I don't know what's up with Morata... just a possession black hole today. Confidence must be almost zero. Him and Giroud basically just getting in each other's way.
Conte subbed Hazard several times in Dec-Jan and always blamed it on his recovery from injury. Really maddening to take him off today in a 1-1 game that we needed to win. We are willing to go with Pedro-Haz-Willian for a game vs Barcelona but with Morata struggling we keep him on and take off our best player vs United. I don't get it. I think it's a letdown for the players to see Hazard subbed off as well. Not surprised we conceded 3 minutes later
Conte lost this one for us. It's puzzling how sometimes it seems like he nails the subs perfectly and other times it's as if he's not even watching the game. Willian and morata should have been subbed at the 60th. Unfortunately, the award for having the worst week ever goes to Christiansen. Whatever the scenario, he's basically at fault for the last three conceded goals. The only upside is that he can learn from them. On another note...what's up with David? Where's he at?
Couple thoughts Matic should’ve been playing on a yellow since some time in the first half. How he got away with so many when Kante got booked for one (that was admittedly sloppy) is beyond me Yeah it’d be nice if Morata stayed up a bit more, but half or more of the times he went down he was legitimately fouled. The elbow to the head from Matic honestly could’ve been a red (would’ve been harsh for sure but it’s not like it couldn’t easily be justified) and a foul wasn’t even given First goal is not on Christensen at all. He got hit in the head and wouldn’t have dropped off like that unless he actually felt something. Could’ve easily stopped play, but Atkinson didn’t seem to care about head injuries whatsoever Second half was awful. Probably can attribute some of the drop off to the Barcelona match, but first and second half were so night and day it was almost unexplainable. United certainly looked a lot better, especially when Lingard came on Giroud should be getting a chance to start the next few matches we aren’t going with Hazard up top. Give him a chance to play with the rest of our “best” XI and see what happens Wouldn’t be nearly as bad of a result if it weren’t for the Watford and Bournemouth matches, as has been said. If we can get at least a win and a draw from Tottenham and Liverpool, I think we will be fine. Tall order for sure, but this is what being a supporter of the club is all about. Onwards and upwards