Gameweek 2 stutters to a close with a cagey night of football at Old Trafford. Robin Van Persie owners are left frustrated as Chelsea register another clean sheet to keep the Dutchman quiet, while Juan Mata owners will be contemplating a transfer out after the Spaniard, along with Romelu Lukaku, warmed the bench for the entire 90 minutes.
Van Persie Draws a Rare Blank
The Dutchman’s failure to produce last night proved significant right across the Fantasy games. Van Persie had started the season with two goals against Wigan in the Community Shield and followed that up with a brace against Swansea as David Moyes’ side racked up a comprehensive win at the Liberty – as a result, he was the most popular captain and vice-captain in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game for Gameweek 2. With Wayne Rooney back in the starting line-up and tucking in behind, the omens looked good for Van Persie but, in something of a rarity, he was well-marshalled by the opposition defence and failed to register a single effort on target over the 90 minutes.
A trip to Anfield now beckons and with the Reds yet to concede this season, some will be contemplating switching the armband this weekend after last night’s disappointment. In a week that has seen Daniel Sturridge, Roberto Soldado and Olivier Giroud continue their goalscoring exploits, and with Christian Benteke quickly off the mark, those who opted to go without the Dutchman breathed a sigh of relief, while after the game, his manager cited the hosts’ lack of creativity as reason for Van Persie’s off-night:
“We lacked a little bit of cutting edge in the final pass or cross tonight..We went with three forward players as we wanted to try to make sure we won the game. There will be lots of games where I’ll decide not to play an attacking team, but that won’t make me a defensive coach. Just like tonight doesn’t make me an attacking coach. Tonight we felt that was the best approach. We did everything we could, we just lacked a ball to get Robin [van Persie] away for a chance to score, or Danny [Welbeck] that opportunity. We had one or two close calls, but it just wasn’t going to go in tonight.”
Mourinho Shuffles Up Front
Once again, the Chelsea teamsheet caught Fantasy managers by surprise as Jose Mourinho altered his options up top. Having started with Fernando Torres then Demba Ba over the two Gameweek 1 matches, Mourinho fielded new boy Andre Schurrle up front and omitted the Senegal striker from the squad altogether – leaving Romelu Lukaku as an unused sub, despite the Belgian registering a hat-trick against United for West Brom on the final day of last season.
While that move may have raised an eyebrow or two, the decision to also leave Juan Mata on the bench for the entire game was a real shocker. Even when he chose to replace Kevin De Bruyne on the hour mark, it was Torres who was handed the chance, with a personnel reshuffle allowing the Spaniard to lead the line as Schurrle dropped back into the attacking midfield three. With Mata and Lukaku playing just 65 and 40 minutes respectively over the three games so far, the duo are in danger of becoming peripheral figures under the new Blues boss – Mourinho explained his four attacking starters afforded him more “mobility” before commenting on his reason for omitting Mata post-match:
“He had a very small pre-season after the Confederations Cup, during that small pre-season he was injured. He started training two days before we played the first Premier League match, and had a match last week against Aston Villa, a difficult one, and today I decided to put him on the bench. I played with De Bruyne on the right because I know De Bruyne will give complete control of Evra defensively. When Juan plays on the right he comes more inside. I don’t say the kid is more tactically disciplined but is more adapted to that situation. I wanted Oscar to play behind the striker so I decided not to play Juan. Minute 70, 75, I was feeling [it was] difficult to win, I don’t want to lose, so I made the changes to control the last few minutes of the game, but no chance Juan goes anywhere.”
Blues Remain Resolute
While Mourinho’s selection up top continues to alternate, the Chelsea defence has been remarkably consistent. With their first three league games taking place over eight days, many had anticipated a degree of rest and rotation but the same four have started every game in front of Petr Cech, with John Terry and Gary Cahill forging a solid partnership at the heart of defence. The knee injury worries which saw Rafa Benitez continually rotate the Chelsea skipper last term seem to be behind Terry and with a relatively budget friendly price, his security of starts is likely to see him pick up new investors once the blank is out of the way. It’s just one goal against in three so far under Mourinho, then; it’s also worth noting that, despite conceding to Christian Benteke last Wednesday, the Blues backline limited the Belgian to a single strike all game – a sign they are returning to the resilience of old demonstrated during The “Special One’s” first spell at the helm.
