Free to Read: My 3 Thoughts on Chelsea-Manchester United
Free to Read: My 3 Thoughts on Chelsea-Manchester United
An unexciting game for neutrals heats up in the final minutes. Plus my thoughts on Pulisic.
Manchester United got a 94th-minute equalizer on a header from Casemiro that barely got over the line and came away with a 1-1 draw in Saturday’s marquee match. Here are my three thoughts on the game:
• This was a deserved point for United to cap off a really good week overall. In a game that only got exciting in the final minutes, Casemiro’s equalizer was a just reward for a United team created more non-penalty chances over the course of the match. Chelsea looked like it was heading for three points against the run of play after Armando Broja essentially baited Scott McTominay into wrestling him down in the penalty box on a corner kick. But after Jorginho converted the penalty, United threw everything it had forward in the final minutes and was rewarded by Casemiro’s first goal with the club, which ended Kepa Arrizabalaga and Chelsea’s remarkable 623-minute scoreless streak. This has been a big week for United coach Erik ten Hag, who got four points from games against Spurs and Chelsea (taking United to within one point of the Premier League top four) and established new levels of control with his suspension of Cristiano Ronaldo. United did just fine without Ronaldo this week, which sets a tone that Ten Hag needs in his dressing room. After a miserable start to the season, United has a better tone these days.
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• Christian Pulisic didn’t start, but he did play a role. The American came on in the 74th minute and had some solid moments on the ball, including doing good work to earn the corner kick that Chelsea got its penalty on. If you’re looking at things purely from a USMNT perspective, I would have thought Pulisic would get more starts during Chelsea’s extremely busy seven-game schedule since the international break. Instead, Pulisic had had just one start (a game in which he scored) and his minutes since the break have been (starting most recently): 16, 29, 0, 0, 72, 0, 6. I still think it’s possible to be 1) surprised Pulisic hasn’t played a bit more, and 2) not buying the Twitter conspiracy theory that coach Graham Potter’s choices are somehow anti-American. In fact, there’s a wide gulf between those two things. But Potter doesn’t operate from a purely USMNT perspective, obviously, and the fact is Potter hasn’t lost yet in eight games, five of them wins, as Chelsea has completely turned things around in the Champions League. That said, this Chelsea performance at home wasn’t great (the Blues now have two points from their last two league games), and maybe that will open the door to some extent for Pulisic.
• Injuries in the final days before the World Cup are just gutting to see. United centerback Raphaël Varane looked to be in tears after pulling up and coming off with a non-contact injury in the 60th minute. We’ll have to wait and see if Varane’s situation is serious enough to put his World Cup hopes in danger, but it could be yet another blow for defending champion France—which is already without N’Golo Kanté and likely Paul Pogba in Qatar due to injuries. The unique timing of this World Cup in November and December during the middle of the club season means that injuries that could have been overcome during the two to three weeks between the club season and the World Cup in the past won’t have that opportunity this time when there are just seven days between the end of club games and the start of the World Cup. What’s more, there is an absolute glut of games during this month before the World Cup as the top clubs are playing on weekends in the league and in mid-week Champions League games as that tournament completes its six-matchday group stage in just nine weeks before the World Cup. Sadly, Varane will hardly be the last image we’ll see like that. Which is why I can put in perspective that while it’s a bummer for U.S. fans that Pulisic hasn’t been playing as much as expected, at least he’s not injured ahead of the biggest tournament of his career (knocking on wood heavily).
What are your thoughts on the draw? You can join the discussion in the comments below.
The draw for the US doesn’t really matter. No one is going to roll over to give us a win. And I haver yet to see a single, world class performance from the group of players we plan to call the USMNT. It is a crap shoot.
“Which is why I can put in perspective that while it’s a bummer for U.S. fans that Pulisic hasn’t been playing as much as expected, at least he’s not injured ahead of the biggest tournament of his career”
Agreed. Considering their history, staying healthy is a huge concern for Pulisic & Reyna (who scored today for Dortmund). Sure, this is finding the silver lining, but US fans need to take what we can get.