Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has delivered a brutal verdict on the current ownership and his former club as their season continued to spiral downwards.
Another defeat for interim boss Frank Lampard came on Tuesday evening, in what was likely his most important as a manager, with Chelsea knocked out of the Champions League by Real Madrid in limp fashion, losing 4-0 on aggregate.
A brace from Rodrygo settled the quarter-final tie after Madrid entered the second leg already two goals in front. Inside a packed-out Stamford Bridge, Chelsea had their chances but drawing another blank now means it's just one goal scored from the last six games, with five of those being losses.
"We have to," Lampard said when asked how Chelsea pick themselves up. "The reality at this level, we've been fortunate enough to have success for 20 years. Many clubs in the Premier League would dream of our success and Champions Leagues year after year, Premier League winners. Maybe if this is a year where we're not quite where we want to be and there are probably reasons for the transition.
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"A few years ago we didn't make the Champions League for the following year and Chelsea then won the Premier League the next year, so you can't be too short term with it."
An immediate return to the heights mentioned by Lampard appears unlikely as Chelsea look to be entering a major transitional phase. The new ownership of Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, along with 17 players being added to the squad in the last two transfer windows, has seen a significant amount change - so much so, it has left former striker Drogba unable to "recognise" his club.
Drogba said, in quotes carried by GFFN: “I don’t recognise my club. It’s no longer the same club. There is a new owner and a new vision. Of course, we try to compare it with what happened during the (Roman) Abramovich era where a lot of players were brought in, but the decisions were very intelligent.
“Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Herman Crespo, Micheal Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and I go on. It was done to win titles. They are players with a certain experience. The strategy is now different; we bet on young players. But a dressing room of over 30 players is difficult [to manage] for a manager.”
Drogba continued, criticising the club’s players: “They lack charismatic leaders. You need players that take on the game, that assume their responsibilities. You need a player that brings a bit of madness to the stadium.”
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