Classic showdown deflated by transfer window timing

Classic showdown deflated by transfer window timing

Marc Fox

If only the overhyped duel between Manchester United and Chelsea had been played a week later, the level of entertainment not to mention the result could have been so much more inspiring.

The classic showdown between the reigning English champions under new manager David Moyes and Jose Mourinho's Chelsea that football fans were promised was not only a letdown but also another timely demonstration of why the summer transfer window surely has to be closed before the season starts.

Indeed, for all the tactical battles analysed afterwards by the pundits and despite the quality clearly available to both managers, the tame goalless draw showcased the precise reasons why Moyes has been chasing Cesc Fabregas of Barcelona and Mourinho Wayne Rooney.

If the Premier League had postponed this match until after September 2nd - the final day of the transfer window - we might well have seen a Manchester United midfield capable of finding the right final pass to open Chelsea up.

We may even have seen Rooney lining up against his former employers at the head of Chelsea's new-look attacking quartet.

What is clear is that both United and Chelsea, irrespective of whether it is Fabregas or Luka Modric or Rooney or Samuel Eto'o, need to purchase serious reinforcements in these respective areas of the pitch to be capable to challenging the likes of Spurs and Manchester City for the EPL title this season.

Moyes' side dominated the midfield at Old Trafford, but Michael Carrick and Tom Cleverley didn't show the nous to pick out a penetrating pass when it mattered most, leaving Robin van Persie somewhat on the periphery.

Cleverley is certainly a calming influence alongside Carrick, but you feel that United need some strengthening in the centre in order to defend their league title.

Likewise for Chelsea. That Mourinho started with Andre Schurrle at the point of the team's attack, leaving Fernando Torres to huff and puff as an ineffectual second-half substitute and Romelu Lukakuon the bench throughout, told its own story.

The obvious message to Rooney, so involved for Manchester United, was that he would be Chelsea's first choice number 9 under Mourinho - but only if he publicly turns his back on the champions this week.

"One way or another he has to say 'I want to leave' or 'I want to stay'," said Mourinho after the match.

"The person that started the story has to finish the story. For the good of everyone, it is time to finish the story."

He continued: "If you look at a manager like me, a club like us and the people who work at the club with me, we are not silly enough to try to get a player from a big club that doesn't want to sell.

"We are not silly enough to try something if somebody didn't start it."

The tone of the Chelsea manager's comments is clearly frustration that the information about Rooney's disgruntlement at United that was received from important sources close to the player may now be questionable.

Allied to that the warm reception handed to Rooney by the Manchester United fans in the club's first home match of the season and you can see the saga of the England striker finishing with an anticlimax - at least for Chelsea fans.

© Marc Fox & Soccerphile.com