The latest edition of the FA Cup final saw London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea squaring off. In the end, two goals scored by Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang led the Gunners to a 2-1 victory and their record-extending 14th FA Cup title. It also put them into next season's Europa League even though they had initially failed to qualify after a dismal Premier League season in which they finished just eighth.
As for Chelsea, there are several reasons why the match did not go as planned. However, in my opinion, the person who is primarily culpable for the Blues' loss is head coach Frank Lampard.
It is true that Lampard has definitely improved as a coach as the season has gone on. After a shaky start, the former Chelsea legend began to grow into his new role on the other side of the touchline. He clearly increased his level of understanding about how this Chelsea team should be set up while also getting the players to fully trust him and buy into his tactics and ideas; these points are notable because many Chelsea coaches during the Roman Abramovich era have struggled in these areas.
One glaring error which was made by Lampard was the omission of N'Golo Kanté from the starting 11. Although there had been doubts over his condition heading into the match after having recently recovered from an injury, he should nevertheless have started. If a team's best player is fit enough to be on the bench, that player should start. Kanté is too good to be benched for a vital match such as this one. The Frenchman's omission was made even more obvious after Chelsea's central midfield duo of Jorginho and Mateo Kovačić were completely dominated by their opposing numbers Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka. Kovačić was also sent off after a second yellow card following an unnecessary foul on Xhaka with Chelsea already trailing. It is highly unlikely that Kanté would have committed the same error, and it is also possible that Chelsea might have equalized if the match had remained 11 against 11.
Lampard's substitutions were also somewhat questionable. It should not have taken him until the 78th minute to switch out the underperforming Mason Mount and Antonio Rüdiger, who had both been struggling throughout the match. Substitutes Tammy Abraham and Ross Barkley showed more ability, heart, and desire in their short stints on the pitch than the two who were replaced by them. Lampard's decision to replace captain César Azpilicueta with Andreas Christensen after Azpilicueta suffered an injury also backfired. Christensen's defensive error was the catalyst that ultimately led to Aubameyang scoring the winning goal. Furthermore, given Arsenal's typical style of play as well as the flow of the match at the time, Fikayo Tomori would have been a much more suitable selection to come off the bench.
Lampard also showed a relative lack of tactical nous during the match. Arsenal are a team known for their heavy use of long through-balls. However, the Chelsea coach failed to adapt his team's strategy to counter this and went on to pay the price when such a through-ball resulted in Arsenal's winning goal.
It is definitely worrying that in the most important match of his coaching career thus far, Lampard produced an extremely poor performance which likely cost his team an FA Cup. Although this is Lampard's first season coaching at this level, it must be kept in mind that Chelsea next season will be a vastly improved team when compared to the Chelsea of this season. Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech will be welcomed to Stamford Bridge; Bayer Leverkusen striker Kai Havertz will probably follow in their footsteps. This will be a team expected to challenge for Premier League and even Champions League titles, but they will win neither if Lampard's coaching does not improve further.
I would not say that Frank Lampard will never be a good coach. He has shown signs of progress throughout the season and has not only learned a great deal but also put what he has learned into practice. Certainly, he is today a far better coach than he was a year ago. However, judging by his display in the final, one might wonder if he is indeed the coach who might lead a rebuilt Chelsea to a Champions League title.
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