Former Premier League manager Sam Allardyce has criticised the performance of Chelsea during the season opener against Manchester United on the road. The Blues were the dominant side in terms of the chances created and possession at Old Trafford, but that did not necessarily influence the outcome of the game as United won by a comfortable 4-0 score.
Speaking after the encounter, Allardyce stated that the Blues were the better team in the league clash but that has not been reflected with the result. He continued to criticise the west London giants, who seemed to lose concentration during the final 30 minutes where they conceded as many as three goals on the counter-attack.
He told TalkSPORT: “Manchester United have not played as well as Chelsea over the 90 minutes but look at the result. You crumbled, you went to pieces, you lost your shape, you lost your discipline and you did something that no one should do and that’s chase the game. You ultimately fail when you chase anything. You chase, you chase, you fail. You play your way back into the game, you keep your discipline. You’ve been in control of the ball for most of the game and now they’ve fallen apart and actually just let Manchester United do what they want.”
The Blues had plenty of chances to find the net against United and both Abraham and Emerson hit the woodwork before the latter brought an excellent save from goalkeeper David de Gea. Despite this, things did not go their way and the ultimate result was rather a surprise, considering how well they had managed to play during the opening 60 minutes, where they were just 1-0 down.
Chelsea’s result against United has dropped them to 19th on the table behind only West Ham United. They are scheduled to face Liverpool in the European Super Cup on Wednesday night before tackling Leicester City in the league at the weekend.