When the scoreline tells a false story

IF ever there was a game that was not reflected by the final score, then our clash with United was it.

We didn’t help ourselves with some spectacularly poor finishing, but we not only gave them a game but looked by far the better team in parts. I’m not a sore loser but do United really need the help that they get from officials?

AVB demonstrated that not only does he have a wealth of ideas in his locker, but that he is unfazed when it comes to substituting big names. I am not going to jump on the Lampard bashing bandwagon as that particular carriage is well over-packed already. Our style of game is changing as it should and as with any new style, players take time to adapt. I believe Lampard will again make headlines for all the right reasons this season.

Those of you laughing at Torres — go ahead. Is he the only player to miss an open goal in the history of the game?

Or that’s what you would have thought seeing the headlines the next day. I imagined that such a great advertisement for the game would have given the papers plenty of column inches but why focus on the good when there was a cheap shot at Chelsea to be had? I think the ridicule is an attempt to hide the nagging feeling that he looked like Torres of old on Sunday. The goal was very reminiscent of his glory days at Liverpool and his movement was his best yet in a Chelsea shirt — it must have given him a lift and hopefully the belief will shake off the shackles once and for all.

It’s difficult to ignore the scoreline obviously, as that is the only stat that really counts but the game really demonstrated that we’re not as far away from United as I initially feared. I still maintain that we were perhaps unfortunate to meet them so early in this campaign — given another couple of weeks for our new boys to settle and AVB’s theories to be bed in and I wager that the scoreline would have more reflective of the calibre of both squads. Many (including myself) underestimated the calibre of our signings — they look now to be shrewd buys and I am far more optimistic.

However there are issues that need to be addressed quickly, most notably our defence which looked calamitous at times. Individually I think our defenders are some of the best players in the country but even I had to check that Basil Fawlty wasn’t among them at times on Sunday. The problem as I see it is that rotation is well and good in most areas of the park — but not at the back.

The current instability in the make-up of a partnership in central defence is manifesting itself in a lack of trust and suspect positioning.

I’m accepting we will now be seeing the gradual phase out of some of the players who bought us previously unimagined success — but I am not of the baby out with the bathwater types who seem to want any player over the age of 28 banished from the squad. As supporters, I believe that Chelsea fans are some of the most loyal you can find. We take players to our hearts and it’s difficult to admit to their frailties when they begin to manifest themselves — sentimental I know and sentimentality is a trait not much seen in football these days.

There is still a lot of football to be played and I’m not sure many of the early season predictions are as cut and dried as they seemed.

Chelsea’s mix of experienced warriors and talented young blades will have a say in that I’m sure.

*Trizia Fiorellino