- Takeover at Stamford Bridge in 2022
- Big money spent on new players
- Disastrous campaign on the field
WHAT HAPPENED? The American businessman, who led a consortium that completed a takeover at Stamford Bridge in 2022, has attracted plenty of unwanted attention this season as the Blues have struggled as a collective. Some £600 million ($742m) has been invested across the last two transfer windows, but Chelsea are destined to finish in the bottom-half of the Premier League table. Boehly has taken it upon himself to try and inspire an underperforming squad, while also pointing a few fingers at those that are supposedly letting the club down, but Gallas says prominent figures from the boardroom should stay in their lane.
WHAT THEY SAID: Former Blues defender Gallas has told Genting Casino: “As an owner, that is one thing that you must never do. You can’t go into the dressing room and start shouting at players or criticising players. The only people that should be allowed to be critical of the players in the dressing room is the manager and maybe the sporting director. I think Boehly came into Chelsea with an arrogant approach. Maybe the owners in America do this; maybe they go into the dressing room and criticise the players. Todd, you’re not in America anymore. This is the UK; this is a different culture. This is not how owners behave in this country. English sport is completely different to the USA.
“He needs to be patient. Take a look around and understand the culture here. Just because you bought the club doesn’t give you the right to enter the dressing room and undermine the players and the manager. Just because you spent millions of pounds on players doesn’t mean that you can do what you want. Perhaps going into the dressing room, speaking to the players like this surprised some of them. I played at the top level for almost 20 years and not once in my career did an owner come into the dressing room and criticise the players.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE: Quizzed on why things have gone so badly wrong for Chelsea during their first season with new owners at the helm, ex-France international Gallas – who won two Premier League titles during his time in west London - added: “It’s simple. The owners didn’t know what they were doing, and they came into the season without a strategy, without a plan. I’ve said this throughout the season: Todd Boehly doesn’t have a clear strategy. This season has been a big mess. Yes, they’ve bought many players and spent a lot of money, but some of these players don’t have the required quality to play for Chelsea. Don’t forget that Chelsea over the last few years have been one of the best clubs in Europe. What we’ve seen this season has been so far from that level.
“Boehly made big mistakes. He has to come out and give the fans a mea culpa, hold his hands up and admit that he has made errors. Him and the board have made so many mistakes. We judge them on their results, exactly the same as players and managers. People will always judge you on your performance. The owner hasn’t performed at the required level for a big club like Chelsea. American sports are not the same as English sports. Baseball is not football. I think, for me, Boehly’s approach was a little bit arrogant. His approach to running the club was arrogant and straight away he tried to change many things because he thought he knew what he was doing. No! That is not how you run a football, club in this country. Boehly had to accept that he is in a new country, a new sport. He needed to look around and understand how football club’s work. Take your time and think about how you will implement long-term changes. No, he didn’t do this.”
Next Match
AND WHAT'S MORE: Chelsea have two more fixtures to take in this season – away at Manchester United on Thursday and at home to Newcastle on Sunday – with a new manager set to be at the helm for 2023-24 as former Tottenham and Paris Saint-Germain coach Mauricio Pochettino is lined up to succeed interim boss Frank Lampard.
IN THREE PHOTOS:
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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT? Boehly, meanwhile, has reportedly dialled down his involvement within the club, perhaps taking a lesson from what has been a woeful first full season in charge.
