Todd Boehly criticised for 'same stunt' Roman Abramovich pulled off at Chelsea
Former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has defended Todd Boehly entering the Chelsea dressing room, recalling that former owner Roman Abramovich used to do the same.
Boehly has regularly visited the players in the dressing room, drawing criticism from some quarters. It is one of a number of areas where the American has faced a backlash, with the Blues struggling on the pitch since their new owner replaced Abramovich in 2022.
“Todd comes to the changing room in every game," goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga has said. "He had different chats with us after different games. I am not going to say what he said. It is normal when he came into the changing room.” And, despite questions over the behaviour, Johnson has sympathised with the owner.
Questions had been asked by talkSPORT broadcaster Jim White in the face of Boehly's actions. As relayed by The Mail, white said "I asked is it fair or unfair for the ownership to pitch up in the home dressing room afterwards and have a dialogue with the players when things aren't going well?
"The message [from an unidentified member of the Chelsea ownership] tells me 'I don't know if it's fair or unfair, but all we ask is the players fight for the fans who invest money, time and energy into the players. We care about winning on and off the pitch,'" he added.
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Former England defender Johnson, however, believes there's nothing wrong with speaking to the players directly providing it's done "in the right way". The former Blues right-back moved to Stamford Bridge in Abramovich's first window in charge and spoke of how the Russian would pay the team similar visits.
Is Todd Boehly right to enter the dressing room? Have your say in the comments section
Todd Boehly has had a challenging first year as Chelsea owner (Getty Images)“If the comments are constructive, I don't see the problem with a Chairman coming into the dressing room and airing his opinions on a team," Johnson told King Casino Bonus. "If it's nonsense and digging people out, then it's a waste of time and won't achieve anything.
"We don't know exactly what Boehly said, but if it was helpful and done in the right way I don't have a problem with it. Roman Abramovich during my time at Chelsea used to come into the dressing room all the time and give his opinion and I never took an issue. As long as it is done in the right way, I'm happy with it.”
After two big-spending transfer windows, Boehly has other issues to deal with. Chelsea will have to make do without European football next season and could yet end the campaign in the bottom half of the Premier League table for the first time since 1995-96.
According to The Athletic, the Blues could be in line to lose several players in the summer transfer window. This comes after the club spent more than £500m on new recruits since Boehly's arrival, including breaking their transfer record in January to sign Enzo Fernandez.
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