Chelsea vs Manchester United, EPL match day 9

A clash of two title contenders,this was the type of game that could happen only in the PL.Fast,brutal attacking with little regard to defensive shape and solidity.There were lots of interesting questions before the game with Sir Alex's 'revolutionary' diamond formation and whether Chelsea had the spine of champions or not.

The Lineups:

Chelsea were in Di Matteo's 4-2-3-1 with Luiz and Cahill in the centre of defense, Ramires and Mikel as the holders in Lampard's absence. The front four was as usual Mata,Oscar,Hazard and Torres.

United's shape needed some more figuring out but was probably closest to a 4-1-4-1. There were some surprises as Young was thrust into the lineup which was probably to take advantage of Eden Hazard's lack of tracking back. Carrick was the holder and Cleverley played a role that could almost be called a 'carrilero' which is just Italian for shuttler, an Antonio Nocerino, if you will.

Rooney was further up field and Van Persie was more of a withdrawn striker,almost a false nine rather than one looking to play off through balls.

First Half:

Chelsea were sluggish and caught out by United early on. The main threat was from the flanks and play was spread outward to allow Valencia and Young to be the more important players. For the first goal, Ashley Cole was on the overlap due to Valencia playing a bit more withdrawn role and Rooney had the whole flank to run into.

Even the second goal came when Hazard was high up the pitch and Rafael was allowed to take on Cole along with Valencia's help. Luiz had to come out to help cover,leaving a central defender shaped hole in the box and a goal. Thus, both goals came from the right flank and stemmed from Cole's lack of positional discipline.

Chelsea, to their credit were hardly flustered. They took their time and settled in a rhythm and had greater possession than United in the half.Rooney and Cleverley's dropping deep stifled the creativity of Chelsea's three major attackers and the quick transitions that have been a feature of their play this season were severely lacking. This could also be put down to the absence of a creative player further down, a deep lying play maker as they are called.

Later:

Rooney was forced to play deeper and despite his tenacity,he is simply not a midfielder. His shuttling caused problems for United with his foul leading to a delightful Mata free kick that allowed Chelsea a foothold. Chelsea equalized soon after and it seemed as if they had the measure of United. At this stage however, there was a noticeable attempt by RDM to play it a bit safer. This invited pressure from the wings and Van Persie laid on a through ball for Young after holding it up against Cahill. Ivanovic had no option but to make the tackle and was sent off.

The dynamics of the game was altered with the numerical advantage to United. They started to dominate and with Chicharito's introduction, Matteo switching to a 4 - 4 - 1 and Torres' sending off reduced them to a 4 - 4 - 0 with Bertrand coming on,United limped home to their first victory at the Bridge in a decade.

The refereeing came under a great deal of scrutiny with people claiming that it was the usual referees favour United affair. While Mark Clattenburg may not have had the best of games, he surely has been getting a lot of criticism which seems a trifle excessive. For the offside goal, it was the linesman that made the call, not he. Ivanovic's sending off was never in doubt despite Young's increasingly tiresome tendency to fall to the ground on the slightest contact. The Torres decision was maybe too harsh, yes but but when you look at what Torres did to Cleverley earlier on it could be said that he shouldn't have been there on the pitch when he was actually sent off. There was some contact and Torres felt it and went down. Was the contact too much ? Does mere contact constitute a foul ?There are mistakes and grave ones. Maybe if diving weren't so rife. While the second yellow may have been a bit harsh, it is not hard to understand why Clattenburg did give it. So, both of Torres' yellows weren't probably cardings, he still have been probably sent off. One of those things that you could argue about till the cows come home.

Conclusion:

An open, attacking game where the attention was again hogged by something else. Far more disturbing than refereeing decisions was the inherent defensive frailty apparent in both teams. Carrick was found lacking physically and it is probably not a good idea to field him as a solitary holder. Mikel was poor as well with Van Persie and Rooney finding far too much space between the lines. United showed why their flanks will always be the weapon of choice rather than 'revolutionary' diamond formations.

This game was also a perfect example of why English teams aren't maybe suited to European football with too many gaps at the back and all attacking flair. As Chelsea will tell you, it is defensive solidity that wins you European titles. Whether Alex Ferguson believes he can win a third CL title before his retirement by outscoring everyone he comes across is not for me to judge, but I'd be surprised if European success was achieved on the back of their current defense. Same goes for Chelsea, who have somehow contrived to lose the spirit of their greatest ever triumph.

Both teams could do with an addition to the holding midfield department in January. Chelsea's massive spending towards attacking players and United bolstering their forward line are in a way, sadly indicative of where their priorities lie. What this does with the teams is create a lack of balance. When you have brilliant attackers and an average defense you may win the PL. But against better opposition, these defensive inadequacies may be brutally exposed.

Manchester City 1 : Borussia Dortmund 1, CL Matchday 2

The Group of death, featuring the English, Spanish, German and Dutch champions was witness to another thrilling game between Dortmund and City.

While City would probably have been considered favourites seeing how they haven't lost at the Etihad in recent memory, Dortmund gave a fantastic account of themselves and will feel aggrieved to not have all three points

Lineups:

Fairly predictable from Dortmund with probably their best 11 on the pitch in an almost 4-5-1 but a very attack minded combination of Gotze, Gundogan, Reus and Lewandowski ably supported by Kuba and Bender, Piszcek and Schmelzer as usual provided the width.

City lined up in an almost 4-2-2-2 with Toure and Garcia as the holders, Nastasic was preferred alongside Kompany, Aguero and Dzeko upfront supported by the width of Nasri and Silva .

Opening Stages:

The Dortmund five man midfield worked like a charm as it stopped the diagonal balls to Nasri and Silva, cutting off the creative sources. Their pressing caused City a fair amount of trouble as there was simply too much pressure on Garcia and Toure to play balls forward. Toure in particular found it hard to make his trademark barnstorming runs through the middle because of the compactness of the shape held by Dortmund and their relentless pressing.

Dortmund had three players ready to help out on each flank with Kuba, Goetze and Pisczek on the right pushing back Nasri and Clichy. Pisczek and Schmelzer played fairly high up causing an overload of attacking players with the runners from midfield coming in too. Countering with pace, Dortmund were only denied by Joe Hart.

City were unable to attack and simply found no space between the lines leaving them to hoof it to Dzeko who isn't really the sort of player to play on the shoulder of the last defender and was caught offside far too easily, too many times.

Mancini's tinkering:

Mancini's midfield and attack were cut off from each other and so to link them up, he switched to a 3-4-1-2 bringing on Kolarov for the ineffective Nasri. While certainly a logical decision in this case,it was foiled by the marauding runs of Pisczek and even Schmelzer who ensured that the City wing backs were busy defending instead of coming up with attacking wing play. City continued to have possession but verticality was severely lacking and Dortmund's incessant pressing added to the pressure.

The pressing caused Jack Rodwell to commit an error which was ably capitalised by Reus who was put through on goal and slotted it past Hart. City switched back to the 4-2-2-2 soon after but it hardly made any difference as the City players seemed far too ponderous on the ball and inclined towards playing square passes. Dortmund's high line and speedy midfield runners added to City's troubles as Toure and Rodwell were simply unable to cope with the trickery of Gotze and Co.

A penalty decision that really didn't look like one was the only way City could equalise and Balotelli equalised to ensure City got a very undeserved point.

Conclusion:

Both teams can take very contrasting thoughts from the match.

City had a poor game, partly due to Klopp's careful handling of their threats and also because the players seemed woefully out of place when confronted by the dynamism and vibrancy of Dortmund's play.Kompany no longer seems to project the aura of invincibility that he did last season. Toure was outnumbered and couldn't contribute much.

One wonders why Carlos Tevez didn't start upfront. His directness, mobility and ability to run at defenders would surely have proven helpful against Subotic who isn't the quickest. Also, his drifting outward could have occupied the opposing fullback leaving City less attacks to deal with on that flank.

 Mancini's three man defence is, put plainly, not working. Nastasic may fit the mould, but Kompany has looked a shadow of himself whereas Lescott may not possess the required quality to do so against good European opposition. Mancini’s European nous has been questioned again and while his in game management may not be outstanding, his players deserve almost equal blame in allowing themselves to be overcome by a young and energetic team. They were spared a thrashing majorly due to the fantastic work by Joe Hart.

Dortmund were brilliant and on another night may have won by a four goal margin. The front four were brilliantly cohesive and so in sync with each other that it was a real joy to watch their counterattacking play.

The current Dortmund team are very reminiscent of the Czech Republic team of Euro 2004 that had six or seven very attacking players like Poborsky, Rosicky, Smicer and Nedved who could counter with brutal precision. Gotze, Reus, Gundogan and Lewandowski may not be in that class yet but are getting there very quickly. It will be very interesting to see their game with Real Madrid who have been having midfield creativity problems of their own. Expect Modric's mobility and ease on the ball under pressure to play a very important role,if he does start...