Todd Boly (right) and Behdad Egbali managed to spend £600m taking Chelsea out of Europe and out of contention in all domestic competitions in what was a harsh introduction to football. Photo: Getty Images/Clive Rose. at the break, big moments pass them by, clinging to the shards of small improvements.
When it all came to an end against Real just before 10pm, the home dressing rooms in the east stand must have seemed like a long way to the VCs in the hospitality boxes on the opposite side. Todd Boly, Behdad Eghbali and their friend Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss went there on Saturday to let the players know what they were thinking, but on Tuesday it was just another strategy that is best abandoned.
The problem with such a bold move is that you have nowhere to go when the problems remain the same. It took English football less than a year to shake off the carefully cultivated reputation of the new owners of Chelsea as the smartest people in the world. After lecturing the players after Saturday's loss to Brighton, they found that all it guaranteed was a raise. With £600m spent on a revolution that has thrown two managers overboard and reduced Chelsea numbers in Europe and at home, those stakes are already high.
Next season will most likely be the second in 20 years at Stamford Bridge that the stadium has not featured European football of one flavor or another. The last time it was after Jose Mourinho's second spell, after 13 years of dizzying improvement. Chelsea are back to win the Premier League next season under Antonio Conte and next season of course anything is possible. However, this rookie will learn some hard lessons.
The consolation is that their new interim manager and his assistant Ashley Cole are real club legends, because Frank Lampard, who has four defeats in four games and just one goal scored, all the faith of the fans that can be spared is needed.
Even Ralph Rangnick's woeful interim reign at Manchester United saw a bland opening bounce, with two wins and two draws in the first four games. At the current state of affairs, the era of Bruno Saltor — one game, one draw, two weeks later, under the supervision of a man who seemed to cope simply because the clause of his contract insisted on it — looks like a golden time.
< p>For Lampard, it was a sinecure at a club that had once revered him, a managerial position he always felt was given to him and then taken away before he could get to work. It must have looked like an incredibly unlikely second chance. It's been four games and he's putting on a brave face. The consortium guys are sitting next to him in the dressing room as his old manager Carlo Ancelotti looks around with a raised eyebrow and some sympathy. >Carlo Ancelotti (left), the former Chelsea manager, has returned to inflict more pain on Frank Lampard, who has a 100 per cent losing record during his second spell at Stamford Bridge. Photo: Reuters/Dylan Martinez. he can find himself in a stalemate, and the longer this goes on, the interim coach seems less of an astute short-term option and more of a human shield.
This is where Boeli and Egbali get tough. They assembled a group of two technical directors and another sports director, not realizing that the power resided somewhere other than the two Americans. Are they really listening to someone else? Any sporting director of real authority and opinion who is listened to at critical moments would advise against visiting the locker room on a Saturday afternoon.
Lampard's team were better against Real Madrid than at home against Brighton three days earlier, and yet it was a draw that never really felt in balance. They created a few chances and then, as befits a team that hadn't scored in 17 previous games this season, they didn't convert any of them. Never since 1980/81, when Chelsea finished 12th in the Second Division, have they finished so many games without goals. It looks like they will surpass that big year when Leyton Orient beat them in points.
A team that doesn't score goals starts to lack threat and that's why Real Madrid has never looked uncomfortable. As the promising first hour of the game began to feel familiar, Chelsea were fired upon. With one game to save the season, Lampard chose a team that had just one regular striker in Kai Havertz, cut from this strange collection of footballers.
After the German, Conor Gallagher took the highest position up. step. His manager did not trust Raheem Sterling to start. Mason Mount, for inexplicable reasons, again remained on the sidelines and came on as a late substitute. It makes you wonder what the temperature of Mount's contract standoff could be. Mihail Mudryk entered the field in yet another episodic episode between moments of reckless tension (foul on Luka Modric) and shy uncertain finishes, meaning he hasn't scored his first Chelsea goal in 13 games.
Seventh place could be enough for a place in the UEFA European Conference League, and yet Chelsea would have to score 10 points in seven games, only to tour all the places in Europe on Thursday night, which, as they have for a long time considered to be left behind. It was a long time ago.
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