All change but Avram again fails to play Mr Motivator

But it was less a change of personnel that was needed and more a change of attitude.

If there is one thing that has irritated Chelsea fans since Grant replaced Jose Mourinho earlier this season, it has been the Israeli coach's relative inability to motivate his team.

Looking at the rather sombre Chelsea coach, it is indeed difficult to imagine a modern day Churchill waiting to burst through the buttons of his trademark non-descript black coat.

Certainly against Wigan earlier this week, Grant's players performed in the first half as though they did not believe they could haul Manchester United in at the top of the table. Appearances can be deceptive, of course.

Grant has claimed on several occasions that he feels the blue blood of Chelsea pump through his veins in the same way as Mourinho did. Here at a packed Goodison Park was, one felt, his team's final chance to show that they believe in their manager.

Without the likes of Frank Lampard for personal reasons and Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack through injury, this was a night for others to take responsibility. To such challenges do real champions rise.

For much of the first half, Chelsea played their football on the front foot. In their minds at least, Grant's players were positive.

Shaun Wright-Phillips was a busy, nagging presence and Michael Essien was winning many of his personal battles. When Essien's goal arrived five minutes before the interval he certainly deserved it.

Indeed, had this Chelsea performance come much earlier in the season, then it would have been viewed as perfectly adequate. But it was never terribly convincing.

At this stage of the campaign, a team chasing a championship needs a little more than this. The comparison with the visit Manchester United made to this part of Merseyside this time last year is stark.

United trailed 2-0 at Goodison Park and looked ready to drop the trophy on their own toes. They won the game 4-2 and won the title. That is what prospective champions do at this stage of the season.

It is about more than talent. It is about confidence, energy and momentum and it is about sheer force of will. And when April rolls around you either have it or you haven't.

At this moment of time, United have it in bundles. That is why they came from behind to overwhelm Arsenal a day before Chelsea collapsed in the dying seconds against Wigan.

Chelsea certainly seemed to be trying to raise their game for Grant. But the rhythm and tempo so recognisable in United's play was only occasionally in evidence here and nobody was suffering more than Nicolas Anelka.

Watch United and barely a minute passes by without Wayne Rooney, in particular, or Cristiano Ronaldo making some sort of contribution.

Anelka was invisible for virtually all of the first half. The Frenchman is known not to be happy at the manner in which he has been used by Grant, sometimes playing wide on the left.

But in the absence of Drogba he was played through the middle in a game that should have been made for him. Frankly, he looked much more potent when he was playing — and scoring — for Bolton.

At this time of year, teams can not carry passengers. Right now, regardless of this result, Chelsea's race looks run. They must hope that a packed Stamford Bridge, rather than anything Grant says or does, can lift them when United visit a week on Saturday.