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Chelsea’s season went from bad to worse on Saturday afternoon when they lost 2-1 to Brighton at Stamford Bridge. It has left the Blues stuck in the bottom half of the Premier League table and made the likelihood of any European football for the club next season seriously unlikely.
During the game on Saturday, the home crowd appeared to turn on Todd Boehly and afterwards, the American reportedly made a beeline for the Chelsea dressing room. While it isn’t unusual for club owners to visit dressing rooms before or after games, the American wasn’t merely in the mood for a friendly visit.
According to a report in the Telegraph, Boehly spent an hour with the players and told them exactly what he thought of them. According to one insider, he told the players that they were “embarrassing” and reminded them that he had spent £600m to build a winning side and that they had failed to live up to his expectations.
One big-name player, who was left unnamed in the report, faced Boehly’s wrath directly leaving their future at the club in doubt. The American has so far signed 14 players since buying the club in the summer and has already overseen two managerial changes.
Rallying the troops
Although Boehly made his frustrations known to the players, it is believed that the main intention of his post-match dressing down was to spark a reaction ahead of tomorrow night’s Champions League quarter-final second leg with Real Madrid. The Blues lost 2-0 in the away leg last week and face an uphill task to qualify.
Boehly reportedly told the squad that they have a great opportunity to turn their fortunes around by winning the tie and stressed that they must do everything in their power to mount the comeback. If Chelsea can do the impossible and beat Real Madrid by three goals tomorrow night then the possibility of another miracle Champions League win will only increase.
Exclusive – Todd Boehly gave Chelsea players a pre-Real Madrid dressing-room pep talk over the club's 'embarrassing' plight. Eghbali and Wyss also understood to be present #cfc https://t.co/o1YtuKkTA7
— Matt Law (@Matt_Law_DT) April 17, 2023
Speaking about Boehly’s dressing room appearance after the Brighton game, interim manager Frank Lampard said:
“I am comfortable with that. There is maybe some criticism of our old owner for not coming to games and being around that wasn’t always true.
I remember moments as a player of owners first coming into dressing rooms, and I remember being happy. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I had my things to say, an owner wants to come in and be positive and speak to the players, they can do that. No problem with that, it shows passion and that’s the first thing that I like.”
A player’s perspective
While Lampard is comfortable with the owner coming into the changing room, for some of the players it might be an issue. However, according to Kepa Arrizabalaga, Boehly’s appearance wasn’t anything out of the ordinary:
“Todd comes to the changing room every game. He had different chats with us for different games. I’m not going to say what he said, but it’s normal when he comes to the changing room.”
The Chelsea fans, players and coaching staff will all be hoping that if Boehly makes an appearance on Tuesday night then it will be to celebrate a famous victory with them.
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