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Chelsea vs Manchester United was always going to be the biggest game of the weekend with the two big clubs going head to head in their English Premier League opener. However, the match turned out to be a one-sided affair with United crushing Chelsea by four goals to nil.
The game started brightly with both sides constantly pushing for chances. Chelsea got close when Tammy Abraham got the ball at the edge of the box due to some sloppy passing from United. He unleashed an absolute banger which hit the post. United replied positively with some fantastic exchanges between their front three. Marcus Rashford, in particular, was an absolute live-wire as he caused all sorts of problems for the Chelsea back-line.
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As the game progressed, Chelsea struggled even more and more. The passing got sloppier and the finishing was poor. United ended up scoring four goals as Chelsea were not just defeated, they were left embarrassed. Even with the introduction of Christian Pulisic, a.k.a Captain America, and N'Golo Kante, Chelsea weren't even able to get a consolation goal.
Here, we take a look at some talking points from the match at Old Trafford
#3 Chelsea's unsettled defence
Now, this was inevitable, isn't it? Chelsea's defense was never expected to be at its best as their senior-most (and most loved) center-back, David Luiz, decided to leave the club for a direct rival across town at the eleventh hour.
With Antonio Rudiger unable to play due to injury, Chelsea had to settle with a rather inexperienced duo of Kurt Zouma and Andreas Christensen at the back. And as much as the fan-base loves Zouma, it was obvious that he was uncomfortable playing in this new system and looked a little too shaky.
Zouma conceded the penalty in the first half due to a rash challenge. While it did look like he slipped, the challenge was itself too dangerous and a penalty had to be given. As the match progress, Zouma was just unable to contain the energetic front-line of United.
He seemed confused with the zones and wasn't able to assert any authority in the match. On the other hand, Andreas Christensen didn't look as bad as Zouma, however, his contribution in the match was questionable as he did go missing at crucial junctures.
The captain, Cesar Azpilicueta, also struggled with the electric pace of Marcus Rashford and was often seen hopelessly chasing the Englishman.
As controversial as it may seem, it looks as if Azpilicueta should be moved to center-back. With age, Azpilicueta has lost pace and doesn't really seem the right person to play at right-back.
As soon as Reece James is fit, Chelsea must take the decision and push him into the right-back position. What this will do is that it will bring some stability to the center back role. Moreover, Reece will be able to play the full-back role better as he has decent pace and is pretty physical.
#2 Finishing: New manager, same story
One of Chelsea's biggest problems last season was the finishing. No matter how many chances they created, they just looked incapable of finishing them. It was expected that a new system would bring in a new spark. However, the story has been the same.
Against United, Chelsea got into good crossing positions and even put in some qualitycrosses. But no Chelsea forward was able to meet those crosses.
There were some occasions when Chelsea players were unable to finish chances due to some poor decisions. Tammy Abraham even missed an absolute sitter at the far post where he had to just make contact with the ball.
The main outcome of this whole problem is that despite playing some good football, Chelsea fails to convert chances to goals and Manchester United made them pay dearly for their profligacy. And due to this, they fail to take control of the match. What is even more disappointing that despite the change in the striker position as well as the system, Chelsea still cannot finish chances.
If Chelsea are looking to at least stay in the top six this season, their finishing has to improve by leaps and bounds.
#1 United were sublime on the counter
So, this is one tactic where the approach is very different from the two sides. During the match, it looked like Chelsea were playing out from the back and weren't looking to break on the counter. On the other hand, United were more direct in their approach and relied heavily on counter-attacks.
It seems that Ole Solskjaer has decided to depend upon the pace and agility of Anthony Martial and Marcus Rashford for his attacks. Throughout the game, United were constantly pushing up-field through quick exchanges.
At the same time, Chelsea were unable to adapt to the pace of the game. Since Chelsea were slowly building up from the back, the fullbacks tried to bombard forward with the ball. However, whenever Chelsea lost the ball, United got forward in numbers taking advantage of the high backline.
Again, the problem of an aging Cesar Azpilicueta was clearly visible as he wasn't able to contain the counters. Against a counter-attacking team like United, Chelsea must look to field a faster fullback as Azpilicueta can have problems back-tracking to handle the quick wingers.
As Chelsea look to get their form back on track after this horrendous opening, it is important that Lampard realizes the problems that are visible in his system and looks to rectify them.
