Chelsea: Three lessons learned (only one about VAR) in loss to Man United

As the old saying goes, VAR isn’t everything. Actually, that’s a new saying. Here are a few things to learn from Chelsea’s loss the Manchester United, with not too much dwelling on VAR.

First things first: Chelsea were undoubtedly the better team against Manchester United at Stamford Bridge. The movement in the first half was crisp, the hunger and desire evident for all to see. Yet, it was the Blues who found themselves on the wrong end of a 2-0 scoreline come full time, as an overwhelming sense of familiarity sets in amongst the Chelsea fans.

1. Frank Lampard’s responsibility starts with the starting XI.

From Harry Maguire escaping unpunished for an outlandish “challenge” on Michy Batshuayi early in the first half to having two goals chalked off by VAR to Mason Mount hitting the post late on, it was just not Frank Lampard’s day.

There will, of course, be discussions in the aftermath of this game with regards to the role VAR had to play in deciding the final outcome. But at the end of the day, some of the blame has to fall on the man in charge himself.

First, Lampard’s decision to bench Olivier Giroud once again in favour of Michy Batshuayi proved to be a massive slap across his own face. Batshuayi looked off the pace, lost and struggled massively in a game for which he had a full week to prepare. His hold-up play was poor, his pressing felt half-hearted at best and his finishing nonexistent.

Contrast this to Giroud’s team-lifting performance coming off the bench at the 68′, and one really wonders why exactly did Lampard even wait that long to bring him on.

Worse still, why ever leave a World Cup-winning striker, once hailed as the best target man in the world by none other than Eden Hazard, on the bench in the first place?

Yes, Chelsea fans rightly can feel aggrieved at the horror show that VAR put up on Monday. However, it is important to note that VAR did not stop Giroud from being in the starting XI. VAR did not stop Batshuayi from missing a hat trick of glorious chances to put Chelsea ahead.

At the end of the day, as the point gap between United and Chelsea goes down to three points when it could have well been nine, know that the reasons extend beyond “it just wasn’t our day today.”