or PSV does not make you good enough for Chelsea, let alone one for Vitesse. At his age to build on the momentum he’d gained in Holland, as hard as it would be emotionally, Baker probably needed to make the brave decision and leave the club he loved for his career. 

Baker's time at Vitesse showed off his ability to score from midfield

Instead he signed a new five year deal at Stamford Bridge. 

I get why. It’s hard to let go of a dream, moreover one that so many people would’ve told you you were good enough to fight for. Additionally, the wages a contract with Chelsea would bring would almost certainly be a lot more he could pick up elsewhere. That’s what kept Lucas Piazon and Marco van Ginkel signing extensions half a decade after the penny dropped they would never have any chance at the Blues (Some would say players like Piazon have wasted their whole career. But would you give up those wages?).

But this was in 2017. There was already plenty of cynicism around Chelsea's army of loan players. It was yet another year they won the FA Youth Cup but the chances of this newer batch of youngsters making it to the first team seemed as slim as ever. In this very summer Loftus-Cheek - who had accelerated past Baker years ago - demanded a move to Palace after playing only a token part in the title win. Baker’s age mates Chalobah and Nathan Ake, long seen as future first teamers, finally got fed up and left permanently, for Watford and Bournemouth respectively. Did Baker not look around and want to do the same? Possibly the 2017 U21 Euros had an impact in his decision, where he had retained the faith of the England hierarchy, suggesting a career at the very top was still in his sights.

At the very least he seemed to have picked a good loan. He found himself spending 17-18 at Middlesbrough, just relegated from the Premier League and looking for a swift return. It was similar to the loans that Mount, Tomori and Abraham were to go on 12 months later, an ambitious championship club who would give you the platform to show yourself as one of the best players in the division, to prove to your parent club you were at the very least a top flight player. Those three smashed it and Chelsea could no longer ignore them. Baker, er, didn’t. 

Despite never being injured (according to Transfermarkt) he only played 14 games in all competitions. Tony Pulis, who replaced Garry Monk midway through the season, simply didn’t trust him. Many would point to Pulis’ infamous brushing aside of Arsenal loanee Serge Gnabry as evidence that he would inevitably not be great for Baker. But while this was clearly an error, his West Brom side were doing well at the time and so Gnabry had a job getting into a solid Premier League XI. On the other hand Baker was competing with championship players, and in any case, his running power and set piece prowess would seem to suit a Pulis side down to the ground. It was becoming clear by now that the player that Mourinho had talked about in such grand terms, that Chelsea and England had such high hopes for, was miles apart from the player he actually was. Sitting on the bench all year was a ridiculous situation for a young player who needed to build on his goal laden 16-17. At the time many thought it was Pulis who had it wrong. The next few years of Baker’s stuttering career said otherwise. 

The ‘Boro disaster put his stock at an all time low, but there was no hope of a fresh start. The contract he had signed signalled to the world Chelsea’s intention: loan him out, hope he does well, then sell him for a half decent fee. The next team to try and unlock his ability was Leeds, however the kudos of being Marcelo Bielsa’s first signing didn’t reinvigorate him. He spent his time on the bench, only starting twice in the league as Leeds, going for promotion, had quickly deduced he wasn’t at the required level. They sent him back in January and he was on his way to Reading, who were at the other end of the table. There at least, he was good enough to be a key player, playing every single minute of the last 14 league games of the season, showing he was fit enough to deal with the Saturday-Tuesday grind of the second tier, if nothing else.

Googling Baker in 2014-2016 would land you on umpteen ‘Top 15 young players to watch this decade’ listicles. By now, it was more of a ‘whatever happened to Lewis Baker?’ 19/20 came and went with just 8 Bundesliga appearances for Fortuna Dusseldorf, and the midfielders’ nomadic existence was complete when he got a frankly overdue offer to play in Turkey with Trabzonspor. You wondered what the point was for any of the parties involved, but there he linked up with his old youth coach Eddie Newton, and knuckled down to play 34 league games, remaining a key option even after his old mentor was sacked. He even rolled back the years a tad when he scored a couple of trademark free kicks as he and the club ended the season strong. 

It was by a mile his best season since he left Holland. But it still wasn’t amazing. Trabzonspor, interestingly, are this season cruising to the title with the Istanbul big three miles behind, suggesting the side that Baker regularly got into was not full of bad players. But they fact they were not that interested in getting him permanently told the story, and he was one of 33 players to come back to Chelsea in June 2021. His name stood out like a sore thumb. The time when he was considered full of potential, like Conor Gallagher, Marc Guehi or Tomori had long gone. Neither was he an experienced European campaigner like Davide Zappacosta, Ross Barkley, Victor Moses or Michy Batshuayi. The real story for many was shock that he was still technically a Chelsea player. 

And so we arrive at the current campaign, back in Chelsea’s youth teams, scoring goals in U23 matches at the age of 26, taking unfulfilled talent to extremes. There was a sweet moment when the lad who first joined the club when he was nine got on the pitch to represent Chelsea for a second time, in a 5-1 romp against Chesterfield on January 8th. In the 59th minute, he replaced his old pal Christensen, to cheers from the faithful. Finally, after that, he left to join Stoke, permanently.  I cannot for the life of me figure out why he didn’t make the move in the summer, but there are signs he’s keen to make up for lost time.

It’s been impressive so far, admittedly for a team who don’t have a lot to play for this season. He has scored 6 goals in 11 games for Stoke already, which is more goals than he got for all his clubs in the last four seasons. He looks energised, showing the stamina to score a stunning equaliser in the 95th minute against Barnsley on the 8th March, only a few days before this incredibly long essay was written.

"For myself it's been a breath of fresh air coming here, I'm really enjoying myself."

The hope is he can knuckle down, use the ability that is still there, and carve out a decent career. A parallel with Baker is Ravel Morrison, another youth star, who has a similar crazy stat related to lost years; he recently scored his first goals in England for eight years. That stat, though, is full of asterisks of Morrison’s own making. There’s never been any worry about Baker’s professionalism or attitude, which speaks to a clearer truth - he simply wasn’t anywhere near as good as his initial success suggested. In any case, The cream does always rise to the top. If he was THAT good, surely he'd have made it.

 

So what went wrong? Well, predicting the potential of players is always a bit of a lottery, but fans, and in turn the media, never really learn. Ralf Rangnick had to field a question on whether England had ‘missed out’ on young Manchester United player Zidane Iqbal opting for Iraq at international level, despite the fact he has literally seconds of senior football under his belt. 

Thinking on an abstract level, it could be argued the Vitesse experience, as much as he enjoyed it, wasn’t conducive for his development. The lower standard of football, and the safety net of being surrounded by fellow Chelsea kids might’ve meant questions weren’t asked on and off the pitch that a move abroad should bring. The players who actually made it into the first team (James, Tomori, Abraham, Loftus-Cheek, Mount) suggest English loans are far better at improving your game - Abraham had three. Only Mount went to Vitesse and went on to play a significant number of games for Chelsea. Perhaps that was unique to him. Not only was he super talented, but he wasn’t physically developed then, and therefore was better placed to take more from his time in Holland in terms of technique. The 2015 Lewis Baker however, fresh from his MK Dons cameo, was ready for the physically intense championship season.

You can see Chelsea’s logic in the project though. You’re less likely to get kicked in the Dutch league with its relative lack of veterans. There’s also the idea that the Dutch way teaches something tactical to young players that other systems don’t, I assumed it would help your footballing education, but maybe if you’re there for a year or two it is doubtful it has an impact. Thinking practically, going abroad broadens horizons and players who aren’t going to make it at Champions League level could have a better chance of making a career in Europe that way as an alternative to spending their time in the English lower leagues. It worked for Vitesse as well, Baker and Mount were excellent for them, although both clubs have now quietly pretty much binned the project. 

In the end, Chelsea have now figured out that the Baker model is not the way to treat a young player, and instead are far more willing to ship them out - with a generous buy back clause. As mentioned, he was too old for the Lampard era complete with a transfer ban. But did he suffer from the loan policy, or was he complicit? Yours truly was saying in November 2018 that he should’ve left permanently two years before that. Where was the personal responsibility and realisation that it wasn’t going to happen? Michael Keane left Manchester United in 2014 when the club wanted him to stay, and within a few years he was in the England squad. That categorically would not have happened at United.

In this era of player power, younger players have to show conviction and be willing to leave their safety net. Callum Hudson-Odoi was a Chelsea youngster who was much more assertive, openly flirting with Bayern to ensure game time. While Baker did not have that level of bargaining power, there must’ve been numerous clubs who would’ve been willing to sign him in a way that Tariq Lamptey and Toni Livramento have left Chelsea as teenagers, believing that their quality will eventually bring them back up. Intriguingly for someone who seemed so confident, Baker may have lacked the self-belief to thrive outside the Chelsea bubble. 

It’s time to end this mammoth piece of writing, I’ll always keep an eye out for him and i’m interested in following his progress at Stoke. 27 in April, the predictions of a lengthy Chelsea and England fell way short, but there’s no reason why he can’t be one of the best players in the championship next year. The player that caught my eye all those years ago may have diminished, but the start at Stoke is thrilling. The young two-footed midfielder with a technique to die for and a penchant for wonder goals won’t be England captain. But he can still thrill fans at a lower level for years to come - after all the young man in that YouTube video loved showing off what he could do with a smile. The shadow of Chelsea is gone, and football always offers one more chance.  

2018 FA Cup Final - Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea

Manchester United 0-1 Chelsea (Hazard 22 pen)

 

United slipped meekly to defeat in the Cup Final, going out while barely landing a punch on an unspectacular Chelsea team on a spirit-sapping day at Wembley. It was grim, and a bit boring. So much attacking talent, so little threat and bite. A frustrating season ending in a quite fitting way. Too slow, too scared, and second best. Shit.

What’s there to say when we lose like that? It wasn’t a 4-0 romp, we had been defeated only by a penalty from Eden Hazard, and the possession and shots statistics were in our favour. But don’t let the numbers fool you into thinking United were at all impressive out there. It was robotic, stunted, and downright dull. They looked out of ideas too early and energetic too late, a sad end to the season given the optimism with which it had begun. 

United were the favourites going into the last domestic fixture of the season, having finished 3 places above Chelsea in the table. I was very nervous at the start, but then I always am in occasions such as these. Post-Ferugson, it’s no longer a given that United will always be making finals and consistently playing at Wembley, so there is no way I’m turning my nose up at any cup, especially when we’re in the final. Having been at Wembley myself last month to see us dispatch an in-form Spurs, I was quietly confident we could do the same to Chelsea.

The good news for United was that Martial and Lukaku hadn’t been ruled out as had been feared, and were available. The bad news was that neither started – although Martial probably would not have anyway, even if he was 100% fit. Fellaini missed out as well. It was a blow for United to be missing their main goalscorer, as much for his hold up play and bullying of centre-halves as anything else. With Chelsea, a physical game was expected, so to line up instead with Rashford was a bit of weakness.

Not that I thought so before kick-off. While Lukaku starting on the bench was not perfect, I was excited to see young Rash run at Chelsea’s backline. I remembered how he had led the line brilliantly against Chelsea in our 2-0 home win in April 2017, springing Conte’s offside trap regularly. On paper, a front three of Jesse Lingard, Rashford and Alexis Sanchez looked dynamic, pacey and fluid. So apart from Lukaku it was the same team that beat Spurs in the semi – which meant Eric Bailly, who most think is our best defender, was left on the bench. Smalling and Jones had credit in the bank, sure, but the treatment of Bailly by Mourinho in recent weeks has been utterly baffling.

Chelsea went defensive, going with only two forward thinking players really, with Fabregas used mainly to retain possession. Bakayoko has been one of the worst signings across Europe for the 17/18 season, but Antonio Conte placed faith in the Frenchman to make sure his team didn’t get outnumbered In the middle of the park, resisting the temptation to pick Pedro or Willian. Having scored in the semi over Southampton, January purchase Olivier Giroud was preferred over record signing Alvaro Morata.

Chelsea started the better, with Hazard finding space on the left flank on the counter after United had given the ball away carelessly, and shooting at goal with his left foot after running at Jones. De Gea made a smart stop, and United cleared, but that was pretty much that for the opening exchanges. It was a typical final start to be honest, with both sides wanting to ease themselves into the game, and very little in the way of shots on goal. The cagey start didn’t stop both sides gifting the other possession constantly with sloppy errant passes. For the Cup final, it was a game desperately low on quality. It needed a goal really.

It soon got one. Chelsea won the ball back in their half and Fabregas had time to set Hazard away with a long pass; his first touch was exemplary and suddenly Phil Jones was on the back foot. The England world cup defender just about kept pace with Hazard but was unable to get goalside, and decided to go for a last-ditch tackle. I couldn’t really blame him, but the execution was clumsy and it was penalty and a yellow card. From the spot there’s few who are calmer than Hazard and the Belgian duly rolled the ball into the net, sending De Gea the other way.

United initially reacted like I’d want. Herrera pushed up from his ersatz right-back position (to nullify Hazard, and make it easier for him to be man-marked, which had already proven flawed when Chelsea’s star man moved to the right to create the goal) and United created a chance for Pogba from 25 yards, who shot wide. It was the first effort from United to test Chelsea’s defence and keeper.

 


There was very little width for United. Chelsea were extraordinarily compact

Why were United so lacking in attacking vigour? Well, for starters Rashford was having a stinker. The ball was bouncing off him, he was picking the wrong passes, and he was getting outmuscled. Worst of all he wasn’t making the runs in behind that could’ve been so dangerous; instead he came deep, or ran the channels. This often led to the absurd situation where United had the ball in a crossing position but the only man in the box was Sanchez, a man never likely to win a battle in the air with 3 centre-backs. That’s if we had anyone in the box at all, sometimes they had no one to mark and United were simply trying pot-shots from long range.

It didn’t help that Lingard was having a poor start as well, as he wasn’t either wide or forward enough to impact the game like he should. With Sanchez drifting infield as well, width was like gold dust for United. Ashley Young was enterprising enough, happy to take defenders on, but is always hamstrung by his general lack of quality – a problem for Chelsea also, regarding Victor Moses. We were ponderous, too, recycling the ball 30 yards from goal, always taking too many touches, waiting for someone to try a mazy run or an ambitious through ball which seldom happened.

The first half ended just as United’s best moment had come, as someone did indeed perform a mazy run. Pogba motored with the ball through the centre and played a one-two with Sanchez before laying it off to Rashford, who only contrived to scuff his attempted shot straight at a Chelsea defender.

At half-time the overriding feeling was that this was an awful match. There had only been two real chances – the penalty, and the other aforementioned Hazard shot. As good as the Belgian and Fabregas had been, it wasn’t enough to escape the reality that it was an utterly dreadful game, the opposite of what you would want in the showpiece of English football. It had also gone against the theme of recent Cup finals, which have generally been entertaining; look no further than United’s incident-packed triumph over Crystal Palace in 2016 for proof.

Mourinho had obviously got into them at half-time as United started the second half with great intensity, determined to get back on terms. From minute 45-65, United had a great spell, pinning Chelsea back and looking like they were going to score eventually. Of course, Chelsea could afford to sit deep having gone in front so early, and it suited the personnel they had out there. Their attacks in the second half were exclusively counters, with long passes looking for the incisive movement of Hazard.

Valencia, who had been unbelievably ineffective in the first half despite having heaps of the ball, finally made a forward run inside Marcos Alonso picked out by Herrera, also making his first risky pass. We were in behind, but instead of Valencia going for goal or picking out Sanchez he pulled it back straight to Fabregas. Stupid prick. Sanchez instantly won it back with a tigerish sliding tackle and the ball broke for Rashford 20 yards out, who forced a save from Courtois with his powerful but a bit too central strike. The crowd were up for it now and Kante and Rudiger both made vital interceptions just as United were breaking through.

United won a lot of set-pieces in this period, with Chelsea under pressure and looking to break the rhythm of United with fouls. Unfortunately most of them were taken by Rashford, who booted it straight at the first man most of the time. It was mind-numbing to see him on those duties when he was having such a poor day at sending them in, not even considering that as a forward over 6 feet, you would probably want him in the box anyway. Mind you, he did pull out one top delivery from the right when his free-kick was converted by Sanchez on the follow up, although he was offside. Still, United were pushing, with Young starting to play very high up the pitch. Matic had a 30 yarder parried by the rock-solid Courtois.

But United gradually fizzled out, the zip fading from our passing, the lack of pace in our play telling. It was the Blues that had the next big chance with Kante skipping through the tackles to set up Alonso who was denied by De Gea, before Moses hit the ball at Young’s arm in the area. Really, it was too close for the ref to give another penalty.

Out of nowhere came an opportunity for Rashford after a training ground move, with Pogba finding Lingard in his favourite pocket. He let the ball run before slipping in his best mate one-on-one. It was by no means the easiest of chances with a massive keeper coming out and Rashford having to stretch a bit, but it had to go in. Lukaku, I suspect, would’ve found the net with it. Instead, Courtois saved and Mourinho responded by hooking Rashford and Lingard. Taking off Jesse was a tad puzzling in my opinion, just as the number 14 was getting into the game.

So Lukaku and Martial (left out of the French World Cup squad in midweek, prompting more rumours of his exit) were on. I was screaming for Mata as well for Herrera, who seemed to not be aware we were losing, given the fact he wasn’t moving forward with the ball and was still playing the safest passes he could. There are times when Herrera just isn’t needed and today was one of them. His main job was to stop Hazard, who had put us behind - although the Spaniard couldn’t be blamed for the goal which wasn’t in his area. But then, what was he on for now? If Mata had been given more time, he could’ve found a key pass to unlock the door. Instead Herrera finished the game, one of his least memorable in a red shirt. He wasn’t being helped by his captain Valencia though, who was constantly turning back into midfield when he had the chance to get to the by-line.

By now Conte had instructed his team to give up on attacking, and you couldn’t blame them. The only threat was Phil Jones getting injured after a robust challenge by Giroud required him to put on a head bandage, the only thing the dreamy Frenchman did all game. It was all United, but it was all in front of the defence. We weren’t isolating their players or giving them different things to think about. We became increasingly route one, but Cahill and Rudiger were having a comfortable time of it.

The biggest chance fell to Paul Pogba, who screwed a free header wide from a Martial corner. That was the moment really, the only time the Chelsea team switched off. The £89m man had the freedom of Wembley, he had to do better, to at least get it on target. Alas, it wasn’t to be. Chelsea controlled the last 10 minutes, wasting time expertly with their subs taking decades to complete. Martial after a decent run had a little opening, but he found row J. Late sub Mata, of all people, conceded two corners in the dying minutes as the Chelsea supporters loudly cheered every single throw in and corner won, delighting in their players forcing United back, further and further away from a goal that would take it to extra time.



Chelsea celebrate with the famous old trophy

 

The whistle went and Conte was jubilant. For all that this season has been a failure for the Blues (not enough has been said about the reigning champions spending north of £200m,  finishing 5^th and 23 points worse than last season) their manager deserved this moment I think, given the turmoil he’s been faced with off the field. It was his first domestic cup as a manager. Even at their worst, Chelsea seem to be able to churn out trophies, exemplified by Cahill lifting the cup after a difficult season for him personally. Although United in mitigation could say De Gea had nothing to do, Chelsea could respond by saying they never really looked in trouble.

Like it or not, it’s likely if Fellaini had been available for the last 20 minutes we could’ve nicked an equaliser. Chelsea were very comfortable in the air against United, as a half-fit Lukaku couldn’t impose himself as usual against their big defenders. If the big man had been there, Chelsea would’ve been forced to mark him, perhaps even assigning two on him, in turn creating space for others. In the 93^rd minute Matic tamely headed over; if that had been Fellaini it could’ve been different. Though the very idea that United missed Fellaini out there suggests how shocking they were.

While Valencia is hardly the biggest problem at United, in football today the full-backs are so important, and indeed no one got the ball more for United in threatening positions than him and Young. I really don’t want to watch a lot more of him receiving the ball, doing that little leg shuffle, then passing backwards. The captain for the day was really pathetic, seemingly unable to dribble anymore, offering nothing. Young was giving it his all, offering his teammates an option, but as I’ve already said, he just isn’t that good, willing but unable to change the game.

Sanchez has played 18 times for United since he arrived, and has scored a grand total of 3 goals, one of which was a penalty rebound. It is not reactionary to say he has been downright crap for us given his handsome wages. The man has an awesome record at Wembley – I saw it for myself in the semi-final, when he was excellent – but he did fuck all in the final, like in a lot of games he has played so far for us. Spurs and City away apart, he has not been the player we all expected him to be, or saw at Arsenal. In the summer, he will have his first extended break from football since 2013. Let’s hope he comes back refreshed, because more of this will be hard to accept from such a talented player.

It’s not just Sanchez. Pogba as well was disappointing. He was decent, don’t get me wrong, helping us progress forward and running hard all afternoon. But where was an imposing display from our best player in what turned out to be the biggest game of the season? Where was the Lingard from the winter? But most all, where was the master of finals, the serial winner that is Jose Mourinho? He had his own tactics based on organisation and concentration used against him by a man who he had a spat with earlier on in the campaign. I hope it hurt him, as ending the season trophyless should hurt all of them, even though there are clear signs of progress from last season.

For us not to score against a team playing like *that* is slightly embarrassing. It’s one thing playing on the counter but there were essentially only two attacking players in their line-up. They were sharp in the first half, decisive in the penalty incident, and to be fair, retained their focus and concentration against the almost constant United possession in the 2^nd half. They did deserve their eighth FA Cup, even if for the neutral it was like watching paint dry.

It’s been a good season, generally, but it has definitely been tarnished by this schoolboy performance. Thankfully the world cup arrives to stop us from licking our wounds all summer.

United (4-3-3) De Gea 6.5; Valencia 5.5, Smalling 6, Jones 5 (Mata 87), Young 6; Herrera 4.5, Matic 5.5, Pogba 6; Lingard 5 (Martial 73, 4), Rashford 3.5 (Lukaku 73, 5), Sanchez 5.

Chelsea (5-3-2) Courtois 7.5; Moses 6, Azpilicueta 6, Cahill 7, Rudiger 7, Alonso 5.5; Fabregas 6.5, Kante 7, Bakayoko 5; Giroud 4.5 (Morata 89), Hazard 7 (Willian 90+1).

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea Sunday 25th Feb 2018

Manchester United 2-1 Chelsea (Lukaku 39, Lingard 75) (Willian 32)

 

 
Yerrrrrrs. A massive, massive result, against a fellow top 6 rival, coming from behind, and a feather in Mourinho’s cap in his spat with Antonio Conte. It wasn’t a vintage 90 minutes, with a general lack of quality and pace on show on a surprisingly hot and sunny day in Manchester. Both teams looked tired after having played in the Champions League midweek, but thanks to Romelu Lukaku and Jesse Lingard, United went home happier.

After Herrera’s injury in Spain, Pogba obviously started, but it was the continuing selection of academy man Scott McTominay that was the talking point. The manager had obviously decided 4-3-3 was necessary. It looked like, given Fellaini’s injuries and Carrick’s lack of legs, our strongest team to contain Chelsea. Jones, Rojo and Blind were still out. Martial came in for Mata to play on the left, with Sanchez finally stationed on the right.

What of the Champions? Things are still going well for them in the Champions League - with a creditable 1-1 draw against Barcelona – and the FA Cup, but all is not well at the Bridge, especially behind the scenes where a battle for transfer supremacy is ongoing. Their season has generally been ok bar the odd hiccup, and they remain a quality team directed by a top passionate coach with an enviable CV. It looked even more impressive once the little skulduggery that once blighted it had been wiped out thanks to ‘rigorous’ investigation when Italian national boss. Ahem.

Events started with a bang with Morata (who many United fans would’ve preferred in the summer over Lukaku) hitting the woodwork almost straight away from a wicked Marcos Alonso cross. United did look strong out there though, the team looking fired up for the challenge. By contrast, the crowd was crap, disappointingly. You could only hear the away fans, strange really, it should’ve been a cauldron for this especially given Mourinho and Conte’s recent war of words.

Initially, Anthony Martial was our out ball, mainly from the left half-space from Pogba passes. A couple of times he was allowed a run at Chelsea’s centre-backs with Moses nowhere after we had won back possession. From one of these breaks Alexis Sanchez had a golden chance, but after controlling in the box at pace, he could only tap the ball towards the keeper with his right peg, when he probably should’ve hit it with his left.

Lingard and Pogba celebrate the number 14's goal

 

There was a pattern though – Matic wins it, United work it to Pogba in his favourite area in the left-centre, and he either drove us up the pitch by himself or spread it wide to Martial. It was such a joy to see our best player in his best position, able to link up with Martial. The winger unfortunately drifted out of the game, but it wasn’t for lack of touches, with Pogba constantly in the position to give it to him.

Chelsea’s attacks were led by Willian, in great form recently. Together with partner in crime Eden Hazard, he was a constant threat on the break with his direct vertical running, so explosive in transition. With Fabregas left on the bench, Chelsea did not build-up play particularly well, with the workmanlike midfield of Drinkwater and Kante instead looking to hit long for Morata who was not holding the ball up with any certainty. Thus, almost by default it was on the break where they were getting joy.

Chelsea were the better side in the first half, and they got their reward in a flowing counter from a United corner, beating a poorly executed offside trap. It was taken fucking short, despite the height we had in the box, given away, and Willian came away with the ball. He exchanged passes with Hazard, streaking away from McTominay, and hammered it past De Gea, despite his shot being pretty close to our keeper. He would kick himself, but It was the sort of shot one might complain about in the park for being too hard, to be fair to De Gea.

So, we were losing at home to a rival and the crowd was threatening to turn. Thankfully for us, Lukaku rose to the occasion to draw us level, finishing off an intricate move. Red Rom hadn’t scored against any of the top six this season, so this was overdue in a way, but that seems harsh. Instead we should celebrate the striker ending his dry spell against the elite, this despite him initially losing the ball due to an errant first touch. But Matic drove a low pass at Alexis, who turned instantly before laying the ball into Martial in the box, who we know has outstanding close control and touch in positions like that – seen in Lingard’s first goal against Arsenal earlier on in the season. The winger moved it on to Lukaku, whose first touch with his right foot took the ball away from Alonso’s challenge, allowing him to pass it into the corner with his left to make it 22 in all competitions. Brilliant.

The half ended with us on top, flying into tackles and Matic and Pogba thoroughly dominant, dribbling through the middle. Hazard had not had the ball as much as he is used to, thanks mainly to McTominay being instructed to stand on his toes and follow him round. It wasn’t an obvious job, like Herrera did in this fixture last year, but it was noticeable how many times it was the 6”4 Lancastrian who engaged first with Hazard, no matter where he received the ball.

The second half was all United as we put in an unbelievable demonstration of control, battling hard, winning the ball quickly, and setting our attackers away. The improvement was frightening, and we completely deserved the eventual win.

The towering Matic put in his best performance for ages, determined to show his former club what they were missing. With Pogba, carrying the ball at will, he bossed the midfield completely. While seeing him three times ghost past ‘world class’ Kante like a competitive dad versus his 3 year old son was hilarious, it was the moments when Pogba did not have to beat a man that was noticeable. Chelsea had failed to track Pogba’s runs, and were now often forced to hack clear the Frenchman’s attempted final balls. 3 in midfield suits us better, allowing Matic to go through games without blowing hard and freeing up Pogba to create.

Panna!

 

We can’t ignore Pogba treating Kante like his bitch every time they got 1 on 1 though. To think that our number 6 is often compared to that glorified marathon runner… he seemed determined to show who was boss. With a neat stepover he slipped past the Chelsea man, who promptly hacked him down for a yellow card, unable to compete with Pogba. He also got nutmegged in the second half, from a flick pass on the edge of the box. In direct opposition, there was no contest.

Lukaku was giving everything, his hold up play exemplary, his pace and power unreal. He was man of the match, completely answering his critics (like me) that he never does it against the big clubs. He was making the ball stick, laying the ball off to his colleagues, and never giving Chelsea’s three centre-backs a moment rest.

Sanchez hadn’t been amazing, often losing the ball for us by attempting a high-risk pass or dribble. But the genius was still on show, with a world class dig out cross from nothing for Lukaku to go close with a scissor kick. Courtois tipped it over, but United had the wind behind them.

Lingard was sent on and immediately energised things with his movement. United pushed further forward, seeking the winner, but this led to gaps for Chelsea. A 30 yarder from Drinkwater was parried away by De Gea poorly, and then he almost spilled a fairly simple and mild Willian free-kick over his own goal-line. A rare human performance for De Gea then, spilling everything, but in his defence the sun was in his eyes all second half and he was constantly putting his arm over his forehead to try and catch the flight of balls in the air. Why was some lackey not sent to his goal to chuck him a cap?

United went in front with a terrific goal. McTominay floated the ball forward, expertly spotting Lukaku’s run to the right hand side. He used his strength to hold off a challenge before a neat bit of footwork saw him make room for a delicious pin point cross onto the head of Lingard, who converted deftly. His late run had completely surprised Christensen. Another Lionel Jesse header! What a moment for the sub, and what a season he’s having. 2-1, and the Stretford End found its voice, expressing their gratitude to the Warrington Wizard. The atmosphere soon turned nervous again though, as almost straight from the kick off Willian ran on to a through ball and tried to catch De Gea out at his near post, but he denied him safely this time.

 

Conte didn’t waste time once Lingard’s 13^th goal in all competitions hit the net. He took off Moses for Giroud and went two up front, and long ball, keen to see if having two tall strikers on the field could create some knock downs for his side. A few minutes later, Fabregas was on as well to supply the ammunition.

In response to Conte’s changes, Mourinho went ultra-defensive and brought on Bailly for Sanchez, switching to 5-3-1-1. It made sense, but it led to an obvious change in the momentum, with Chelsea now taking control of the ball. Thankfully for us, Fabregas had been brought on far too late. By the time he’d got into the flow of the game, pinging passes around, United had adjusted to our new formation and were looking solid as a rock. The defence, and our gaffer, deserve credit for holding out against the Blues and their last ditch attacks on our goal. 

One more chance for United transpired when Lukaku picked up a loose ball inside his own half after United had hacked clear. He turned and accelerated, pushing the ball miles clear of him, leaving Chelsea defenders in his wake with his turn of speed and sudden burst. Up against the whole defence on his own, he got a shot off, blocked and out for an attacking throw-in, a perfect way to let the seconds tick by. It was the side of Lukaku we had rarely seen – picking up from deep and driving forward – given he’s usually wanting the ball in behind and is unwilling to get involved in the action too far away from goal. But perhaps the incredible run was a sign of things to come, that he can do his own heavy lifting at times.

At the other end, United were very lucky that Morata was flagged offside wrongly when hitting the back of the net to steal an equaliser. Mind, the United backline had stopped when the flag came up, so we will never know if Morata had got the space to score if the linesman never made the incorrect decision. Some fine timewasting at the end, particularly from Pogba and Lukaku, helped reduce Chelsea’s opportunities to launch it to their twin target men. One final chance came when a corner was conceded, but despite Courtois being up, the delivery was poor and Lingard duly smashed clear to the wonderful tone of the final whistle. Yes!



Judging by this pic, Sanchez has seemingly forgotten how terrifying celebrating a goal can be

If we play like we did in the second half every week, we would be right up there with City. Dynamic, energetic, clever runs and individual flair all combined in a greatest hits album. Lukaku, the title track in this already tortured metaphor, can be over the moon with his best game yet for United. Sure he scored one and made the other, but it was his all-round game, in a crucial match against one of the best defences, that really registered in my mind.

Martial was poor, and it has to be said that sometimes it is galling that Lingard outperforms him, someone with a third of his ability. It was frustrating seeing how little the ex-Monaco man moved off the ball – always wanting it to feet, rather than run in behind. The contrast with Lingard was stark; everything sped up when he came on, making an impact off the bench that is customary these days. He does seem to lift the team considerably on occasions. Of course, Lingard’s deficiencies in talent lead to some indifferent displays, like at Newcastle or against Spurs at Wembley. But he has, against the odds, made himself a cornerstone of the squad.

Some of the criticisms of Martial are ridiculous – for instance, the allegation that he doesn’t smile enough, and thus doesn’t want to be here and is miserable – but it has to be said his body language doesn’t give off a great vibe. When he was hooked, he fucking strolled off, at 1-1, when we had the momentum… it wasn’t a good look. (It was the type of petulant shit that Nani got hammered for. No danger of that given our cringe fanbase led by ‘Martial FC’ weirdos on twitter). This maybe is nit-picking, given that with the exception of decision making, Martial is among the best in the world for his age and seemingly only mental barriers will prevent him becoming world class. Even here, his lightning quick feet gave him an assist for the first goal. But still, it wouldn’t kill the lad to look a bit more motivated. Not that Jose will care too much about any of this – Lingard’s winner made it 10 league goals off the bench for us this season, a league high, and evidence that more often than not, the manager gets his subs spot-on.

McTominay was a huge positive. He didn’t quite put Hazard in his pocket like some suggested (I mean the Belgian carved us open for their goal) but it was a very good man-marking job against such a skilful player. The young lad responded really well after not tracking Willlian for that goal to put in a mature performance. Sure, his passing lacks a bit of variety, but he was composed, and United looked a better side with him in it. The kid showed considerable nerve to play in such a big game so early in his career. The fact that Chelsea’s star man was taken off with the result on the line said everything as to how intelligent and diligent McTominay had been in carrying out the task set by Mourinho. He’d seen off Hazard!

It should be said out loud – 1-0 down, being outplayed, we managed to turn it around, take control, and grab the points. When did that last happen? We certainly don’t win many from a goal down, but the second half performance, and the very best of Lukaku, demanded the spoils. What a victory.

United (4-3-3) De Gea 5.5; Valencia 7, Smalling 6.5, Lindelof 7, Young 6; McTominay 7.5, Matic 8.5, Pogba 8.5; Sanchez 6.5 (Bailly 81, 6), Lukaku 9, Martial 5.5 (Lingard 64, 7.5).

Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 6.5, Christensen 6.5, Rudiger 6; Moses 5.5 (Giroud 78, 6), Drinkwater 6 (Fabregas 81, 6), Kante 6, Alonso 7; Willian 7.5, Hazard 6.5 (Pedro 73, 6); Morata 5.5.

Look at the passion from Lukaku against his old club. YANITED

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United

Chelsea 1-0 Manchester United (Morata 55)

 

I say it every year, but an away match at Chelsea is a special kind of sporting torture. More often than not it involves scoring few goals and conceding many, and get this, you have to pay one of the richest men in the world thirty odd quid to watch it happen. Our terrible record at Stamford Bridge barely needs mentioning (the loss here made it one win in the last sixteen league games) but the fixture has taken on a bigger significance ever since Jose Mourinho, Chelsea’s greatest ever manager, took up his office at Carrington.

Last year’s games here were a 4-0 tonking and a 1-0 Cup quarter final loss after Ander Herrera had been sent off. Undeterred, Mourinho ordered Herrera to perform man-marking duties on Eden Hazard again, and the Spaniard carried out the job to perfection at Old Trafford as United, in one of the best results of last season, came away with a 2-0 win. It was highly unlikely such tactics would be utilised again this time around with Herrera needed in the middle of the park as one of only two fully-fit senior midfielders. Fellaini was back unexpectedly, but was only fit enough for the bench. So, the United boss kept faith with the same XI that had beaten Spurs a week ago, maintaining the three/five at the back. It made sense, not only to match up with Chelsea’s formation, but also because, hey, we beat Spurs. As the boss said in his pre-match presser "Tottenham beat Liverpool 4-1, Real Madrid 3-1, but didn't score against us. My players deserve a little bit of credit”.

The main omission was obviously Anthony Martial. In his stubborn refusal to play Martial, Rashford and Lukaku together, Mourinho hurts the team and restricts our attacking potential. Mkhitaryan is a lovely footballer but he is dreadfully out of form, and had no business starting a game of this magnitude. Mata was never going to start at his former club given his propensity to disappear in away games, and his own patchy form, but his omission from the squad was a surprise. Matic though, was going to be one our key men at his old stomping ground.

Chelsea had come into this late Sunday encounter in slight disarray, after being swept aside 3-0 by an impressive Roma team in midweek. The defence, which Antonio Conte holds so dear, was schoolboy like, and the pundits afterwards focused on the sale of Matic as a key factor for their loss of midfield protection. Conte took action, dropping David Luiz from the squad and instead placing his faith in Andreas Christensen. N’Golo Kante returned after injury to form three in the engine room. As always with the Blues, whispers of dressing room unhappiness and the Russian tycoon’s itchy trigger finger were never far away.  Chelsea needed to respond.

After Liverpool and Spurs, everyone expected us to park the bus, but in fact United started positively, pressing high up the pitch and doing our best to get Rashford and Lukaku away running against their defenders. This wasn’t a surprise. With City beating Arsenal 3-1 earlier, they were now 8 points ahead. Dragging them back to 7 wouldn’t make a great difference – it was time to win, and banish those bad memories of pathetic away days at the top 6. The game was explosive for a top-of-the-table clash, with the first incident packed twenty minutes flying by.

Phil Jones scored an own-goal volley worthy of any bloopers DVD presented by Danny Baker, but the ref thought that Alvaro Morata had pushed him and the strike was chalked off. Less than a minute later, Rashford had a free header from close range to put us ahead, but he closed his eyes at the point of impact from Young’s cross and it looped over. Had he headed it downward, it probably would’ve beaten Courtois.

Chelsea responded immediately. United’s pressing had one big flaw; the coolness of Cesc Fabregas under pressure. The stylish Spanish schemer was never rushed and always seemed to have an extra second to try and create, and he was so successful at playing around United that his midfield partner Bakayoko, a summer signing from Monaco who had been quite disappointing so far this season, was able to make several piercing runs into the box. He tamely sliced wide when in a great position after a top centre from Zappacosta, and throughout the entire match was able to exploit the hole and take up great positions behind Herrera and Matic. Without Pogba or even Carrick (clutching at straws here) to put his foot on it, Chelsea seized the initiative.

Hazard forced De Gea into an untidy save when striking from the D, and from the rebound Fabregas headed wide. Chelsea’s system was now purring, and Morata was pulling our three centre-backs all over West London with his clever runs into the channels. The former Juventus and Real Madrid striker was a terrific outlet, with his pace (and ability to dribble directly if he had no help) giving United’s defence a real headache. At the other end, Lukaku had a snap shot parried away by his international team mate Courtois, as the first half continued to excite. We were having difficulty in launching counters, as Azpiliceuta regularly stepped out of the back 3 to block passing lines to Lukaku, plus our wing-backs, Valencia and Young, were having a tough time advancing into Chelsea territory.

One of the reasons Chelsea had begun to be dominant was that Hazard was getting more of the ball in attacking areas. Why? Well, simply, Chelsea had three in midfield to our two and we always struggled to retain the ball. But just as important was our unfamiliarity and unsuitability with the back three. We don’t, with Rojo still not back, possess a centre-half who is brilliant at bringing the ball out, and too often we had three players marking one, Morata. This meant in practice that Chelsea could occupy a chunk of our team with one man and thus pass around the players stationed in front, hence why Bakayoko and Hazard were picking up great positions. On the team sheet of course, Hazard was listed as playing up top with Morata, but the Belgian roamed around in a free role befitting his status as Chelsea’s star man. United didn’t assign one player to follow him, and so he was becoming more influential.

Still, half time came and went and we were in it. Our coach had noticed the problem with the space, and within 5 minutes of the restart two United players were booked for tough tackles on Hazard, keen to let him know he would not have as much freedom in this half. United’s centre-backs also started to push further up to stop the space between the lines. It needed to be done, but it inadvertently led to the goal.

Opta had put out the stat that no player has scored more headed goals in the big five European leagues since the start of last season than Morata. So of course he was unmarked to power home an admittedly towering header from a great ball from the ever resourceful Azpiliceuta. Jones had been drawn out to cover other threats, but we still had two centre-backs to cover the Spaniard, but Bailly and Smalling were caught napping and top strikers only need a sniff. 1-0.

Few teams are harder to play against when losing than Chelsea and you sensed straight away it was going to be an uphill task. It could’ve been two as Fabregas played in Hazard who swept a first-time effort straight at De Gea. Mourinho reacted quickly bringing on Martial and Fellaini; It was a welcome return for the giant midfielder, but it soon turned nightmarish.

Let’s not get this twisted, Manchester United have badly missed Fellaini, especially with Pogba out. His game changing qualities made him an obvious candidate for coming on, but it was clearly too soon. Even Stevie Wonder could see straight away he wasn’t fully fit. He was immediately pickpocketed by Bakayoko when dawdling on the ball and was lucky that the Frenchman blasted wide after being held up by Smalling. If he had waited a couple more seconds, he could’ve given the rapidly advancing Morata a practical tap-in for another goal. This was one of three Chelsea opportunities created by Fellaini’s clumsiness in possession and general lack of finesse. He was a direct hindrance to his side for a good while.

United then did fuck all for ages, or rather, Chelsea didn’t let us. The Champions then passed it around, happy to make United chase the ball, content to let the game drift into the closing stages knowing they could counter as the Red Devils pushed more players forward. In the final 10 minutes, Fellaini was stationed up front as a target man, ball after ball was slung into the box, and all of a sudden the mood of the game changed. It was curious that as much as we had been outplayed in the second half, you could clearly see Chelsea were bricking it in the last 10 minutes as they drastically dropped deep to deal with Fellaini. It was quite frantic.

The expensively assembled Man Utd of Jose Mourinho went route one in search of an equaliser, and the ABU’s loved it, I’m sure. Pretty much every team goes direct when losing in the last few minutes, but whatever. It was starting to work, anyway. Rashford flashed wide with a left footed half-volley from the edge of the box after a Herrera cross was headed out poorly. Then an even better chance – a hoof from Bailly, world class chest control and turn in the box from Fellaini, and a shot that forced Courtois into a good save. On the other hand, we were now vulnerable at the back, and Morata should’ve finished off a swift breakaway but got his feet in a muddle and blew a one-on-one in pretty much the only mistake he made all evening.

At one point during this onslaught, the ball trickled towards Matic out wide on the left with loads of red shirts in the box, and he let it out for a throw which he didn’t even take long. A minor detail but it annoyed me no end – just lump it in the general direction of Fellaini, you daft prick. As good as he’d been, he was constantly receiving it in 1 on 1 situations during this phase of play. The ball fell to him in a dangerous situation frequently in the last 10 minutes but he couldn’t do anything, it was pretty frustrating. I’ll forgive him though, he was the only outfield player who really was calm and thoughtful with his passing throughout. It’s not like we bought him to unlock a packed defence and nick us a goal in the dying minutes at Chelsea anyway.

It was end-to-end at this point. Lingard's long ball was flicked on by Fellaini (by now, our biggest threat) and Matic was fouled 25 yards out. Rashford took the free-kick, and it was deflected over. Chelsea cleared the corner, and that was that. Conte had got it spot on, and we were a tad lucky it was only 1-0.

Chelsea had obviously won the midfield battle. Kante coming back made a big difference to them, he enabled the superb Fabregas and Hazard, meaning they could focus on attack. Bakayoko, as mentioned before, was excellent with the timing of his runs, but fortunately for us he made the wrong decision almost every time to waste his chances. But I still do feel they could’ve been nullified if we had played a trio in the middle from the start, but with Fellaini not fully-fit it maybe wasn’t worth the risk.

Did Mourinho do loads wrong? Probably not. Some reckoned we were scared and terrible… We were a lot more offensive than at Anfield. In any case, had Morata’s incredible man of the match performance rendered discussion of our set up largely meaningless? We need our own talisman Pogba back sharpish for the big games. Oh and no more back three. Please. Even against City. Well, maybe in that special case. Obviously, for this game it was fine, but with Fellaini fit again, changing the system to a variant of 4-3-3 is a must for the big clashes. We just don’t quite have the personnel to truly make the most out of the back three/five.

Mkhitaryan was a disgrace, there is very little else you can say. His role was crucial, to link the forwards and midfielders, but he completely failed, barely touching the ball, and committing the ultimate sin in a Mourinho team in a big away game: completely failing to press and show your work-rate off the ball. Given that he fought his way back into the team last season partly based on his tenacity compared to some of the other creative players, this was a real shame. With the Armenian on the pitch, Man Utd may as well have played with ten men. He has been the player who has missed Pogba the most, his confidence is at rock bottom, and it’s getting harder to remember his last properly good game. When you’re off form like he is, the least you expect is a bit of fight - instead he looked like he didn’t give a shit. Perhaps the guy just needs a break, give him some time off and let him run riot in December. That, or hypnotise him into believing every game is in the Europa League. But we are entitled to expect more from someone who almost always this season has started in his preferred position and yet produced dreadful crap since September. 

There’s definitely a school of thought that you can’t blame the forwards due to lack of service, and to an extent I accept that. But also, fuck that. (See that intelligent counter argument?) We spent £75m on Lukaku, and despite his great start it’s becoming clear he can’t hold the ball up that well -he certainly didn’t here- and doesn’t create chances for himself frequently. He has to make the ball stick. This was the sort of 90 minutes from him I was fearing in big games when he was signed. The contrast with the all-action Morata (another red target in the summer) was stark. In mitigation, against the big teams we haven’t yet put in a class performance, and it is his first season.

The final whistle went and Conte went onto to pitch to celebrate a pressure-relieving win, blanking Mourinho. Moaning about managerial handshakes should be the sole preserve of Mark Hughes, but the incident did nothing to alleviate the rumours that the two bosses really don’t like each other. Not that I cared about such nonsense – it’s the international break now, with Germany and Brazil strutting their stuff at Wembley. Time to lick our wounds, regroup, and ensure we’re ready for Newcastle on November 18^th.

United (5-2-1-2) De Gea 8; Valencia 6, Bailly 7, Smalling 6.5, Jones 6 (Fellaini 62, 5.5), Young 5.5 (Lingard 78, 5); Herrera 6, Matic 7.5; Mkhitaryan 3.5 (Martial 62, 5); Rashford 6, Lukaku 5.

Chelsea ratings as well, because why not:

Chelsea (3-5-2) Courtois 7; Azpilicueta 8, Christensen 8, Cahill 7; Zappacosta 6 (Rudiger 66, 5.5), Fabregas 8 (Drinkwater 79, 5.5), Kante 8, Bakayoko 6, Alonso 6.5; Morata 9, Hazard 8 (Willian 87).