Chelsea player ratings vs. Manchester United: Solid showing

Kai Havertz (Right winger): 5

The poorest of Chelsea’s front three, Havertz quite simply did not have a good day at the office against Manchester United. While the young German did display some nice touches when on the ball and played some good passes, these moments were few and far between. Playing in his less-favoured position, however, there are excuses to be had for the 21-year-old. Nevertheless, there remained times when Havertz looked lost or simply confused at what he was supposed to do in the limited amount of time he was allowed on the ball.

Having arrived as Chelsea’s most expensive purchase in the summer, expectations are undoubtedly going to be high for Havertz, especially in big games like this. However, being a new player in a brand new environment at such a tender age is never going to be an easy task and fans would do well to give Havertz the time he needs to adjust and adapt. Time will tell that it was all worth it in the end.

Timo Werner (Striker): 5

Much like Christian Pulisic before him, Werner similarly struggled for proper service against Manchester United. It was clear right from the get-go that a large part of Lampard’s game plan was to have balls played into space for Werner to chase. Against a United centreback duo that would most certainly struggle against the pace of the German international in behind the defence, this was a game plan that could have worked. However, the balls over the top or into space throughout the whole of the 90 were simply too poor for Werner to even have a sniff in on goal.

As such, the large parts of Werner’s game had him simply chasing after lost causes or dropping even deeper to receive the ball with his back to goal, neither of which are positions a striker like Werner would enjoy being in. Ultimately, Chelsea’s inability to execute Lampard’s tactics meant a night to forget for Werner and a poor offensive showing from the team as a whole.

Christian Pulisic (Left winger): 5.5

Deployed in his favoured position on the left side of the Chelsea attack, Pulisic certainly did what he could, despite the limited service the entire front three had to work with. Hardworking in pressing the ball and tracking back to help out Chilwell in defence, Pulisic did, in fact, contribute to Chelsea’s ability to shut out United’s attack at Old Trafford. However, this did come at the expense of the team’s overall fluidity in attack, a fact not aided by Werner’s similar tendencies to drift towards the left side of the pitch.

It was a frustrating night up front for the young American who, nonetheless, displayed signs of the best parts of his attacking play whilst still clearly struggling for full match fitness. Until then, games like this serve as good opportunities to build upon his match fitness and return to the kind of form that had fans suggesting him as the young player of the season last campaign.

What would you rate each of the players? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter!