Another draw eh? Not exactly a surprise given the recent form of both sides. We’d gone into this game with one win from six in all competitions whilst Birmingham were unbeaten in nine. But whilst the less optimistic amongst us aren’t exactly stunned by what was probably a fairly predictable result, what is shocking is the fact that our players apparently wouldn’t recognize an opportunity if it bit them in the arse.
Because whilst United were stung by Fulham last week, we only managed a draw against West Ham and with United facing Hull tomorrow (a game they’re certain to get all 3 points from), it’s probably fair to say they’ll hardly be facing a sleepless night with the sort of pressure our 0-0 against Birmingham is likely to exert on them. In fact, our players look like they’d struggle to put their kids to bed these days nevermind a Premier League game.
Created opportunities…..didn’t take our chances…..wasteful…….more points dropped…..familiar? Of course it is, in fact it’s all becoming so predictable I could almost be forgiven for cutting and pasting these reviews.
Yes, we created opportunities and yes, Joe Hart had an outstanding game but to be fair, if the ref hadn’t wrongly ruled out Birmingham’s 34th minute goal for offside, we might not have even managed a point. Again, all too familiar. Should we really need gifts like that to get a point off Birmingham? I mean, it’s all very well shouting about still being five points clear but I suspect that’ll be reduced to just two points this afternoon and could get even worse against a confident Fulham side tomorrow.
I suppose the upside is that we pretty much dominated play, with Hart being called upon to perform heroics in order to keep us out and whilst Birmingham did get chances as well, our defence stood up well enough – even at set-pieces – and despite a nasty collsion with the post, Petr Cech didn’t lose his nerve.
On the downside, our problems seem to be at the other end of the field, in our inability to break sides down and take our chances when they come. Birmingham were well organised and to be fair to them, you could see how they’ve gone unbeaten for a while the way they defended but what’s happened to Didier Drogba lately? Is it really all down to the absence of Nicolas Anelka? Because he really isn’t the same player right now. Sturridge had a decent game considering the time he’s been kept out of the side but Didier Drogba wasn’t exactly giving much in the way of tuition for the youngster to follow during his absence. Chances created – yes, clinical finishing – no.
Add to that Ancelotti’s decision to have a player like Malouda out there for a full game, with players like Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov sat on the bench, mystifies me. I can just about see why Ballack was relegated to a starting place on the bench after his performance last week, but leaving someone like Joe Cole on the bench for almost 80 minutes and not even using Yuri Zhirkov, isn’t exactly what I’d call pro-active.
For a start, how Malouda wasn’t taken off after his woeful miss in the second half is beyond me and that opinion was only reinforced when his second booking of the game saw him take a slightly earlier bath than the rest in the 89th minute. Yep…….wasteful!
TEAM
Cech, Ivanovic, Terry, Alex, A.Cole, Belletti, Mikel, (Ballack, 85) Malouda, Lampard (J.Cole, 79), Drogba, Sturridge (Kalou, 67)
Unused Subs: Hilario, Carvalho, Zhirkov, Ferreira,
Blue is the colour
