After Ross Barkley saved a last minute draw for Chelsea against Manchester United, we examine the three main takeaways from the 2-2 draw.
Sarri costs the Blues two points
Maurizio Sarri made several selection errors that probably cost Chelsea victory against a United defence who were there for the taking. For one, Olivier Giroud should have started. The moment he came on, he allowed Hazard to play a one two off his touch which led to a chance. Alvaro Morata managed no such feat for the entire game, choosing instead to fall over.
Pedro should also have started over Willian. The Brazilian’s set piece delivery is valuable but Pedro’s all round game is superior. His runs in behind and left footed threat benefit Chelsea’s attack so much more.
Reinforcements are needed for Chelsea to have a realistic title challenge
Chelsea’s team is a third placed one as things stand. They do not have a striker who is capable of scoring many goals, they have an attack overly reliant on Eden Hazard and their full backs are problematic.
The Blues need to sign a prolific striker, quicker full backs and a right winger who can compliment Hazard if they are to realistically challenge Manchester City and Liverpool.
David Luiz is a disaster waiting to happen
There is such a fine balancing act between the qualities Luiz brings and the weaknesses we have to accept. His distribution is fantastic yet his mistake yesterday was utterly awful.
All he needed to do was recognize he was the last man and jockey Mata. Instead, he dived in and left his team exposed. On balance, as we have discussed, https://www.thechelseachronicle.com/columnist/sarri-risks-losing-more-than-just-goals-by-playing-luiz-over-christensen/Andreas Christensen would be the wiser selection, now and for the future.
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