Chelsea ‘s strength in depth must make their opponents feel like they are confronting a tag-team as much as a football side. Manchester United had the better of one José Mourinho XI yesterday, but found the second wave too much to handle.
Sir Alex Ferguson may feel entitled to claim that his team are presently the best in the country, but Mourinho has more options and, crucially, he knows how to use them. Which other manager could have transformed this game by bringing on a left winger for a right back? Certainly not Ferguson, who looked to the bench for a forward and saw only Darren Fletcher. Therein lies the worry for those who hope that the champions can be stopped from winning a third successive Premiership title.
A reaffirmation of Chelsea’s all-round muscle was one of the main lessons from an afternoon that was billed as “Showdown Sunday”, but concluded with the slightly less dramatic headline of “All Still To Play For”. Mourinho denied that his squad was stronger — and pointed out that Park Ji Sung and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will return for United — but everyone covets replacements like Joe Cole and Arjen Robben.
The availability of so many quality players makes it hard to back against Chelsea over- turning a three-point deficit at the top of the table, but there was encouragement, too, for Ferguson in knowing that his team had played the more adventurous, expansive football to dominate the first 45 minutes. Points for aesthetics might not matter much to the Portuguese king of the pragmatists, but they count for something in these parts.
United scored a goal of beauty, with Louis Saha stroking home sweetly from outside the area to dispel fears about his confidence after his late penalty miss against Celtic in the Champions League on Tuesday, while Chelsea’s equaliser was a thudding, ricocheting header from Ricardo Carvalho.
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No apologies for that from Mourinho, of course, and no admissions of regret over his team selection, even though it was only when he switched to 4-3-3 in the second period that his team began to play with their familiar authority. The 4-4-2 system has accounted for some fine teams this season, but at times, such as yesterday, it has looked less like a strategy than a means of shoe-horning the best players on to the pitch. It is a small miracle that Mourinho gets his wingless midfield to function at all.
The configuration provides regular starting places for Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, but the summer signings were two of Chelsea’s least effective players. The day when Roman Abramovich’s favourite forward looks at home in a blue shirt appears to be as far away as ever.
Mourinho was happy with very few of his players as they trailed at the interval, with only Ashley Cole and Carvalho spared the manager’s lash. The Portugal defender made several decisive interventions although he could be held partly to blame for Saha’s 29th-minute strike. In standing off, he allowed the France forward to take aim with his favoured left foot. The precise, curling shot eluded Carlo Cudicini and, while it would be harsh to point a finger of blame at the goalkeeper, one suspects that Petr Cech would have kept it out.
Saha had another decent chance soon afterwards, but Mourinho would have been furious had it been allowed because Didier Drogba had clearly been felled by Gabriel Heinze in the build-up. It was one of only a few notable mistakes by Howard Webb, who kept control without being either officious or resorting to Graham Poll’s best-pals act.
Wayne Rooney had started as though plugged into the mains and was fortunate to escape an early booking for going in hard on Claude Makelele, but this was a game free of controversy and spite.
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Perhaps the most startling decision was that of Michael Carrick as man of the match. The midfield player had performed effectively without ever excelling, and Ashley Cole had a stronger claim after another enthralling, high-speed duel with Cristiano Ronaldo. Deafeningly taunted by the Stretford End for felling the winger and ultimately forcing him off with an ankle injury late on, Cole managed to keep pace with the Portugal prancer even when he gave him a head start.
It was not really a day for wingers, but the arrival of Robben for Gérémi at half-time changed the game. Not because the Dutchman played particularly well, but because at last Chelsea were stretching United and his arrival created space down the opposite side.
With Ryan Giggs coming inside to assist Carrick and Paul Scholes, Michael Essien had acres of room in his new role as right back. One of his many forward forays resulted in the decisive 69th-minute corner. Frank Lampard took it, Carvalho met it. Edwin van der Sar must have thought that he had it covered, but Saha’s attempt to head it clear took it past the goalkeeper via the underside of the crossbar.
A draw was fair given that each side had dominated a half. While Ferguson was upbeat afterwards, this result made it five defeats, three draws and only one triumph in his matches against Mourinho. He has four months to work out how to improve that record because the title may well be at stake on April 14 and Chelsea will be enjoying home advantage.