No Rooney, No Title

Manchester United 1 - Chelsea 2
Scorers
Manchester United: Macheda (81)
Chelsea: Cole (20), Drogba (78)

Team: Van der Sar, Rio, Vidic, Neville, Evra, Scholes (Nani 72), Fletcher (Gibson 86), Park (Macheda 72), Valencia, Giggs, Berbatov

Let's not waste time. Our chances of the title was ruined on Tuesday when we lost Rooney. Accept it and move on.

There was nothing in our play today to suggest otherwise. Nothing at all. We missed Rooney as much as we missed the target.

For a good portion of the game, Chelsea was the better team. They were more organized, and they showed a greater desire to play the ball. Our gameplan was to hoof long balls and hope for the best. In many ways, we looked exactly like the Sunday pub team that I play for. No direction, no pace, no skill. Yup, we were that bad. For a good hour or so, we were painful to watch.

Matters were not made any easier when Joe Cole cheekily redirected Malouda's cross into the net in the 20th minute. Given our play prior to the goal, it was a mountain to climb. Without Rooney to spearhead the attack, our movement was easily read by the Chelsea players.

The second half was much more of the same. We scurried around like headless chickens, while Chelsea marshalled their defense superbly. Berbatov is easily the most useless player on the pitch, followed closely by Giggs. And it's only in that order coz I like Giggs.

The turning point of the game came in when Ferguson finally decided to take his head out of his arse and brought on Nani. Suddenly with 2 bona fide wingers, we began to see daylight in the cracks from the Chelsea defense.

Sadly, instead of a grandstand finale, the linesman (refuse to call that dick a referee's assistant) single-handedly handed the game to Chelsea. Drogba was miles offside when he received the pass and his cannon of a shot sealed the game, and possibly the title, for Chelsea.

Macheda salvaged a consolation but the mountain was just too high for the men in red. 5 Games left and 2 points behind, it seems like the odds are stacked heavily against us. Moreover our run-in looks significantly more difficult with games against City and Spurs, while Chelsea also has Spurs, they have the easy task of playing a hapless Liverpool. Adding to that, we may have to do it without the services of Rooney for a good portion of the way.

Another comment I want to add here. Ferguson probably had his worst tactical game of the season. Not playing Nani from the start was a monumental mistake. It's already an easy task to defend against Berbatov, but it was make easier without having to defend the the left wing. Their defensive gameplan was to concentrate on neutralizing Valencia and they did a credible job there.

The other point of contention was playing Scholes, Giggs and Neville in the same game from the start. In the trio, we had 3 really calcified players trying to run their socks off. As much as I dislike Carrick, I thought having him in the game would have helped matters. As history has shown, for some inexplicable reason, Carrick always has his superman games against them.

This loss has to be on Ferguson. Bad game, bad decisions.