Does Chelsea possess the leaders or talent to mount a challenge against Real Madrid?
Todd Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, and Hansjörg Wyss, three of the club's owners, entered the home dressing room to meet with their team and conduct a debrief after Chelsea's humiliating loss to Brighton on Saturday.
The tone could have been more positive. Although owners entering a dressing room is not uncommon, this particular involvement had a significant impact. Boehly used blunt language and did not mince words. He called Chelsea's situation "embarrassing," and while the message was intended to rally the troops before Frank Lampard's team hosts Real Madrid in the second leg of their Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday night, some people were surprised by it given that the incident only involved one senior player. being singled out for
That player, who was signed by the present owners, might be questioning his decision to sign with Chelsea at this point. He has reportedly been telling people he had never encountered anything like this in football and is said to be disillusioned.
The greatest way for the players to respond, of course, may be to aid Chelsea in staging a comeback for the ages and overturning a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Madrid last week. However, the motivational strategies have drawn criticism. The Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, attempted to downplay the situation by stating that Boehly always enters the locker room following a game, but an insider claimed the atmosphere was strange.
That player, who was signed by the present owners, might be questioning his decision to sign with Chelsea at this point. He has reportedly been telling people he had never encountered anything like this in football and is said to be disillusioned.
The greatest way for the players to respond, of course, may be to aid Chelsea in staging a comeback for the ages and overturning a 2-0 lead from the first leg in Madrid last week. However, the motivational strategies have drawn criticism. The Chelsea goalkeeper, Kepa Arrizabalaga, attempted to downplay the situation by stating that Boehly always enters the locker room following a game, but an insider claimed the atmosphere was strange.
It is an astonishing situation. It is hard for the hierarchy to talk about long-term plans when, having sacked Thomas Tuchel seven games into the campaign, they gave Graham Potter seven months before ditching him. There is no chance the vision for this season involved having to bring in Lampard as interim head coach, and those photos from the Brighton game, showing fans in the upper tier of the west stand at Stamford Bridge leaning down to remonstrate with Boehly, cannot be anything other than a worry for the board.
This may potentially become toxic, especially if Chelsea struggle against Brentford the following Wednesday, even though the Madrid visit would undoubtedly rock the stadium. In regards to the mood, Lampard commented, "I have no doubt it will be positive." "The rest is up to us. We need to play with genuine passion and understand how to win this game.
'It shows passion': Frank Lampard defends Todd Boehly over Chelsea dressing room speech – video
“I have been here too many times before with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on an evening midweek knockout Champions League game ... the atmosphere will be great. It is time for us to tap into that early in the game and make sure we engage the crowd throughout, because they can help us for sure.”
This is the moment when Chelsea need to remember the defiance that made them kings of Europe 11 years ago; to summon the spirit of Ramires running through to chip Víctor Valdés at Camp Nou, Didier Drogba ransacking opposition defences, David Luiz playing on one leg in the final against Bayern Munich and Petr Cech plunging low to save Arjen Robben’s penalty.
Do they actually possess the quality? Injuries to Kalidou Koulibaly and Ben Chilwell in the defense create issues, and the offense as a whole lacks ferocity. N'Golo Kanté's recovery from a hamstring injury helps the midfield, but he lacks precision. It's unlikely that Toni Kroos, Fede Valverde, or Luka Modric are shaking in their boots.
Madrid seems too shrewd to be astonished. They will remember Chelsea's tenacity against Napoli in 2012, Fenerbahce in 2008, and Paris Saint-Germain in 2014. They will remember coming back to defeat Borussia Dortmund last month. They did cause some issues for Madrid last week. The Spanish club, however, will be confident that they can handle Chelsea's opening bombardment. There is no doubt that Carlo Ancelotti will have the tactical advantage versus Lampard. Vincius Junior will be released on the break, and the Italian will undoubtedly have ideas to pick off Chelsea before relying on Karim Benzema to finish the job.
Lampard's statement that Chelsea had to kick the door in is problematic. According to the evidence at hand, it will probably swing back and hit them in. the face.
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