Didier Drogba slams Chelsea’s lack of “class”
The Blues legend did not hold back after the Champions League defeat to Real Madrid, insisting that he “no longer recognises” his former club.
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has criticised his former club for a lack of “class” after a season of upheaval that was effectively ended with a meek Champions League elimination.
The Blues lost 2-0 to Real Madrid on Tuesday evening, giving the reigning European champions a comfortable 4-0 aggregate win. Having already been knocked out of the domestic cup competitions and currently languishing in 11th in the Premier League, Chelsea have little left to play for.
Drogba was covering Tuesday’s game as a pundit on French broadcaster Canal+ and the Ivorian admitted that he believes the club has gone backwards under the new ownership.
“I knew this club with a certain class during the [Roman] Abramovich era, but today I find it lacking,” Drogba said.
“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.”
Since the purchase of Chelsea by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital the club has gone through a period of rapid change. On the pitch more than half a billion dollars has been spent and the club is now on its third manager of the season.
The club has also gone through an overhaul away from the pitch, with key officials like Bruce Buck, Marina Granovskaia and Petr Cech all leaving Stamford Bridge last summer.
Lampard insists that Chelsea must keep working
Tuesday’s defeat compounded a disappointing return to Chelsea for club legend Frank Lampard. Back for his second stint in the dugout, Lampard becomes the first Chelsea manager to lose all four of his first four games.
But Lampard insisted post-match that the remainder of the season can be an important spell to set the foundations for the club going forward.
“We can set the building blocks now of where we want to get to,” Lampard said.
“We want to get back to where we were. But everyone’s doing the same, everyone’s invested, everyone’s getting better. Maybe some clubs are more stable than we are in terms of the squad. I don’t think we can get ahead of ourselves.”
Chelsea have seven games remaining in the Premier League but are far adrift of the European places. For Lampard, keeping the team together until a permanent manager can be appointed will be the top priority.