Didier Drogba says he 'no longer recognises' Chelsea under Todd Boehly ownership
Didier Drogba has lamented the current situation at Chelsea, stating that he no longer recognises the club since Todd Boehy became co-owner.
The Blues are enduring a woeful 2022/23 campaign. They currently sit in 11th place in the Premier League, and have now been knocked out of every cup competition thanks to their 4-0 aggregate defeat to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The current plight on the pitch under the new ownership group is a far cry from the huge success Roman Abramovich enjoyed when he bought the club in 2003, guiding the club to Premier League success in 2004/05 and 2005/06 within his first few seasons in charge.
Key to those successes under Abramovich was the signings of the likes of Didier Drogba, who scored 157 goals for the club during his eight-year spell at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking to Canal+ after Chelsea's defeat to Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, Drogba lamented that the current ownership have failed to replicate the success of Abramovich thus far, stating: "I knew this club with a certain class during the Abramovich era, but today I find it lacking. It’s very hard for me to see how they got rid of certain people.
"They should go back to the principles and values they had. I no longer recognise my club."
In particular, Drogba criticised the club's transfer policy under the new ownership group. To date, Todd Boehly and co. have spent roughly £500m on new players but has, somehow, still largely failed to fill explicit gaps in the team's starting lineup.
"A dressing room with 30 players is difficult to manage for the coach, whoever he is. We try to compare with what was done under the Abramovich era, where there were many acquisitions of players, but the choices were very intelligent. Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Hernan Crespo, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and others," he added.
"It was to win titles, and they are players who already have some experience. Here, the strategy is different, and they bet on young players. I think they certainly lack charismatic players and leaders. It needs players who take responsibility."
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Thiago Silva on Chelsea transfers
Similarly to Drogba, current Chelsea star Thiago Silva spoke about Chelsea's lack of direction in his post-match interview with beIN Sport on Tuesday evening.
"I think the first step has been made, an incorrect step, but it has been made. We can't be blaming the managers if we don't take responsibility. It's a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision.
"Change of ownership, new players arriving - we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn’t fit the size of the squad.
"A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but on the other hand there are always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play. The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something - that’' tough.
"Some can't make the squad, we signed eight in January, we need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes."
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