Manchester United can take positives from a disappointing day at Wembley

Chelsea proved why they are the Invincibles at Wembley on Sunday, but Manchester United can head into the summer with their heads held high

Credit: Getty Images

Heading into this final as defending champions for the first time, Manchester United fell short in the FA Cup final with a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea in a game dominated by the unbeaten WSL champions.

In the two league meetings this season, the scoreline was 1-0 on both occasions, so what went so wrong for United in this year's final?

Physicality in midfield

A big omission from the starting XI was Ella Toone in midfield with the trio of Dominique Janssen, Hinata Miyazawa and Grace Clinton starting, a change that had its merits. The game at Leigh Sports Village a few weeks ago was one of the best performances against Chelsea, with United’s midfield trio more aggressive off the ball and matching Chelsea’s physicality, something I think United did in the final from the off. However, it wasn’t sustained.

Toone came on at half-time but didn’t really make the impact in the game we have seen in previous games. One of the challenges for Marc Skinner next season is figuring out whether Clinton and Toone can both play together, or will one have to miss out?

United’s collapse

I thought United started well, defending resolutely and having a couple of half-chances early on, which was a promising sign for the fans. The game plan was working from a United perspective and while they didn’t create an abundance of opportunities, the team were in the game and limited Chelsea to one or two opportunities.

Chelsea’s first goal came right before half-time with Celin Bizet giving away a penalty, converted by Sandy Baltimore. In the second half, I thought we’d see United take the game to Chelsea, being a goal behind, but United never got a foothold, only having three shots in the entire game with just two on target. The final 20 minutes was all Chelsea, who added another two goals in the final five minutes of normal time and could easily have scored a couple more, but the job was done.

It’s a trait we’ve seen from this United side this season when going behind, having failed to mount a comeback. While there have been some fight backs this season, the most important being against Manchester City at Old Trafford, the team have a bad tendency when falling behind to look incredibly shaky for the period after that, something that needs to be fixed going into next season.

The substitutions had the opposite effect to what Skinner was hoping for, with none of the players who came on able to make an impact on the game. The gap in quality off the bench ultimately swung the momentum in the game with Chelsea’s subs having instant impacts and pushing United deeper into a defensive block.

The final word

It’s always gutting to lose a cup final, however I think there are positives to take from the game and the season as a whole.

While the scoreline was bigger than expected at Wembley, United have shown this season they can compete with Chelsea. Champions League qualification was the target, and that has been achieved.

Despite the loss, it’s still three FA Cup finals in a row, and from a United perspective, with more investment over the summer and bolstering out the squad with quality, they can go and grab the FA Cup trophy back from Chelsea next season.