United overcome the challenge of Jose’s Chelsea on penalties then, with Van der Sar making the saves in the shootout to allow Rooney to seal the silverware in front of the Wembley crowd. Earlier Giggs had given United the the lead, steering an Evra pass into Cech’s top corner. Soon after Chelsea were level, Ashley Cole feeding the ball over the United defence for new signing Malouda to muscle his way through and tuck past Van der Sar. For Fantasy Managers however, there was much more to consider than just the result.
Now the dust has settled the talk is all about Chelsea’s injuries. News on John Terry is still patchy but the suggestion is still that the England man will be out for at least 4-weeks with a knee injury suffered in training. Meanwhile Drogba was also absent today and news on him remain scarce although he is apparently due for a scan on his injury tomorrow. Malouda could also be a doubt for next weekend’s game. His stock will have risen considerably as a result of today’s game, particularly as he was employed up front and got the goal. However, he was replaced early in the second-half having suffered a knock scoring that goal. As always, Jose is very difficult to read when it comes to injuries. Sometimes playing them down, sometimes overestimating possible absences. Today’s news and events are likely to mean we’ll all have to finalise our lineups at the last possible moment.
Further analysis of the teams shows Evra to be good value. The United left-back was played in a more advanced midfield position today, with Silvestre at left-back. Evra earned the assist for the first goal and while he’s unlikely to find himself in this role very often, it is an option for Sir Alex that he may consider as the season goes on. The likes of Brown and Chelsea’s Johnson could also be short-term bargains. It’s clear Neville has yet to recover full fitness for United while Johnson appears to be ahead of Diarra and Ferreira for the right-back spot for Chelsea. Terry’s absence will also seal more takers for Carvalho and Ben-Haim . Chelsea’s defence however is far more vulnerable without their talisman defender and there could be wiser places to invest the money freed up by selling Terry for the August fixtures – Ferdinand and Vidic for example.
Chelsea Lineup: Cech, Johnson (Sidwell 77), A Cole (Diarra 67), Ben Haim, Carvalho, Essien, Mikel, Lampard, J Cole (Sinclair 81), Malouda (Pizarro 51), Wright-Phillips.
Man United Lineup: Van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Vidic, Brown, Carrick, O’Shea, Silvestre (Nani 67), Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs (Fletcher 80).