Michy Batshuayi vanished when Chelsea – and his season – needed him

Michy Batshuayi reinforced the suspicion that he is not up to be Chelsea’s starting centre-forward. He was nowhere to be seen against Crystal Palace, and was only heard from when he shouted his frustration as he came off the pitch.

Michy Batshuayi had the most to gain from Chelsea’s game against Crystal Palace. He was in the starting XI against the Premier League’s most porous defence, facing Palace’s backup goalkeeper. Cesc Fabregas was on his passing game, and Eden Hazard was off his best but still good enough to create loose balls in the box.

Instead of capitalizing on the opportunity, Batshuayi shut himself out of the play at every turn. His hold up play invited Crystal Palace to send two or three players to surround him, which inevitably led to turnovers. He could not find the pass to keep play moving or even maintain possession for Chelsea, assuming his first touch did not betray him and give Crystal Palace time to close him down.

In the Crystal Palace box – his supposed element – Batshuayi took a seemingly literal view of his role as a poacher. He did not move in and out of space, nor did he adjust his positioning to anticipate possible rebound or pass angles. He seemed to be waiting for one of his teammates to cut the ball back to him at the same time the Crystal Palace defence backed off to give him room.

Atletico Madrid obliged him like that at Wanda Metropolitano, but Crystal Palace were not so giving. They placed a sturdy formation of defenders in their box to surround and clear any passes or loose balls.

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Antonio Conte’s lineup and tactics did not help Batshuayi. The Belgian does not flourish as a lone striker in a three-man offence, particularly when one of the wingers is the free-wheeling Eden Hazard. Batshuayi is best cut out for the 3-5-2, with either Alvaro Morata or Hazard as the “lead” striker.

When Antonio Conte took him off the pitch after 56 minutes, Batshuayi had accumulated only 19 touches. His replacement, Pedro, had 15 in the remaining 34 minutes. His countryman Charly Musonda, who came on for Willian at the wing for the final 26 minutes, had 17 touches.

Batshuayi let out a scream of frustration when 23 appeared in red on the fourth official’s board. He followed that up by breezing past Pedro on his way off the pitch.

Hopefully his frustration was with his own performance, and not with his manager’s decision. He deserved to come off, and he did himself and Antonio Conte no favours when it comes to future lineups. He may have done a disservice to Alvaro Morata as well. Antonio Conte will certainly feel more pressure – and perhaps transfer some to the physio staff – to bring Morata back into the starting XI on Wednesday.

Next: Chelsea failed from back to front: Player ratings from loss to Crystal Palace

Michy Batshuayi’s disappearing act was so complete that he did not tweet for the remainder of the weekend. Normally he sends out some message post-game, thanking the fans, sometimes apologizing after a loss and rallying his teammates. Much like his performance against Crystal Palace, @mbatshuayi23 is silent, missing.