Manchester United pulled off a stunning victory over Chelsea thanks to Jose Mourinho and his team selection and tactics.
Manchester United were very serious about the match with Chelsea on Sunday, as it turned out. In the lead up to the game, many speculated whether Jose Mourinho would prioritize the Europa League over the Premier League at this point.
United played a Europa League quarterfinal first leg against Anderlecht on Thursday in Belgium. The game finished 1-1, which means United still have work to do in the second leg at Old Trafford this coming Thursday.
For weeks, it has been speculated that Mourinho could suddenly now turn all of his focus to winning the Europa League. However, that has yet to happen. The United boss might juggle his options on occasion, but, to date, he has not written off one game in favor of another.
Although, when the team sheets came in at Old Trafford on Sunday, you would forgive Antonio Conte and his Chelsea players for thinking the time had come. Mourinho was finally focusing all of his attention on Europe.
Mourinho’s starting XI was missing Zlatan Ibrahimovich, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Anthony Martial, among others who were injured. United’s frontline was Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard. Ashley Young played on the left wing, with Marouane Fellaini playing in central midfield.
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The Chelsea locker room must have been pretty happy when they heard the team Mourinho had decided to field. They weren’t too happy come the end of the game, though, as United contained the Blues and scored two goals themselves for a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Eden Hazard was marked out of the game by Ander Herrera, Diego Costa was rattled by Marcos Rojo and Rashford ran the whole Chelsea backline into the ground. Never have Chelsea looked so inferior this season.
It looked like a different team to the one which had so confidently streaked ahead in the Premier League title race. Mourinho’s tactics, and the United players’ execution, had a lot to do with that. The biggest difference, though, was Chelsea’s mentality.
They just didn’t seem up for the game. They looked nonplussed and half-hearted. Like they thought they were in for a bit of a cruise, but had yet to realize that there were actually sharks lurking.
For a match of this magnitude, it is unfathomable that Chelsea would come into the game unmotivated. So what changed? Jose Mourinho’s team sheet and subsequent tactics, that’s what. Chelsea thought Mourinho was virtually waving the white flag with his team selection.
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And once you relax and switch off, it’s almost impossible to just regain that level of focus once again. The move was likely unintentional by Mourinho, but whether by luck or Judgement, the Manchester United boss lured his Chelsea opposition into a false sense of security before the game had started.
It worked a treat. Just like Mourinho’s tactics once the game began.