Very little of the wisdom proffered by one Chelsea fan interviewed outside Stamford Bridge by talkSPORT on Sunday added to our understanding of the club’s shock unravelling. One thing did ring true, however. Thomas Tuchel would not be going to Manchester United. Why? “Why would he go there? They are awful,” replied the voice of Chelsea with an air of incredulity.
Notwithstanding the bias of a partisan observer, little reflects United’s power drain more emphatically than the dismissive attitude of rival fans. United no longer merit the consideration of the Premier League’s biggest hitters. Spurs boss Antonio Conte remarked how their 3-2 win over Spurs would not have been so good were it not for the contribution of the greatest goal scorer of the epoch.
That United required the episodic flowering of a 37-year-old veteran to prevail against a superior Tottenham team should temper expectations ahead of the visit of Atletico Madrid.
What might be the point of progressing in the Champions League for a United squad so obviously over-matched by those already through to the quarter-finals? Would it not be better to fall now than to have their trousers removed yet again by more evolved opponents? The euphoria that followed Cristiano Ronaldo’s match-winning hat-trick on Saturday was itself a stain on the reputation of the game’s deposed market leaders, highlighting the club’s downward trajectory.
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Since it came against the run of play and a week after being outclassed in the Manchester derby, it is obvious to most that the result was a freak outcome delivered by a freak of nature. And as such cannot be trusted as an indicator of anything other than the capacity of caprice to throw up a surprise now and then.
Ronaldo is both a solution and a problem.
In the balance of selection conundrums that face Ralf Rangnick before every game the United coach is asked to weigh the ability of Ronaldo at his best to compensate for failings elsewhere, and at his worst to add to the team’s shortcomings. What is beyond doubt is the centrality of Ronaldo to United’s best moments. When he scores United have a chance. When he drifts to the periphery they have none.
More controversially, the same might be said of David de Gea’s potential to affect a game positively and negatively. The Spaniard combines best in class shot-stopping with worst in class footwork. So far Rangnick has not dared start without De Gea, which ultimately undermines his desire to establish a pressing team.
Goalkeepers with the ability to control a ball and make a pass are as central to the modern formation as offensive fullbacks. De Gea is a liability with a ball at his feet. He cannot make reliable contact with his first touch and cannot hit a pass. United’s defenders get sucked too deep as a result, which has a negative impact on the team’s offensive capabilities.
Aside from Ronaldo, the rapidly improving Jadon Sancho, Alex Telles and Fred, United’s selection did not compare favourably with Spurs. The difficulty for Rangnick is trusting any to play two good games in a row. Atletico are not in the best form themselves but had little difficulty establishing supremacy in the first leg until pegged back by Anthony Elanga’s late goal.
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Rangnick might just be the only man in red with a realistic grasp of United’s place in the present world order. The attempt to discredit him by dissenting voices within the camp is exposed for the stupidity it is with each inept display. Rangnick wants to beat Atletico not with a view to winning the Champions League necessarily but for the value it might confer in establishing a base level that he can trust.
“It doesn’t matter how we qualify for the Champions League next season, it is about what is realistic,” Rangnick said. “We’ll try everything we possibly can to win the game tomorrow to be in the last eight. Even if we did that there are still a number of good teams in the competition.”
Whilst Rangnick has everything crossed Ronaldo’s delicate hip flexors do not result in another matchday flight to Portugal, he also recognises that victory cannot rest at the feet of the ageing maestro. “It’s about the whole team,” he said. “We saw in the first half in Madrid, what we shouldn’t do, how we should not play. That was a really big topic for us when we spoke about tomorrow’s game. We have to know what it takes tactically. The rest is all about energy.”
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