Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has hit out at owner Todd Boehly for letting go of those working within the club.
Speaking to Canal+, the former Ivory Coast striker has expressed his displeasure at the way the flamboyant new owner of Chelsea Football Club is operating.
When it comes to the policy of sacking those at the club, Chelsea are not exactly known for being persistent in trying a given approach.
During the previous regime, owner Roman Abramovich oversaw 15 different managerial sackings.
However, it is not the change in the manager that Drogba is referring to, even though we have already witnessed Thomas Tuchel being let go after an indifferent start to Chelsea’s season.
Drogba was quoted as saying “I knew this club with a certain class during the Roman Abramovich era, but today, I find it lacking”.
Referring to the sackings of some of the backroom staff, he added, “It’s very hard for me to see how they got rid of certain people, for example, the physiotherapists, who were there for a very long time. They should go back to the principles and values they had”.
The four-time league winner and scorer of the winning penalty in the 2012 Champions League final maintains that despite the revolving door of managers at the club, they have had certain stability throughout the previous ownership that has enabled them to be a successful enterprise.
Todd Boehly, on the other hand, has had a tumultuous start to life as an elite-level football administrator and as Chelsea co-owner.
Besides letting go of staff such as Head of Medical and Chief Physio, the Los Angeles Lakers co-owner has spent well over £250 million on players in the summer before controversially sacking Thomas Tuchel.
He has also floated the idea for an All-star North vs. South game during the season, which again turned heads amongst managers, and not in a way to be desired.
Jurgen Klopp’s dig at Boehly
The fact that Chelsea have won their last 4 games under Boehly-appointed Graham Potter means that fans can afford to get on board with the decisions being made for now.
Some have even gone as far as defending his decisions, stating the need to have a clear identity.
• Todd Boehly (Owner, Chairman) • Graham Potter (Head Coach) • Christopher Vivell (Technical Director) • Joe Shields (Director of Recruitment)
Didier Drogba’s comments have also met with criticisms of their own after the previous owner Abramovich was sanctioned in the wake of Russia invading Ukraine.
The UK government had frozen the Russian oligarch’s assets before forcing him to sell the club over his alleged involvement in Vladimir Putin’s operations.
The result was Chelsea’s entire administrative structure above Thomas Tuchel being replaced, and the club being in a complete upheaval towards the end of last season.
Roman Abramovich had invested heavily in Chelsea ever since his take over in 2003, and combined with his shrewd appointment of Jose Mourinho, saw the club win back-to-back Premier League titles in the era of Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson.
The club certainly kicked on ever since then and this meant quite a lot of fanfare for his ownership.
However, the war in Ukraine has forced a lot of loyal Blues to reconsider their stance on the former owner pumping cash into their club, and remain apprehensive over the takeover by the new American owner as well.
