Todd Boehly admits to 'making mistakes' in his first year as Chelsea co-owner

Todd Boehly has shared his personal evaluation of his first year as co-owner of Chelsea in private, following the completion of his £4.25 billion acquisition in May 2022.

Almost a year after swiftly completing the purchase of Chelsea, the American billionaire and Clearlake Capital have had a tumultuous and difficult first season at Stamford Bridge.

New signings have accounted for a expenditure of over £600 million, and the dismissals of both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter have added to the chaos at Chelsea. To make matters worse, the team's season seems to be almost over after their elimination from the Champions League. They were also eliminated in the third round of both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup. Currently, they are in 11th place in the Premier League and are increasingly at risk of failing to qualify for European football next season.

After suffering a 2-1 defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion, Boehly, Behdad Eghbali, and Hansjörg Wyss visited the Chelsea dressing room to address the players. They labeled the team's results and position as "embarrassing" before attempting to rally Lampard's squad to turn the tie against Real Madrid around. However, the motivational message proved ineffective as Chelsea went on to lose 2-0 on the night and 4-0 on aggregate.

In an effort to avoid repeating the same mistakes they made during their first year in England, Boehly and Clearlake will be hoping to learn and improve in the upcoming 2023-24 season. This will also mark Chelsea's third permanent manager under their ownership. Currently, the search is underway to find a new head coach, with Lampard serving as the caretaker until the end of the season.

Boehly has admitted that things have not gone as expected since he and his team arrived last year. According to a Bloomberg report, during a private event held at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night, the co-controlling owner acknowledged that errors had been made in his inaugural year.

Boehly did not elaborate on the mistakes during the event, ‘which was billed as a chance to hear the American talk about his exciting plans for Chelsea next season’, in a room filled with bankers and associates.

Fans in the stands at Stamford Bridge have been pictured addressing Boehly and Lampard was quizzed on the frustrations of supporters as they eye a significant improvement on the pitch.

Although the 44-year-old acknowledged that having passion is common, he emphasizes that Boehly and his team have a genuine plan to achieve success in London.

“The fans show passion and I don’t think the owners or anybody who comes to Chelsea and expect anything else. The fans have complete passion and want the club to do well and we have been fortunate enough that the club has been successful over the last 20 years or so. That means you want more of it. I don’t think anybody needs schooling on that. I think it is clear and also the word passion is coming from both sides.

“These are passionate owners who want to bring a real vision to the club and we are probably 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 the very top and at the moment we are just off that level.

“People always question everything in the beginning and the early stages and at any part of the process. There is an important stage with the way we are working – we just want to get our heads down and get on with the things in front of us. Passion and that is normal. I don’t think it is a problem. I certainly don’t find it is a problem. We can all be passionate together and work in the same direction to get where we want to be.”