Three things we learnt from Chelsea’s humiliation of Manchester United

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Jose Mourinho lacks ambition

Monday night’s draw at Anfield seemed to attract more critics than plaudits despite the strong defensive display, and Mourinho may well have opted for a similar, if less extreme, approach at Stamford Bridge.

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Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard were far too often found on the edge of their own box defending, offering little outlet and effectively preventing the kind of counter attacking football that Chelsea used to such deadly effect. Two players with such flair should have been pressing much higher, and whilst it may be understandable at one or two goals down to have them tracking back, there would have been nothing for them to lose at three or four goals down. Mourinho’s lack of belief in his side to emerge victorious through their attacking play is completely counter intuitive to the so-called “United way”.

His words with Antonio Conte before heading down the tunnel, believed to be because Conte had enraged the United boss by whipping up the crowd in the final minutes, were clearly an attempt to deflect attention from his team’s atrocious display, but also rich from the same man who frequently shakes hands and wanders down the tunnel before the final whistle when his side are leading.