Manchester United vs Chelsea: No Suprise as No Strikers Mean No Goals

Moyes Tip 127: How to Prevent a Poke in the Eye

It's a good thing no one hyped this match up to be a fantastic battle or there could be a few disappointed souls on Tuesday morning. It's not like Sky ran endless promos or anything ...

Manchester United versus Chelsea. After no less than five meetings  between  the two last season, it became evident that despite the new men in each dugout -- these players may just know each other a little too well. Tactics by and large cancelling each other out.

The real talking point came an hour before kick off as the team sheets were released and Chelsea had named no recognised striker. The 'false nine' system was one that Jose is famou... Oh no actually it's a system that none of his teams have ever used, so obviously last night was a perfect time to give it a whirl. Aside from the proverbial slap in the face to Chelsea's existing strikers, it was Mourinho's first of many stunts to some this season. Arguably, the starting XI had more to do with the action off the pitch than anything that was about to happen on it -- as a not so subtle request for a few more quid to bid on Wayne Rooney (and / or Samuel Eto'o).

David Moyes and Jose Mourinho joined forces to make this possibly the most awkward Monday Night Football to date. As the two emerged from the tunnel they could not have greeted each other reminiscent of the Seinfeld airport greeting.

Someone thought this was a good idea

Was it a high ten? Were they just not sure whether to shake hands or hug? Is it the worst cotillion dance that has ever been? They've done this together six times before. Maybe Moyes was being proactive to avoid an eye poke. No matter how you look at it, even Rio Ferdinand and John Terry did better with their handshake (apologies to fans of handshake-gates around the world).

Back to the roll of the dice that was Jose's lineup. The justification is that he fielded a lot of pace to take advantage of United's 'midfield' and get behind a not so pacy defence. But long term bezzies Torres and Vidic really should have been given a full ninety minutes to work through any issues they may have had in the past. It was a dangerous game to play early in the season to a rival.

But the only man who can rock a sweater vest that hard got lucky. Out of his depth and baffled by Mourinho's lineup, David Moyes had no choice but to make some questionable decisions of his own to not lose face. Leaving Small Produce Hernadez (who's scored a mere 7 goals in 12 appearances against Chelsea) and Shingi Kagawa on the bench to watch on was only a start. Bringing on Ashley Young to win secure the draw is arguably more baffling than the Mourinho's false hope nine setup. Mourinho at least finished with his experiment with 20 minutes to go and brought out Torres then Mikel to ensure he would leave with at least a point. Moyes may have made his substitutions from a draw out of a hat and kept his fingers crossed that it would all work out as 'The Chosen One'.

Chelsea were lucky this time, but learned some valuable lessons this weekend:

• When a search for a pen in Mourinho's pocket is the highlight of the evening - maybe everyone should take a long hard look at themselves
• David Moyes needs to work on greeting people at Old Trafford now that he's not in the visiting dugout
• Strikers aren't just for tedious transfer rumours. They can serve a function on the pitch too
• Jamie Carragher has yet to realise there are other players on the pitch - not just centre backs
• Clubs should subsidise travel for away fans. £10 roundtrip London to Manchester - surely the United fans regret not getting a similar deal

jb