Man Utd and Chelski: plenty to discuss

On Sunday, it was Man Utd v Chelsea, in what was going to be the biggest game of the season so far. Then Mourinho left Chelsea, by mutual consent, and this game got a whole lot bigger. Then Chelsea appointed a relative unknown to take over from the special one, and it gets a whole lot bigger. Avrem Grant had a point to prove on Saturday, but Chelsea went into the game with one up front, and had three shots in the entire match, all from outside the box, and all off target. Says it all really. He has a lot of work to do, and that's before he get's to be a manager, as without his UEFA pro licence, he only has 12 weeks in charge of Chelsea, unless Chelsea get special dispensation from the FA. I wonder how long it will take Roman Abramovich to get his required licences. It seems he wants to be in charge of Chelsea now, on and off the pitch, which is said to be part of the reason why Jose was going to be pushed, so Roman could employ a puppet for him to control his team, which is in a way, what Grant is!

Let's make this clear about Grant, he is no Jose Mourinho, in many ways, least of all with his relationship with his team. Many of that Chelsea squad firmly believed in Mourinho. They were like his disciples, and will not be pleased he has gone, and Grant may not have it easy getting them to play like they did under the special one. Grant also won't be able to entertain the public and press with his statements and press conferences in the same way that Jose did, but lets hope Grant can do it on the pitch instead. Unfortunately, Sunday wasn't a good start in that department either.

Some might say Chelski had some bad luck at Old Trafford. I say, what goes around, comes around. Before any Chelsea fans start moaning about diving, let me just say one thing; Liverpool away this season, Chelsea got a very, very dodgy pen, to get them a point, so let's have no complaining from the blues. I thought Ben Haim tripped Saha, and although Saha made a meal of it, it was a penalty. Maybe the FA should punish Saha now, or the referee could still have booked him for embelishment, even though it was a foul. Also, when the fourth official holds up the board with the stoppage time on it, on Sunday in the first half it was two minutes, this means a minimum of two minutes added time will be played, so he could play two minutes and 45 seconds, as that is a minimum of two minutes. If the fourth official put up three minutes, and then only played two minutes and 45 seconds, everyone would moan that he hasn't played enough stoppage time. I do not understand why there has been so much complaining about this stoppage time rule. It seemed fair enough to me. The sending off was harsh, but then United should have already had a penalty when Joe Cole brought down Evra, so its swings and roundabouts really. You take the rough with the smooth, although it isn't acceptable for referees to constantly make such poor decisions and hope they balance out.

Chelsea just missed so go forward drive. They didn't spend their money too wisely in the summer, and got rid of Robben, and having lost Duff 12 months ago, are short of natural width and creativity. They seriously miss Lampard and Drogba, who I reckon could be part of a mass exodus come January, not definately, but its a possibility. Chelsea also can't afford to play Shevchenko up top on his own. He doesn't have the legs for it, and needs to work in a pair with another striker.

All in all, Chelsea stop your moaning, and get on with it. Let's hope this week is better than last week for you!