Report: Boehly criticized Chelsea's 'embarrassing' plight during team talk
Todd Boehly took matters into his own hands by giving Chelsea a team talk with the aim of sparking the slumping Blues, according to Matt Law of The Telegraph.
The Chelsea co-owner is said to have delivered a pep talk after Chelsea’s 2-1 defeat at home to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday in hopes of inspiring the team ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League decider against Real Madrid.
During the speech, in which he was joined by co-owners Behdad Eghbali and Hansjorg Wyss, Boehly labeled Chelsea’s recent poor run of form as “embarrassing,” Law reports.
It’s understood that the American co-owner waited until interim manager Frank Lampard finished his own post-game speech before addressing the squad. Lampard defended Boehly when asked about the dressing-room lecture, saying he was comfortable with the situation.
“There may have been some criticism of our old owner (Roman Abramovich) for not coming to games, not being around, and that wasn’t alway true, to be fair,” the coach said Monday. “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.”
Boehly’s remarks were made after the club cemented its place in the bottom half of the table with a second Premier League loss in a row. The defeat also extended Chelsea’s unbeaten run in all competitions to six games.
Chelsea face the difficult challenge of keeping their Champions League campaign alive after falling 2-0 to Real Madrid in the first leg of their quarterfinal meeting. They host the 14-time European champions Tuesday.
Boehly highlighted Tuesday as an opportunity to salvage the season and give Chelsea fans something to be proud of if the team can overturn the deficit. A win would also help Boehly save face after the 49-year-old boldly predicted Chelsea would win 3-0 in Madrid last week.
Chelsea goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga addressed reports over Boehly’s speech, saying that it’s not unusual for the American to be seen in the Chelsea dressing room.
“Todd comes into the changing room every game so he has had different chats. I’m not going to say what he said,” the Spaniard told reporters Monday.
While it appears Boehly is running out of patience, especially after helping to invest over £600 million in the transfer market, tempers in the stands also seemed to boil over as he was pictured engaging with seemingly disgruntled fans above his Stamford Bridge suite after Saturday’s defeat.
