Frank Lampard welcomes co-owner Todd Boehly’s decision to address his squad and call their defeat to Brighton ‘embarrassing.’
The caretaker manager watched on as Boehly, who had been criticised by supporters above the directors’ box during the 2-1 loss on Saturday, talked to his expensively assembled squad after their six-game winless run.
Boehly had come into the dressing room with fellow owners Behdad Egbhali and Hansjorg Wyss and delivered both words of encouragement and harsh truths.
Ahead of a match against Real Madrid in the quarter-final of the Champions League, Lampard addressed Boehly’s hands-on approach.
He said: “There may have been some criticism of our old owner for not coming to games. Not being around and that wasn’t always true to be fair.
“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.
“I remember the moments as a player of owners first coming into the dressing room. It first happened at Chelsea, never anywhere else before and I remember being really happy that they were there.
“You could touch them, you could high-five them and listen to them and feel them. That’s not a bad thing in terms of the identity of the club and where you want to get to.
“There is no problem with it from my point of view. I had my things to say after the game. If the owner comes in and wants to be positive and speak to the players, then I think it is his part to do that.
“It can be regular in the modern day. It shows passion and that’s the first thing that I like. These are passionate owners who want to bring a real vision to the club and we are probably in the early stage of the process in those terms.
“Again, I keep being asked a lot of the same sort of stuff but when you look at processes in the Premier League and we want to rise and stay at the very top and at the moment we are just off that level.
“People always question everything at the beginning and the early stages and at any part of the process.”
The feeling in west London is fraught with Chelsea’s season on the brink of failure unless they can claw back a 2-0 lead.
This is the final chance at silverware for the Blues who are 11th in the Premier League and look increasingly unlikely to qualify for any European competition.
Lampard insists that his team are still in with a chance of winning even if their prospects of getting through to face Manchester City or Bayern Munich look slim, adding: “Anything is possible, in football anyway.
“There’s no doubt that we are a competitive team and that we deserve to be here at this stage of the competition. We also understand that the opponent is of a really high level.
He further insisted that Chelsea won’t throw in the towel on their season if they don’t overcome the 14-time winners in their final seven league matches: “Every game we play for Chelsea is a good opportunity to win games and particularly with our form this season to try to get back to the feeling that it is possible.
“Nothing could have less on it, as far as I am concerned. Every game - Madrid, Brentford, Arsenal, going forward to Newcastle on the last day - is and should be a huge game for us as individuals - myself included - and the collective because we all want to prove you know what it means when you represent Chelsea.
“I understand why it is important tomorrow but whatever way the result goes tomorrow we will keep working till the end.”
