Well the big game of the weekend, for United and Chelsea fans at least, is over, and we don?t really know much more than we did last week. A 1-1 draw was the result and the status quo has been preserved, as we are still three points clear of Chelsea at the top the league.

The game, hyped up to high heaven by?well?everyone, was not a classic. But we played some great football in the first half and looked much the better side. With Shevchenko still out-of-sorts, Ballack just going through the motions and Lampard anonymous, we looked in control and comfortable, and were in front at the break thanks to Saha?s sublime finish (a question to all those who have been doubting him since the Celtic game ? could van Nistelrooy score a goal like that?).

However, Mourinho?s change at half time ? Robben for Geremi, with Essien moving to right back ? swung the game in Chelsea?s favour. Robben provided width that had been lacking while the indefatigable Essien found plenty of space to maraud down the right flank, with Giggs often tucking inside ? which begs the question of why we didn?t station Rooney out on the left as we?ve done so often in Europe to counter the Ghanaian. In the second half Chelsea lent on us until we almost broke, and grabbed the equaliser that, overall, was deserved.

There were plenty of positives to take from the game ? Saha?s goal and some slick play in the first half among them, but there were also negatives ? and Vidic?s ?dive? springs to mind. Now, I?m not using the inverted commas because I?m claiming it wasn?t a dive, but rather because it was such a poor and obvious dive. I?ve never thought of Vidic as that sort of player, and it was strange to watch him do it. It was as though he understood the theory (fall over holding your face and roll around for a while) but had never actually tried it. He did the first part but then seemingly forgot the part about rolling around for a second or two. Then, when he remembered, he began to writhe like a fish that had just been plopped onto dry land. It was like hearing a guy begin to tell a joke, forget the punch line, then remember it after a few minutes. It?s still technically a joke, but it?s just not right.

So when all?s said and done a draw was a fair - if unsurprising - result, but the question is: whom did it benefit the most? Naturally both managers argued that the result was better for their side. Mourinho?s point that we blew a great chance to open up the gap was ? for a change ? a fair one, but I?m not fully convinced by his argument, perhaps because Mourinho is a man who could argue that white is black, and I can’t shake the feeling that had we handed out a 5-0 thrashing, he would still have claimed the result was better for Chelsea than United.

Of course I would have preferred a victory, but I?d rather be three points ahead than three points behind. Sunday?s result didn?t really change anything, and for the moment United remain in the driving seat.

What the game at Old Trafford did ram home, though, was the difference between the squads of the two rivals. While Mourinho?s bench contained the likes of Arjen Robben, Joe Cole and Soloman Kalou, our bench contained not one player who could be described as attacking. With the game at 1-1, we were able to bring on Fletcher and O?Shea for Saha and Ronaldo. Granted, these changes were forced upon Ferguson, but still it would be nice to have at least one attacking option on the bench.

With Rossi still out on loan until January, the unlucky Solskjaer injured again and Alan Smith still apparently way short of match fitness, we only really have Rooney and Saha to call upon as strikers, and Saha picked up an injury (though not a serious one) on Sunday. I?m thankful that Smith rejected loan moves to Cardiff and Leeds, and would imagine the manager is too, now that it looks as though Saha may miss the next game against Everton. I don?t know how short of match fitness Smith is, but at least a place on the bench in the next match should not be out of the question.

Our striker shortage just at the moment has, as you would expect, restarted the transfer rumour mill again. So far we?ve been linked, yet again, with Atletico Madrid?s be-mulleted Fernando Torres ? a man who makes Robben look steady on his feet ? and Tottenham?s Jermain Defoe, who might be available for ?12m to tuck away any dodgy penalties we might get after January.

In an ideal world we wouldn?t need these replacements. I said at the beginning of the season that I thought we were fine in the striking department, but that was before Rossi went sit on the bench at Newcastle (he will be back in January though) and Solskjaer and Saha succumbed to injury. With all our strikers fit, we?re fine, but a couple of injuries and we look worryingly thin there. All I hope is that if we do sign someone, it?ll be a player who will actually add something to the side and is scoring goals ? Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, anyone? ? rather than someone with a huge reputation ? a la Torres or Defoe ? but not the goals or performances to back it up.

However, it won?t be time to worry about that until the New Year. For now, all there is to worry about is the fact that three points doesn?t feel like much of a gap (though I?m not complaining about being top!) and that Rooney may end up playing up front on his own against Everton ? and we all know how much he loves that?

This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 29th, 2006 at 9:16 am and is filed under Manchester United. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.