VAR was on many occasions the scourge of Chelsea last season so it will be a surprise to supporters that it was actively encouraged in pre-season training. Despite winning the Champions League, the Blues had many contentious decisions go against them throughout last season – the most striking being the offside call against Ben Chilwell in the FA Cup final. The technology was pivotal during Chelsea ’s pre-season preparations though as the Blues’ video analysts stepped in to decide the outcome of a competitive pre-season tie, as revealed by Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Ruben Loftus-Cheek said: “The first to five won and the other team to mine won the first round, fair enough. Then we won the other round so it was all-square, so the next game wins it. I was sure we then scored five, I was counting, but others said that was a mistake and apparently we did not score five. Cal [Callum Hudson-Odoi] said he was not sure, and he did not really celebrate, but the rest of us all went off celebrating before it was hold on, hold on, let’s have a VAR check. When it went to VAR and they said it was five, we went nuts!”
With Loftus-Cheek’s team having run out the victors, the punishment chosen was for the opposition to sing either Backstreet Boys or Spice Girls according to Chelsea’s official website. The Blues then will certainly be hoping that VAR remains on their side with kick-off for the 2021/22 Premier League season just over three weeks away. However, there has already been a disturbance in their preparations so far with a friendly against local outfit Drogheda United being called off.
