Chelsea were unable to capitalise on West Ham’s defeat
Danny Murphy says he was disappointed by Chelsea’s lack of intensity in their goalless draw against Manchester United.
Thomas Tuchel continued his unbeaten start to life since arriving at Stamford Bridge in January, but Murphy believes his side have the attacking quality to have taken the game more to Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team.
West Ham’s defeat against Manchester City on Saturday handed Chelsea the opportunity to leapfrog them in the race for a Champions League spot, but they remain in fifth after the weekend’s action.
The closest they came to scoring was shortly after the restart when Hakim Ziyech was denied by David de Gea.
Speaking on talkSPORT, the former Liverpool and Fulham midfielder said: “There’s obviously a question about the supporters being in there that dictates certain tempos at times in games.
“Especially if you’re at home, the urgency of the fans is transferred to the players, and therefore you tend to see a more dynamic game.
“But the actual quality of the game yesterday was poor. Forget about the tempo, the quality was poor.
“And I thought that it was up to Chelsea to take it to United a little bit more and they didn’t. I was disappointed in them.
“United really have got every right, sitting in second with a gap to fourth, to go there and be difficult to beat and play on the counter.
“But yeah, I was like everybody else, frustrated with it. I think United are in a position where they’ve got to walk before they can run. They’ve got to be competitive against the big teams, which they have this season.
“Yes it’s been dour watching, but they haven’t been rolled over and beaten like in previous years, so they’ve made a step forward and they’ve got every right to do that now they’re sitting in second and they’ve made some progression.
“I think Chelsea should have been a bit more at it, and with the quality they’ve got in attacking areas I expected more from them.”
Tuchel has won six and drawn three of his nine games in English football.
His Chelsea side are next in action on Thursday night, when they face Liverpool at Anfield.
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