Graphic: Success on United front

When Roman Abramovich muttered something to one of his sidekicks at Old Trafford yesterday, was it a message to get on Shaun Wright-Phillips in place of Florent Malouda? When Eugene Shvidler, another of the Russian oil tycoons, burst into animated chatter, was he advising a switch to 4-4-2 against Fulham on Saturday?

The oligarchs are back in control of the asylum, which means nothing can be ruled out. There was even a report yesterday that Abramovich had lectured Michael Essien on tactics in the dressing-room last week, with Andriy Shevchenko acting as interpreter.

It sounds fanciful, ludicrous even, but perhaps no more ridiculous than thinking that Avram Grant is a suitable replacement for José Mourinho; no more skewed than believing that spending £500 million on a football club suddenly makes you an expert.

Michael Knighton famously made a pillock of himself when he ran on to the Old Trafford pitch in full kit and juggled a ball in front of the Stretford End. It set a high bar for the idiocy of football club owners - particularly as Knighton then failed to find the money to close the deal for Manchester United.

Abramovich has never made the mistake of joining in the warm-up at Stamford Bridge, but he is in danger of exposing himself to a different sort of ridicule after the years when he was regarded as football’s dream owner.

He is in danger of taking the club back to the early days of his reign, when he and his advisers sat around Stamford Bridge with a Who’s Who of European football and plucked famous names out of the air: “David Beckham, Zinédine Zidane, Ronaldinho – let’s buy the lot of them.” Pini Zahavi, the ubiquitous super-agent, knew who was heading to Chelsea long before Claudio Ranieri, the lame-duck head coach.

Unlike Ranieri, Grant should be included in discussions by the Russian/Israeli kitchen cabinet, but Chelsea fans will dread that team-building by committee has returned. It was evident in Abramovich’s pursuit of Ronaldinho just before the transfer window, when he was willing to break all transfer records to attract the Brazilian from Barcelona.

The supporters might long for Ronaldinho – and they might well get him next summer – but the failings of Shevchenko and Michael Ballack should have taught them of the dangers of buying players without reference to how you are going to use them. And they might also want to have a word with supporters of Real Madrid about what happens when the chairman starts becoming obsessed with galácticos.

They are not circumstances under which any leading manager would want to work, whatever the wages on offer – which is, of course, why Chelsea have Grant in charge. Perhaps we should not be too harsh given that it was impossible to judge his talents from yesterday’s defeat at Old Trafford. His 4-1-4-1 formation was perfectly sensible; only, John Obi Mikel’s sending-off wrecked the game plan.

As for team spirit, Ruud Gullit, the television analyst, may have detected signs of fracturing, but it was certainly not evident in the phenomenal workrate of Essien. Grant deserves the opportunity to work with Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard, without whom Chelsea are neutered, before he is completely written off.

But it was still a defeat and it did nothing to stop the swirl of unease around Stamford Bridge. Will Grant get his coaching licence? How long has he got?

Abramovich will not engage in debate and so we are left to deduce his feelings from body language. A few weeks ago, he left the directors’ box at Aston Villa before the end of the game and, rightly, it was interpreted as a sign of his growing dismay at the functional football being served up by Mourinho.

Yesterday he stayed in his seat, applauding long after the final whistle. It was an obvious attempt to show solidarity, even if it meant that he had to endure United fans mocking him as they made their way out of Old Trafford, just below his seat.

Abramovich should know that Chelsea fans are suddenly expressing plenty of misgivings about him, too, but the luxury of being an oligarch is that he has an easy way to soothe their anger. It simply requires spending more money to right the wrongs of the Grant appointment.

Chelsea’s owner is capable of paying whatever it takes to lure Jürgen Klinsmann from Los Angeles or Marcello Lippi out of semi-retirement – and he might be willing to throw another £100 million at rebuilding the side. Chelsea are in a mess of their own making, but it will be a long time before anyone shouts, “Sack the board”.

Success on United front

Going forward together
Wayne Rooney, below, and Carlos Tévez are similar players whose ability to operate together has been questioned, since neither is an orthodox centre forward, but they were paired up front by Manchester United against Chelsea yesterday. Tévez dropped much deeper than Rooney, gaining possession more than twice as much in his own half as his teammate, but, even so, Rooney did not touch the ball in the central third of the penalty area while Tévez did so only twice, including for his goal

Little evidence of Roman attack
Roman Abramovich is keen for Chelsea to adopt a more attacking approach but, on the evidence of these average position graphics, there was no great difference between yesterday’s match away to United and the corresponding fixture last season. Up until the point when John Obi Mikel was sent off, Chelsea’s full backs were more advanced (Paulo Ferreira and Ashley Cole) than they had been last November (Geremi and Cole) but the central defenders recorded more defensive positions (John Terry and Tal Ben Haim yesterday; Terry and Ricardo Carvalho last season