FA Cup Semifinal: ManUtd Vs Chelsea

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by WarrenMenezes

by WarrenMenezes

19/07/2020

Manchester United play Chelsea in a mouth-watering semi-final today. Both the clubs have been vying for a Champions League spot, managers taking sly digs at each other and Chelsea possibly seeking revenge after losing thrice to United this season. Now the two clubs get 90 minutes or even more to stick a nail in each other’s campaign and progress to the FA Cup finals at Wembley.

Manchester United are reported to be without Luke Shaw who’s nursing an ankle injury while Brandon Williams could potentially return to the squad. Frank Lampard has ruled out N’Golo Kante for the semi-finals and 19 year old Billy Gilmour is another name who’ll not feature.

My predicted line-up (4-3-3): I wish United play three at the back like they did earlier in the season in big games but right now we look to be a better team. I’m going to go with Romero in goal even though Ole has neither confirmed nor denied whether the Argentine will start (My gut tells me de Gea will be in between the sticks though! I’m nervous!!!). Brandon Williams could feature at LB, along with Victor Lindelöf and Harry Maguire, the centre-halves. Aaron Wan-Bissaka at RB, the 22 year old could be vital in containing Pulisic.

My midfield three includes Paul Pogba, Nemanja Matic and Bruno Fernandes. I’m confident that Serbian will start as McTominay started the games against Palace.

Our front three could consist of Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial and Jesse Lingard. Yeah! You heard that right. You also saw Fosuh-Mensah start last week! Lingard has always played well against big teams and even Solskjaer has stated that he’s one of best players when it comes to pressing. Lingard is also known to have a good record at Wembley, to me, the stage seems to be set for the Englishman to prove Ole that he deserves to remain at the club.

The Red Devils may have the momentum but their performances in the last two games have been a bit of a concern. It finally looks like the tight schedule is getting to the players and maybe it is time to be more careful and play smart.

Chelsea’s defence has been horrible this season. Odion Ighalo could be a better partner with Lingard and Rashford, with Lingard and Ighalo pressing and holding that Chelsea defence. But I also feel Martial has been a different animal in the last few games. He seems to be hungrier and confident.

Manchester United will obviously have to be cautious of Christian Pulisic and Willian. The Blues also play a lot of through balls which has often forced our centre halves to get pulled out of position. Overall, it looks like United could make it 4/4 this season against Chelsea but you never know, it’s the FA Cup and Arsenal shocked Manchester City with a 2-0 victory last night.

Bits from Solskjaer’s Press Conference:
- Shaw, Williams fitness: Don’t think he’s going to make it, he’ll be out. Brandon, hopefully he’ll be able to train today and will be available.
- Will winning silverware be more important that qualifying for the Champions League? You can’t pick and chose, you’ve got to take one game at a time. We’re one step away from the finals, we’re focused and of course it’s massive for anyone player or team to win. Our main focus is to get to the final right then look at West Ham, Leicester.
- Lingard performance and future: Jesse is a part of the club, he works hard and deserves his chance to come back in and we know his qualities. He’s got different qualities to other players and he knows that we value him.
- Ole’s unbeaten record Vs Chelsea, what is it down to? Players have done well; they’ve been focused in that particular game. It’s all down to the players, when they go and perform there they can beat anyone.
- Martial x Rashford link-up: Of course we work on the training ground, we work on patterns, but they’ve been together at the club for so long and there was a spell where they were more or less challenging for the same position, both of them maybe on the left hand side, but now we’re playing them together and you can see them starting to click. They enjoy each other’s company; know each other’s strengths and weaknesses if there are any.
- VAR: How long have we got? I can sit here and talk hours about it. It looks like there is a narrative. It looks like people want to influence whoever’s making the decisions. I hear people talking about luck, that we’ve been lucky more than unlucky. If you look at the factual decisions, I don’t want to sound like a certain manager talking about facts but if you’re offside, you’re offside! That’s clear. We have to just focus on our games, let other people talk about that.
- Could Romero start? Jesse record at Wembley: The team is not selected yet and that goes for both Jesse and Sergio. They’ve got a good chance of being involved so… we’ll make a decision on that later on.
- Greenwood burnout? He’s coped really well with the demands on him. Throughout the season we’ve managed him as well as we could. He’s come back after the lockdown flying. His sharpness and fitness is there, he’s gained a few kilos as we’ve seen and he’s gained a lot of experience and confidence in his ability. There are only two games left in the league, two or three in the Europa League, he’ll be fine, there’s no chance of a burnout.