[Crackers]

We still don't quite have the midfield balance right. Like on Monday, there were times when our defenders and Blind couldn't find the out ball. We either need more movement further forward or more dropping back to pick up the ball. Rooney would improve things, I think.

Mata should have been that link but wasn't nearly effective enough. Di Maria was unsure what to do other than run with the ball or cross because of it.
With Rooney there instead of Mata we'd have been more clinical.

 

[Revan]

Predicted 1-1 on the match thread. Still not happy with the result (although we were a few seconds away to not even get a point) and generally happy with the performance.

Good things:
Our attacking play was good IMO. Despite Rooney and Falcao not being on the pitch, Mata continuing his not good form and Di Maria being awful, I thought that we played well attacking wise and created quite a few chances. Januzaj was magnificient on the first half, Fellaini played a very good game and both our wing backs were playing well. Extremely impressed by Luke Shaw. I have no doubt that if he continues working hard, he'll be the best left back in England and probably in Europe within three seasons.
De Gea was just immense. He kept us on the match on the first half and then made one of the best one on one saves I have seen recently. The reflexes on that save were just fantastic. He also seems to get everything on air. Superb keeper!

Bad things:
Our defending on general is absolute crap. I really have no idea how on Earth we are this bad at it and how we make so many basic defending mistakes. On the beginning of the game, Rafael was being constantly on one on one situations with Eden Hazard who is one of the best wingers on the world. Then from every set piece, he was defending against Drogba (who is half a foot taller). It was absolutely mental why that was happening. I know that Chelsea has other dangerous players on the air (Ivanovic, Terry, Cahill and Matic), but for the love of God, Rafael is our shortest player. Why he has to defend against Drogba on around 10 set pieces. It is a miracle how Drogba scored only once.
Rojo defensively looks very similar to David Luiz. No ability on reading the game, no concentration and brainfarts very often. Smalling was better but still somehow let Hazard go in one on one with De Gea despite being a foot near from him. He acted like he wasn't present there. Then obviously him being shit at passing the ball under any kind of pressure.
Van Persie was dissapointing again IMO. Although eh scored a goal on the 95th minute so all is forgiven. Still, not a good performance from him and it looks to me that he has gone into Ronaldo level of selfishness.

To conclude, I was happy with the performance. Happy with the majority of players though not with Rojo, RVP and Di Maria. I still find our defending bizarre and against City it will be much more difficult considering that they have so many weapons. The result is acceptable, although I think that we could have got all the three points if it wasn't for being wasteful on attack and having joke defending abilities.

 

[vidal7]

[QUOTE="Judge Red, post: 16639391, member: 19423"]It's difficult to feel great about a last minute equaliser when Chelsea have had a midweek Champions League match. BUT for the second week running the players have grabbed a point that they wouldn't have last year.

Not setting the world on fire but going in the right direction - and nobody has done any better against Chelsea so far.[/QUOTE]
Whats this about? Chelsea have not lost after 19 Champions league matches IN A ROW. United had a similar record until you know who took over. Baseless arguent.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

I'll go as far as saying that was our best performance of the season so far, and we need to take a lot from the game.
I've been crying out for us to play a more direct game, and today we showed it.
Over the last few matches we have been holding the ball up in defence, giving the opposition time to get back, and then we are making it very difficult for ourselves, but today we made a lot of positive forward passes and tried to take out the more forward players of Chelsea today giving us less numbers to attack against.

Now, don't get me wrong, Chelsea don't need to regroup quickly and make it as hard as possible to break down, so they are happy to press up field more, so I can't really compare this to West Brom for example, but against them, we let them make a solid defence of their full squad before we attacked, what we need to do more often is get the ball forward as quickly as possible and take out their players.

We didn't do a lot wrong today, and against a team that is better than us, we matched them, and deserved the draw. We need to take the positives from this match and use them.
We have City away next, another very tough match, it's hard to say we will get anything from the game, but a good performance will hopefully give us a confidence boost to crack on

 

[Mister Ed]

We still don't quite have the midfield balance right. Like on Monday, there were times when our defenders and Blind couldn't find the out ball. We either need more movement further forward or more dropping back to pick up the ball. Rooney would improve things, I think.

Rooney is vital to this team. People wanted to see how things would be without him, well what I have seen is that we are less dangerous without him, score less goals and that Di Maria struggles to get into his best game without him.

Rooney in that midfield of today instead of Mata will be a world of difference and upfront Falcao instead of RVP will also be a world of difference.

 

[Revan]

I think our defence was very good today. Especially when compared to the previous matches this season.

I doubt that Rafael was supposed to mark Drogba though. Someone must have lost him. Fellaini or Smalling? I dont think we're daft enough to let Rafael mark him at corners.

Really happy for van Persie and Fellaini.

I think we're on the right track.

It was definitely intentional. In every set piece I could observed, he was on Drogba. I complained on the match thread (on the first half) for that.

Just absurd and don't have the slightest idea why that was the case. Rafael is good on the air for someone his size, but Drogba is a monster on the air and is half a foot taller.

 

[Kyonn]

Quick thoughts

Mata has no place in the starting 11 when everyone is fit, I really hope there is some truth to the Vidal swap rumour.

RVP is much better up top alone then with a partner.

Both Di Maria and Adnan are at their best on the left

I still say that 4-3-3, with a clearly out of the players who don't fit, is the way forward.

 

[SirAF]

I thought we did quite well, in general. Rafael, however, scares the shit out of me.. He's such a liability at times! Not talking about the Drogba goal now, but in general. Poor positioning and rash challenges.

 

[17 Van der Gouw]

We didn't do a lot wrong today, and against a team that is better than us, we matched them, and deserved the draw. We need to take the positives from this match and use them.

Good post. Chelsea are probably the best team in the country at the moment and at times we were bossing it. Chelsea had their share of chances too and dominated most of the second half, but we've proven we can still match the big boys and if we carry on playing with such spirit going forward we must make top 4 - especially when Herrera, Rooney and possibly Carrick are fully fit again.

 

[Sied]

It was definitely intentional. In every set piece I could observed, he was on Drogba. I complained on the match thread (on the first half) for that.

Just absurd and don't have the slightest idea why that was the case. Rafael is good on the air for someone his size, but Drogba is a monster on the air and is half a foot taller.

LVG said something about this in the post match interview. Something along the lines of we didn't have enough tall players to match Chelsea's, but despite this there was a lack of communication between Rafael and Fellaini over who should have been marking Drogba.

 

[17 Van der Gouw]

I thought we did quite well, in general. Rafael, however, scares the shit out of me.. He's such a liability at times! Not talking about the Drogba goal now, but in general. Poor positioning and rash challenges.

But absolutely fearless taking on full backs, it's almost as if he'd make a good winger.

 

[Revan]

LVG said something about this in the post match interview. Something along the lines of we didn't have enough tall players to match Chelsea's, but despite this there was a lack of communication between Rafael and Fellaini over who should have been marking Drogba.

Haven't heard it, but still find it strange how anyone could have thought that it is a good idea if Rafael marks Drogba. Our centerbacks on their centerbacks, Fellaini on Drogba, RVP/Shaw on Matic, the other on Ivanovic.

I just don't get why a 5'8'' player was marking a 6'2'' player the entire match.

 

[SirAF]

But absolutely fearless taking on full backs, it's almost as if he'd make a good winger.

Absolutely, he's an asset going forward. But I'd rather have a full back who is better at defending.

 

[Joga Bonito]

How about that through-ball from Januzaj in the first half, btw. Superb vision and execution, unfortunately let down by RVP's current inability to score past a keeper who's come out to meet him. He's let four or five chances of that sort go begging in the last three games, needs to get himself a chip finish.

Agreed, he needs to be a bit more lethal and you'd back the old RVP to score those chances anyday. Can think of the Burnley game where he had one or two similar chances from Di Maria's passes, the West Brom game again from another Di Maria pass and this game from a Januzaj pass. They weren't blatantly easy chances but you'd expect a player of RVP's quality to put those away.

Was particularly impressed at how our midfield managed to neutralize Fabregas who had a minimal impact throughout the game. Smalling, Mata, DDG and Fellaini were all pretty good more or less but Di Maria could have done better. I was just disappointed by our lack of urgency during the 50-70 min period when Chelsea were just content with knocking the ball around their own defense and midfield. We could have shown a bit more urgency in possession and our pressing, seeing as we were chasing the game during this period. Overall not a bad point at all.

 

[Sied]

Haven't heard it, but still find it strange how anyone could have thought that it is a good idea if Rafael marks Drogba. Our centerbacks on their centerbacks, Fellaini on Drogba, RVP/Shaw on Matic, the other on Ivanovic.

I just don't get why a 5'8'' player was marking a 6'2'' player the entire match.

Agreed. Fellaini was marking Oscar for the first few corners. It made absolutely no sense.

 

[JakeC]

Great performance by the lads, if we get a result against City it could really kick start our season.

 

[Henrik Larsson]

Love how he puts De Gea ahead of Courtois

 

[Catt]

We got a great improvement from Souness even.

 

[Sultan]

Fair result in the end. This despite Di Maria having his worst game. Nice to see Januzaj, and Shaw making improvements despite playing against tough opponents. I thought United wasted a lot of possession crossing aimlessly. It was always going to be difficult with the height and power Chelsea possess at the back. The equaliser came from Ivanovic sending off.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Pretty good result when you consider chelsea Will probbaly be champions this year. But looking at the balance of play, we could have won this. Can't complain though given the difference so far between the two sides. But I don't see us getting much out of our next game so a win could have been good. Overall, satisfied with today.

 

[sammsky1]

Fair result in the end. This despite Di Maria having his worst game. Nice to see Januzaj, and Shaw making improvements despite playing against tough opponents. I thought United wasted a lot of possession crossing aimlessly. It was always going to be difficult with the height and power Chelsea possess at the back. The equaliser came from Ivanovic sending off.

Apart from the obvious one man down and the free kick, surely its simply another free kick. Chelsea should have the height and power to clear their lines? Or do you think the red card psyched them out?

Now this season is beginning to shape up, what do you sense different from last year?

 

[.Rossi]

In the grand scheme of things, everyone should be happy with this result and the way we fought right until the end. It's nice to have that back, at least for now, it would seem.

It's the Leicester, Burnley and West Brom results that have killed us

 

[siw2007]

We deserved the point in the end. We were the better side in he first half and could have gone in to the break in the lead, Chelsea were definitely the stronger side in the second but we dug deep and got the fortune we probably deserved. Thought their were better performances from Mata, Januzaj and the defence as a whole, Fellaini and De Gea had another great game but Chelsea shackled Di Maria well and struggled to get into the game.

I was at the other end of the pitch when Chelsea had the penalty shout so couldn't see it but will take other people's word for it that it was a penalty. However, it maybe unfair for Chelsea but we had a clear penalty denied on Monday so it's even stevens for us.

Will be welcoming Rooney back next week and hopefully Falcao makes a return as well. Will need to be on top of our game to stand a chance against Aguero, Silva and co.

 

[OneUnited24]

We were not bad. But individually, some of our players look shaky in defence. Rojo and Smalling are not the most composed of centre back pairings.

Especially when one is coming back from injury and its the others first season in the league.

Rojo i still think is a little rash in the tackle but i thought Smalling did well.

 

[Jazz]

I was pleased with our fighting spirit. We got what we deserved in the end. And the most important thing is that we gave another improved performance. I swear once we get up to speed, we will be awesome. I get the feeling that the players are responding to LVG's methods, and even DeGea who started off shaky has been looking really good in the last few games. No longer is he hesitant, he's playing with assurance. And the other important thing is that we kept going to the end and got the goal. Nice to see us getting our identity back in bits.

Don't worry lads - we will be awesome, it's just going to be a bit of a painful process in the meantime.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

Quite surprised at the papers reaction to this, Telegrpah slating our defence, and Mail saying this was just papering over the cracks.

I thought we did pretty well, especially keeping in mind that we have Rooney, Falcao, Herrera, Carrick, and Jones still in reserve, personally i'm pretty optimistic for the future.

 

[Jazz]

Quite surprised at the papers reaction to this, Telegrpah slating our defence, and Mail saying this was just papering over the cracks.

I thought we did pretty well, especially keeping in mind that we have Rooney, Falcao, Herrera, Carrick, and Jones still in reserve, personally i'm pretty optimistic for the future.

The press doesn't want to give us credit for anything. Feck them! They were getting their poison pens ready to slag us off something bad after they predicted we would get thumped by Chelsea.

 

[iBoss]

Quite surprised at the papers reaction to this, Telegrpah slating our defence, and Mail saying this was just papering over the cracks.

I thought we did pretty well, especially keeping in mind that we have Rooney, Falcao, Herrera, Carrick, and Jones still in reserve, personally i'm pretty optimistic for the future.

Prior to the game they all claimed we would get battered, they can go suck a fat one.

 

[C'est Moi Cantona]

The press doesn't want to give us credit for anything. Feck them! They were getting their poison pens ready to slag us off something bad after they predicted we would get thumped by Chelsea.

It's strange though, after the West Brom game alot were saying we looked great going forward, and progress is been made, then in a game immeasurably harder we do really well to come back at Chelsea, and manage open up them up like no other team has this season, this with many key players missing, and we were a bit crap? They just seem to make it up as they go along.

 

[Speak]

Pretty sure a lot of people on here thought we'd get battered too...

 

[Jazz]

It's strange though, after the West Brom game alot were saying we looked great going forward, and progress is been made, then in a game immeasurably harder we do really well to come back at Chelsea, and manage open up them up like no other team has this season, this with many key players missing, and we were a bit crap? They just seem to make it up as they go along.

They sure do. Irritate the hell out of me. Useless excuse for journalists.

 

[Raw]

It's strange though, after the West Brom game alot were saying we looked great going forward, and progress is been made, then in a game immeasurably harder we do really well to come back at Chelsea, and manage open up them up like no other team has this season, this with many key players missing, and we were a bit crap? They just seem to make it up as they go along.

To be fair Everton and Swansea managed to score a few goals against them. It's just that they lacked the defensive ability to counter Chelsea's attack like we did today.

 

[Kingcon]

Great result, felt this would have been 0-0 but solid point.

Only thing that's bothering me as of late. Januzi is sitting on the ball too long, sorta like Nani used to do. He's way more effective making a quick move against the defender and driving either inside or to the byline.

Shame we Falco wasn't fit but good to see Wilson get involved.

 

[vidal7]

Fair result in the end. This despite Di Maria having his worst game. Nice to see Januzaj, and Shaw making improvements despite playing against tough opponents. I thought United wasted a lot of possession crossing aimlessly. It was always going to be difficult with the height and power Chelsea possess at the back. The equaliser came from Ivanovic sending off.

They brought zuma on for hazard(i think ), it did not matter.

 

[LR7]

Performance wise I think we were quite evenly matched with Chelsea, and if anything (and I said this even when we were losing), I thought we actually edged it because we created the better chances. The problem was that we didn't take enough of them today, but there was enough to take heart from the overall performance. I thought we didn't deserve to lose and it was hard when we were a goal down because Mourinho's teams are well coached in the art of protecting a lead, and they were keeping the ball really well. Over the moon to see us score in injury time. Shaw played really well imo, and Fellaini isn't making me want to tear my hair out (which is massive progress). DDG's saves were sublime again.

This gave has given me lots to be optimistic about. If we can play to a similar level against Chelsea and Arsenal I don't doubt that we will get 6 points (plus there is Rooney, Carrick, Herrera and potentially Falcao to come back).

 

[Tyrion]

I thought we'd lose 3 1 before the game and I was the optimistic one in my family.

Thought it was a big improvement on previous performances. Januzaj and Fellaini were very good. Our defence improved and we gave the best team in the league as much trouble defensively as they gave us (with arguably our two best forwards out).

I actually think RVP didn't play that well apart from his goal (seemed to snap at every shot) and he was out of position for the Chelsea goal IMO (off the line and away from the post). Rojo had a few iffy moments (he seems to be the only one of the new players who's not a big improvement on his competition) and I think ADM has had much better games (he always seemed to take the difficult option).

We deserved the draw and I think it will give the squad a much needed confidence boost for the tricky fixtures to come. I'd said this in the Newbs but I think it's ridiculous to compare the team Moyes had and what LVG has. Yes, LVG has better players but we lost our 3 best defenders and arguably our 3 most experienced players before the season started. Half the team (Rojo, Blind, Herrera, ADM and Falcao) came in a few months ago from other leagues to play in a struggling team with a new manager and a new way of playing. It was always going to take a while to recover from last season and to build a team out of the players we have (after they were kinda thrown together).

Moyes took over the champions and we got worse every month. LVG took over the 7th placed team and we seem to be getting better.

 

[adamwest]

Happy with the result but regarding the team, its direction, its "philosophy" I don't know. I feel nothing and I think we're going nowhere.

Bet you're fun on a night out.

 

[Ole's_toe_poke]

I think we did well.

We really should've scored atleast one in the first half. Some of our decision making in the final third was really infuriating.

 

[JohnnyLaw]

There were alot of opportunities for us to counter today but we simply lack one or two good forwards with pace who will capitalise on those chances, Di Maria is the only one who can do this for us atm. Getting a player such as Depay, Reus or someone similar would be great for games like these.

 

[Mark_GrumpyLion]

Think we did well. The fighting spirit (bar some moments halfway through) is what I love to see, I'm still quite new to this whole being so intensely into one team, but this match had me on the edge of my seat half of the match.

Having said that, I feel that we're really missing pace. Sometimes it just feels too slow and I'm hoping we can get one pacey player soon. Defence looked a bit wobly too at times, and that goal from Drogba was really shoddy defending. But, I do have the feeling we're moving forward.