Chelsea hosted Manchester United on Sunday, and the two sides played to a goalless draw in which there were no losers, except for anyone who tuned in and expected entertainment.
This was dull, no doubt about it and there a ton of reasons for that, many of which are spotlighted in the piece published on Goal, linked below. It’s a good read and I suggest you read it some time. The two big six clubs have now completed their league series with over 180 minutes played and no goals scored. (For the United news and notes go here)
Wrote this for @goal on why Big Six games are so boring now… https://t.co/xWD2qWimwS
— Alex Keble (@alexkeble) February 28, 2021
There were chances of course, but not a whole lot, and great chances were very few and far between. United really deserved a penalty in the 14′ when it appeared that Blues winger Callum Hudson-Odoi had committed a handball foul. The young Englishman was very lucky to get away with the no call.
Hudson-Odoi got subbed off at halftime, and given recent events, it invited speculation that CHO was getting hooked due to a tactical switch/manager’s decision.
However, he was actually hurt, as Tuchel said Hudson-Odoi was “a little bit injured” in his press conference.
One guy who was dropped, simply due to the manager’s discretion was centre forward Tammy Abraham. He didn’t even make the 18 man squad and Tuchel had this to say afterward:
“It is my difficult decision that I have to take. This is what you sign up for if you are playing for Chelsea.
“No, he is not struggling. We have a strong squad with only Thiago Silva injured. We had [Olivier Giroud] starting, we had Kai [Havertz] also on the bench who can play number 9. Things might be difficult for him at this stage, as they should be, but he has our support.”
Another player who didn’t get the playing time he wanted, and deserved, was Christian Pulisic. He came on the 65′ and did have a very positive impact on the game.
He is still yet to make a Premier League start under Tuchel, and given how when he came in, he was playing a different/wrong position, it’s clear Pulisic just doesn’t fit Tuchel’s 3-5-2 system.
Like we said though, he did have a great game and you can read more about that here.
Chelsea remain in fifth place with the result and they’ll next be in action on Thursday night when they take on Liverpool FC.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank, partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” has regularly appeared in WGN, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Tribune and SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram.