SOCCER:The Chelsea players would have been much too tired to count or to care in the Old Trafford dressingroom, but the 1-1 draw with Manchester United saw them dip below the standard set during Jose Mourinho's previous two seasons.

The total of 32 points is a poorer return from the opening 14 English Premiership matches than the manager has enjoyed in the past - even if he must have been oblivious to that immediately after holding his main rivals.

This is a more inscrutable Chelsea than we are accustomed to, a side beaten twice in the Premiership already that happens to have given its finest European displays in the pair of games with Barcelona.

If anyone knows what to make of all that it is Mourinho, a man rarely stuck for an answer. The searingly simple solution to the 1-0 deficit at Old Trafford was to switch Michael Essien to right back. The player had all the more scope for his dynamism and uncomplicated passing because United, with Ryan Giggs tucked in on their left, neglected to erect any barrier in his path.

Nonetheless, the overall quality of Chelsea's build-up did not attract compliments. It was sheer relentlessness that exposed the flimsiness of a United squad blown off course and lacking ballast on the substitutes' bench.

While Mourinho departed a little less preoccupied by Alex Ferguson's team, he cannot be entirely sure of his side. Some of the reservations about Chelsea spring from the haphazard course of events and any manager would blanch at the terrible injury to Petr Cech - probably the best goalkeeper on earth. Carlo Cudicini, having yearned to reclaim the gloves, now has all the responsibility in his hands and looks anxious, especially when there are crosses to be seized.

Mourinho has been inconvenienced, too, by Paulo Ferreira's loss of form and is realising that neither Khalid Boulahrouz or Geremi is cut out to be a right back week after week. The outlandish truth is that a limitlessly wealthy club have run short in specific areas. The manager chose to court that danger and has elected to have so pared-down a squad that anyone unaware of the salaries would suppose that he had been ordered to conduct a cost-cutting exercise.

There has always been a certain austerity about Mourinho's approach. He relishes a puritanical tone, with each footballer purged of self-indulgence. This year, however, the squad is no longer so balanced or integrated.

The arrival of Andriy Shevchenko was out of kilter with normal practice for Mourinho. He has never before dabbled in superstars and some will categorise the purchase of the Ukrainian purely as a shopping spree by the owner, Roman Abramovich, who had been in touch with the forward during the previous couple of years. No one foresaw the current perplexity, with people debating which went missing first, the player's confidence or his pace.

The consequences are not in dispute. Shevchenko is yet to contribute in an exhilarating fashion and, while Mourinho would brave any furore, the "resting" of the forward is no solution when there is merely the unproven Salomon Kalou to partner Didier Drogba in his place. Using either Joe Cole or Arjen Robben through the middle has the air of a makeshift device.

Some sort of experiment in tactics and personnel is being conducted at Stamford Bridge. While the final results of that research are not yet available, the comfort of familiar habits has been rejected as Mourinho struggles to whip his team to a higher level.