A lot of idle chatter below the line going on this week between heavily invested parties about the prospects for tomorrow's game. Could it be the most boring Cup Final ever, some fans have asked? Mostly Chelsea fans I suspect but a few "ABU"s too (Anyone But United).
I don't know why they worry. Flowing, expansive Latin football may not be on the menu, even if flowing latin players are, but the old English adorables of 'heat' and 'passion' surely will.
Both terms are used as code for 'mindlessly violent' of course, but also retain their inference of 'sheer physical effort' and 'visible signs of straining every sinew, even when the legs have gone' and they will certainly see plenty of that.
Herrera will play, I predict, to menace Hazard. That you even can check Hazard out of a game so easily also means an early yellow card just passes the baton around the team.
Wilian will be harder to control though, and must be extra motivated to show the boss he's still got it. The boss here being Mourinho, however.
The menacing forward runs of Rudiger will be hard to check too, and with creativity in the centre too, Chelsea must feel they have enough to win.
Their superb performances earlier in the season against Barcelona will take some time to forget. They may have lost the home game but were easily the better side and should have converted one of many chances in that game to go to Spain with a good lead.
They also come primed with one of the top three keepers in the world, so the DDG advantage slims immediately too.
They lost Matic though, and may miss him. He certainly still looks good enough to play for either side though this season has put another year on slightly more visibly, and he will surely not be playing all the games next year.
He is brutal in the clinch though, and not every Chelsea player fancies that kind of encounter.
But of course, Chelsea have N'Golo Conte, who must be the first player any rival team would take from Chelsea, United included.
There will be passion from Chelsea's bench too. Almost laughably extreme displays of Latin passion accompany Conte's every game, so the fans have that too.
On the Red side though, it's true. Mourinho will be briefing the players to take some sting out of the game as quickly as they can, establishing a rhythm they can sustain, and almost inducing a 'European night' pace of slowing the game before inflicting moments of great pace.
He has to decide between Jones and Bailly at the back, but both could feature at some point. His wing-backs are fixed, so the main question in midfield will be whether to start with Matic, Herrera and Fellaini, bringing Pogba on in the 70th minute, or start with Pogba and take the chance.
Jose is conservative, of course, but if he starts with too little attacking threat, it could be a difficult first half.
Either way, the front three present problems of their own. Lukaku may not be fit, or not fully fit, to start with, leaving a question over whether to give Marcus Rashford his dream start at number 9, or the mercurial if sulky Martial. He could pick either to play on the left and switch Sanchez into a false 9 which, with his inverted winger on the left, would occupy N'Golo Kante and make space for the narrow 7 to keep the Chelsea left side more than busy.
My guess is Lukaku will play though, and another Mourinho mindgame laid bare.
Whatever happens, Sanchez has to play, and has to perform for Mourinho too. Not least because of the significant loss of reputation Jose and Ed Woodward suffered after the crazy deal in January.
Board perception is still that the deal was way too expensive and Mourinho's inability to knit his new player into a team that already had two players vying for the left sided role has disrupted several players in other positions. Overall - very poor. If Mourinho leaves Sanchez on the bench, his own position becomes less secure, along with his Chief Executive.
Which leaves only the right sided role to accomodate Lingard or Mata.
I have to confess I can't read the runes on how Jose makes this selection. For me, a teamsheet with Lingard on it would be enough to boost my confidence. Of all the players in either club, Lingard is something different. A tiny figure next to his pals he brings superb movement to the team, knits moves together and opens pockets in the tightest defence.
He is also a big match player and much as I admire Juan Mata, I would play Lingard from the start.
Given all this, clearly I'm rooting for the reds and a couple of goals from the Instagram boys, but that's the red mist talking.
For the neutral i'd say this... a few tetchy tackles early on, an unwarranted red card or a dubious VAR penalty will rule out every plan they've spent the week on, and it could get, as they say round Millwall parts: "a bit interesting". This game does have a few petulant personalities who like to rile and become riled. Ashley Young has history here, Herrera is already anticipated to unleash his own dark arts. Trouble could bubble up, and then you neutrals will have a game too.
Just my rambles. Predict 2-1 to Man U.
