Todd Boehly delivered a pre-Real Madrid pep talk to Chelsea’s players in the Stamford Bridge dressing-room after the latest demoralising defeat to Brighton on Saturday in which he labelled the club’s plight as “embarrassing”.
Co-owners Boehly, Behdad Eghbali and Hansjorg Wyss are understood to have all entered the home dressing-room in the aftermath of the defeat to Brighton, which was Chelsea’s third straight loss.
After interim head coach Frank Lampard had told the players his thoughts, Boehly addressed the squad and is understood to have described the current situation, in terms of results and Chelsea being in the bottom half of the Premier League table, as “embarrassing”.
Chelsea’s owners made sure Lampard had finished delivering his verdict before making their own presence felt in the dressing-room. But Boehly is said to have left the players in no doubt that he, Eghbali and Wyss had spent £600million in the transfer market to win and that they have been falling short of expectations.
He also tried to strike a positive note, reiterating the fact that Tuesday night’s Champions League quarter-final second-leg tie against Real represents a chance to keep the season alive, end the embarrassment and give Chelsea’s fans something to be proud about.
While Boehly’s pep talk may raise further questions over the scale of their involvement, the owners’ decision to enter the dressing-room also represents an acknowledgement of their own responsibility in what has turned into a hugely challenging first season after buying the club from Roman Abramovich.
Goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga revealed that Chelsea’s owners enter the dressing-room after most games, saying: “Todd comes to the changing room in every game. He had different chats with us after different games. I am not going to say what he said. It is normal that he came.”
Asked if he is comfortable with Chelsea’s owners entering the dressing-room and delivering pep talks to the players, Lampard said: “I am comfortable with that.
“There may have been some criticism of our old owner for not coming to games or not being around and that wasn’t always true to be fair. But when an owner is invested in their interest in the team and wants to help and improve, it’s their prerogative to have the input they want.
“I remember the moments as a player of owners first coming into the dressing room. It first happened at Chelsea, never anywhere else before and I remember being really happy that they were there. You could touch them, you could high five them and listen to them and feel them. That’s not a bad thing in terms of the identity of the club and where you want to get to.
“There is no problem with it from my point of view. I had my things to say after the game. If the owner comes in and wants to be positive and speak to the players, then I think it is his part to do that. It can be regular in the modern day. It shows passion and that’s the first thing that I like.”
Chelsea are two goals down to Real Madrid from the first leg, ahead of which Boehly boldly predicted they were going to win 3-0 against the reigning European champions.
Boehly now needs his prediction in Madrid to come true at Stamford Bridge for Chelsea to miraculously progress and stop his first season as co-owner ending in disappointment in Europe, as well as domestically.
The American billionaire came under fire from supporters sitting above him at Stamford Bridge on Saturday and has also faced criticism from pundits after he and co-controlling owner Eghbali sacked two coaches, Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter, inside 12 months and spent a fortune in their first two transfer windows.
Boehly appeared to be remonstrating with disgruntled fans at the Brighton game, although they will no doubt agree with his assessment that Chelsea’s run of form and position in the bottom half of the table is “embarrassing”.
“With regard to the ownership and fans, passion goes both ways,” said Lampard. “The fans show passion and I don’t think the owners or anybody who comes to Chelsea expect anything else.
“The fans have complete passion and want the club to do well, and we have been fortunate enough that the club has been successful over the last 20 years or so. That means you want more of it. I don’t think anybody needs schooling on that.
“I think it is clear and also the word passion is coming from both sides. These are passionate owners who want to bring a real vision to the club and we are probably at the early stage of the process in those terms.
“People always question everything in the beginning and the early stages and at any part of the process. There is an important stage with the way we are working – we just want to get our heads down and get on with the things in front of us. Passion is normal, I don’t think it is a problem. I certainly don’t find it a problem. We can all be passionate together and work in the same direction to get where we want to be.”
Boehly was also filmed by supporters describing the draw with Everton as a “s— f—— game” last month, which proved to be Potter’s penultimate game in charge as head coach.
Asked whether or not he can help Chelsea’s American owners learn some of the cultural intricacies of communicating with English football fans, Lampard added: “No, all I’ll do is speak honestly about how I see the club and do my work.
“Whilst I am here and manager of the football club in this period I will speak honestly, do my work on the training ground and have a lot of communication because I have a lot of care for this football club. That’s my job. It’s not my job to consider people’s approaches. I will just speak about my approaches and what I see.”