Chelsea’s game against Manchester United on Sunday saw the same fate as the reverse fixture as the two sides played out a stalemate. To be honest, many had high expectations for this game on the back of an electrifying win at Atletico Madrid.
Chelsea has been playing well ever since Thomas Tuchel arrived in west London, and Man United was in decent form, as well. Regardless, there wasn’t enough in the attacking third from either side as they took one point each. The Blues remain fifth in the table and only sit one point above defending champions Liverpool after the Reds defeated Sheffield United away from home shortly after the conclusion of the game at Stamford Bridge.
What are some of the things we learnt from the Blues’ goalless draw against United?
1. Chelsea needs to be more creative and direct in attack
If there has been one concern that we’ve seen ever since Tuchel took over, it has been the team’s lack of free-scoring. Given the firepower the Blues have, they’re not really scoring much to show for it. They haven’t looked incredibly creative or direct ever since the change of managers, and it can play as a concern.
The same observation was made after the game against Atletico Madrid mid-week.
Chelsea’s defending very well, there’s no doubt about that, but Tuchel’s system doesn’t allow it to create that much. The German’s style is very rigid and balanced, but that doesn’t really make sense considering the Blues still should score more goals than they are currently. They are not making that many clear cut chances, and that is hurting them a little bit. Chelsea needs its signings to figure themselves out as soon as possible. Tuchel needs to figure this out, as well, before it starts becoming a problem for his side. The lack of chances is concerning at any point in time, but especially right now on an insanely tough run.
2. Encouraging signs
Even though there was an overall lack of spark, this match had its moments.
The biggest takeaway was probably Hakim Ziyech’s performance. It wasn’t the best Ziyech performance to have ever existed—far from that—but if you’ve watched these past few games, you’d know that he hasn’t really been at the top of his game lately. He’s slowly improved in each game until he had his best performance under Tuchel so far against Manchester United. He was involved in a lot of chances/half-chances for the Blues, the Moroccan had a joint-game high of six shot-creating actions. He had a whopping five key passes, two out of three dribbles completed and one really good chance, which forced a great save from David de Gea. It was a very hopeful performance—one of many, hopefully.
That’s not the only positive either.
There was another new signing that had a good game as Ben Chilwell started for Chelsea for the first time in a long time. He also looked good. I won’t say great, but yes, it was a performance that showed Chilwell’s potential—both defensively and going forward. He made great runs and tried a few things, which didn’t really provide that much for the Blues players inside the box. However, he linked up well with them and showed signs of improvement. The English fullback showed that he has a lot to offer on the defensive end, as well. He totaled five clearances, two blocks and one interception on the afternoon.
This article wouldn’t be complete without a piece of Mason Mount appreciation either. He also had six shot-creating actions and was very, very lively in the attack. He completed three out of his three dribbles, which includes his brilliant run into the United box on the counter. Callum Hudson-Odoi was also having a good game until he got subbed off, which was very unfortunate. He had the best chance of the first half with an inch-perfect cross to Olivier Giroud, who wasn’t able to turn it home. It really looked like he was going to have an impactful performance until we saw an ice pack on his leg. Hopefully, he’s OK.
Finally, N’Golo Kante and Cesar Azpilicueta also looked very good.
3. A mixed bag
There were also a few negatives, besides the one mentioned in the first slide. They’re not that major, but they do deserve a mention.
Very, very surprisingly, Antonio Rudiger was a mixed bag. It was not a bad performance, but it wasn’t very good either. The German, who has been a mainstay in the Chelsea defense ever since his countryman took over—and has looked incredibly comfortable and patient on the ball—had a very weird game. His passing was off, by his standards. He had a few very weird instances where he passed the ball rather carelessly, which resulted in the Blues losing possession. He made a couple of not-so-good decisions—nothing that really changed the game’s flow or anything, but as I said, something worth noting.
It wasn’t a bad performance as a whole because there were a few things that he did which surprised me in a good way. One, obviously, was when he went into full ‘YOLO’ mode and woke his inner Hazard, going on to beat defenders so easily in one sequence! He also had a few good defensive sequences. Rudiger tallied two tackles, two interceptions and four clearances, but his decision making surprised me just a little bit.
Elsewhere, Giroud just didn’t have the impact he would’ve wanted. He didn’t see the ball much with just 26 touches. He was either too early or too late at the end of crosses. The Frenchman didn’t really link-up well with other attackers like he usually does, and wasn’t really up in the air for duels either. Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof didn’t really have a difficult time when he was on the pitch, which was rather disappointing, as I genuinely felt like he could’ve had a big impact on the game.
What were some of the lessons you learnt in the match? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!