Martin Atkinson is a...(vs Chelsea)

Martin Atkinson is a…(vs Chelsea) - The Offside - Manchester United blog
« Lineup vs Chelsea | Home | Martin Atkinson is a…(vs Chelsea)By: Shaun | March 1st, 2011
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Well, at least it was entertaining.

The aftermath of the match has not been pretty with the usual fury from fans lamenting about the ref’s performance. Yes, that Luiz did not get sent off was incredibly questionable, but we know(or hope?) that these shoddy decisions tend to even out over the course of the season. We need only look back to this past weekend to be reminded of how we got a massive call in our favor (a Rooney red = not being available for today’s game).

For the sake of not feeding the uproar that is already prevalent on United forums/discussion everywhere, I’ll just mention a couple of things:

1.Of course I hate it when we lose. More so when it’s to Chelsea who edged us out last season. But it’s happened and we need to move on.

2.The refereeing decisions that cost us the games against Chelsea last season were pivotal because it was a 12 point swing (6 points loss for us = 6 points won for them) and the title race was between us and them. My point being that the calls in this game are only a tad less significant because it’s Arsenal who are 4 points behind us with a game in hand and not Chelsea.

3.We dominated the first half. They dominated the second half. On the balance of play, a draw would have seemed like the fair result. Unfortunately, this isn’t a sport/league where the points earned are a measure of a team’s performance. Consider how many points we’ve won this season when playing like absolute rubbish.

4.There were never a doubt that Chelsea were going to mount a serious assault in the 2nd half. I had a bad feeling heading into HT because of our slender lead and the fact that we were playing at the Bridge. Chelsea were never going to come out and perform as dismally as they did in the first 45.

5.David Luiz – say what you will about him still being on the field at the final whistle, he was a beast for them at the back (and up front too). I’ll go ahead and just call him Chelsea’s best January signing regardless of who else they sign in Jan for the next 5 years. Fernando who?

6.Fantastic goal by Rooney. That will surely boost his confidence heading into Sunday and shows that he’s still got what it takes for the big stage.

7.Vidic’s dismissal occurred when we knew instinctually that the game was beyond our reach. Drogba and Cole (I think) milked all of the 4 minutes of injury time by keeping the ball as close to their corner flag as possible. It was really well played by Drogba especially since he used his massive physique to great effect. We sent hordes of players over in an attempt to get the ball back, but only succeeded in conceding foul after foul. Eventually, one of those fouls led to Vidic’s dismissal. He will be missed on Sunday.

8.VDS is still amazing. What do we need to do to keep him around for another season?

When all is said and done, we’re still in the same league position as when the day started. We still have a 4 point lead over Arsenal and it’s up to Wenger’s man to take advantage of our loss today by beating Sunderland over the weekend. With enough of our old boys in their squad as well as Brucie, we would not be opposed to them doing us a huge favor.

We lost. Now we move on.

Some Related Man United Posts:Back to business (vs Aston Villa)Big clash against Chelsea postponedLineup vs ChelseaMore than just a win (vs City)Still undefeated (vs Arsenal)
Category: English Premier League, Manchester United, Match Reports Tags: Chelsea, English Premier League, Manchester United, Match Reports, Nemanja Vidic, Van der Sar, Wayne Rooney
    Tweet « Lineup vs Chelsea | Home | MaurizioAtkinson needed to show he was unbiased so he made his decisions against Man UtdSir CecilAll you have to do is lose against Liverpool and Arsenal (a reasonable possibility)... and if Chelsea win at Old Trafford (like last time) you'll be just three points ahead of the Champions.
In other words, if you lose (or even draw) the Liverpool game and Chelsea beat Blackpool, you'll be quaking in your boots for the other big games. Not over yet!blog comments powered by Disqus
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