Manchester United Crush Lampard’s Chelsea

Premier League 2019-2020 – week 1

Manchester United easily disposed of Chelsea 4-0 for the first game at Old Trafford this season in the Premier League.

The Red Devils scored 3 goals in the second half including two consecutive ones right after the hour mark (Martial 65’ and Rashford 67’). It is was the perfect game for Manchester United as the manager explains.

Coach Solksjaer on the big start in the season opener:

“We’d have taken 1-0 as you want results [in the] first game. You want the momentum to grow because you don’t really think about the performance if you get a win. Then again, the second half gives us so much confidence in the way we performed. We needed half-time to settle down because the first half was frantic. It was nervy and we gave so many sloppy balls away.

We tried to flick the ball and the fancy stuff but then we grew into the game and, second half, I thought we were excellent on and off the ball.

When you start the season like this, the club, the supporters, everyone goes home bouncing and happy. Now it’s about levelling out, start focusing on [playing Wolves at] Molineux. We know the last two games went against them when I was there.

Lampard and the work ahead

Lampard was making his return with the Blues but this time as head coach. The manager’s inauguration did not go well.

“What I felt on the pitch and in the dressing room afterwards, and although the players are obviously disappointed, there were lots and lots of elements of the game I liked. There were four or five elements I really didn’t like and they proved fatal for us.

‘What the fans want to see, and why they were clapping and very respectful at the end, was because they saw a team trying to do the right thing. The game went against us very quickly when the second and third goals went in, and that was the harsh lesson for my young team today.

But football is won and lost in the boxes. They won in our box by being clinical. We had so many more shots and attacking entries than them, and that was where we let ourselves down by not putting them away.

We will bounce back from this. It should hurt. We certainly don’t want to lose anywhere 4-0, and it hurts, but this isn’t a 4-0 like any other. We certainly shouldn’t let it consume us to the point it has any effect on us going forward, other than analysing the mistakes and correcting them.”