Manchester United vs Chelsea – 2007 FA Cup Final Preview

 

Where will you be on 19th May, 2007? History will be in the making at Wembley, whichever way you want to look at it.

Manchester United will take on Chelsea at Wembley in a clash of wills, strength and skills with a dash of class thrown in from either side.

Both sides are evenly matched and will have an equal chance to win, although injuries could take their toll. With Manchester United’s form this season and Chelsea’s never-say-die attitude, the final promises to be a bloody and glorious classic.

There’s plenty of time – around 5 weeks – before the final, so instead of waiting, let’s look at how both teams can beat each other. You’re welcome to add your thoughts below.

How can Chelsea beat Manchester United?

Tactically, Jose Mourinho seems to have improved this season. His biggest test will come against Rafa Benitez in the Champions League semifinals but till now, Chelsea have only benefited from his tactical changes.

Chelsea also have a couple of players returning from injury, which will help Chelsea be fresher than Manchester United at Wembley.

In a one-off game with such evenly matched sides it’s difficult to see who will come out on top. The game 10 days before at Stamford Bridge should give us a clue, but there are no obvious weaknesses that Chelsea can exploit.

Chelsea will look to test van der Sar from long range in the hopes that he will make the same mistake (as he made against Roma and Portsmouth) again. Joe Cole could prove invaluable with his ability to break through defences.

The key factors for Chelsea will be their physical strength, their ability to keep playing at full-tilt for the whole game and the fact that mentally they might have an edge over Manchester United.

How can Manchester United beat Chelsea?

You can argue that Chelsea have a hold over United but as Liverpool showed at Anfield (albeit playing against a weakened Chelsea), Manchester United can beat Chelsea in a toe-to-toe game if they are mentally strong and play a tight game.

Manchester United’s key strengths are their pace and quality in attack and over the course of the season Ronaldo, Rooney, Carrick, Giggs, Scholes and Saha have created a fearsome attack. Add Smith to the mix and Ole coming in from the bench and you have plenty to play with.

However, Ferguson will know that Manchester United’s best bet is to rely on Rooney and Ronaldo, not Smith and Solskjaer. Giggs will have to rely on his skills more than anything else but it is Scholes and Carrick that will have the most to do – up against Lampard and Ballack, these two will have to turn in a performance better than that against Chelsea at Old Trafford.

Carrick has improved for Manchester United but he’ll need to step things up a few gears and put in those crunching tackles – denying Lampard and Ballack any space is a difficult job but for Carrick it will be absolutely crucial that he gets it right.

It’ll be interesting to see how Chelsea deal with Scholes and Ronaldo. Knowing Mourinho he wont have either of them man-marked (although Scholes could be), but Manchester United will have to ensure that they can pass the ball around and force Chelsea on the back foot instead of letting Joe Cole and Michael Ballack pull the strings.

Your Verdict

How can Chelsea beat Manchester United?

How can Manchester United beat Chelsea?

Let me know what you think.

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source : soccerlens.com