Chelsea interim head coach Calum McFarlane was taking his first ever game in senior professional football last night at the Etihad. Opposite him, Pep Guardiola, arguably the greatest working manager, was taking his 1011th. But by the end of the night, they were shaking hands as equals, with Chelsea taking a rather unlikely point back with us to London.
Though the Blues arrived a few players short and without a full-time manager, we did not arrive without a plan. McFarlane only learned on Friday that
he was taking charge, but he got down to business without delay and restored a sense of normalcy as much as he could.
“Yeah, it was a great experience. It was a great game to be a part of. I’m really proud of the players and how they performed, especially in the second half. And yeah, great occasion [but] honestly, it just felt really normal. I’ve done this for a very long time. Not at this level, of course, but yeah, I felt really normal and I really enjoyed it.”
And he wasn’t just an empty suit on the touchline, making an important halftime adjustment that helped us nick the point at the very end.
“We didn’t expect them to shape up the way they did in the first half. With the No.6 on the top line, we prepared slightly differently. So then they had a lot of control and we were getting pinned back. With Estevao and Pedro [Neto] getting pinned back to defend in a back five at times, which means that they have so much control and so much rhythm. So that’s not how we wanted the game to look. So we made a change at half-time to go more man-for-man against the ball and to be able to get more pressure and disrupt their rhythm and hopefully force them to go a little bit longer.
“I also think Andrey Santos coming on at half-time and moving Enzo [Fernandez] up one. I thought Andrey was exceptional. I thought he really, really controlled the middle of the pitch. So I think in terms of in possession and out of possession, the shape change really helped us and the sub we made. And then I thought Liam [Delap] was a good sub as well. I thought Liam gave us a really good outlet to go a little bit more direct and occupy the centre-halves.
“But I think the most impressive thing is probably the players. One-nil down at the Etihad, interim manager, players falling ill on the day of the game, the day before the game, all the change. And for them to regroup and take that information on and execute it, speaks volumes about the characters we have at this club. Young players in those moments, they may crumble, but I thought they were exceptional second half.”
-Calum McFarlane; source: Football.London
McFarlane giving this much tactical detail is perhaps the only indication of his inexperience at this level. Nobody wants this, Calum, we just want the narrative drama!
In all seriousness, excellent all around, from players to staff to the wonderful away section.
This was likely McFarlane’s one and only game in charge, with Liam Rosenior set to take over perhaps as soon as Monday. But we’ll always have Manchester in the snow (sort of) with McFarlane. You’ll never sing that!
