Todd Boehly’s Chelsea should have been about taking things slow. The American is heading up the new era at Stamford Bridge, and after the successful but extremely volatile two decades of Roman Abramovich\u2019s ownership, he preached a more considered, longer-term, collective approach.<\/p>\n
Sacking Thomas Tuchel<\/strong> in the manner he did, with very little in the way of evidence of failure, because he didn\u2019t quite suit the vision certainly pointed to a particular way of working. Buying Graham Potter<\/strong> out of his Brighton contract, paying a reported \u00a321m in the process, did too. Potter\u2019s entire reputation was built on the evidence that he can grow and develop clubs in his image, playing a brand of football with a certain profile of player in mind. It has emerged that Potter sought out assurances that poor results would not immediately be counted against him, even if it cost the Blues Champions League football this season.<\/p>\n To his credit, Boehly is keeping up his end of that bargain at this stage. Chelsea are 10th in the Premier League with one win in their last eight in all competitions, and although some fans began to chant Tuchel\u2019s name during the FA Cup defeat to Manchester City over the weekend, there are clear signs that the club still back their man. For how long, though, only time will tell.<\/p>\n Chelsea\u2019s issues run much, much deeper than Potter. Though he is not blameless, injuries have caused him countless headaches since he arrived four months ago. Anybody would struggle without N\u2019Golo Kante<\/strong> for as long as Potter has been. Recruitment is the biggest issue, and although that has been the case since the latter part of Abramovich era, it has very much continued to hamper the club in the first couple of Boehly transfer windows, too.<\/p>\n The striker curse is something that has been taken more and more seriously in recent years, and strengthening up front is where the most pertinent examples of the problem in recent times too. Since Abramovich changed the face of the club 20 years ago, they\u2019ve signed a number of strikers and only Didier Drogba and Diego Costa can profess to be fully successful. Romelu Lukaku<\/strong>\u2019s \u00a397.5m move from Inter in 2021 was earmarked as the missing piece at the time, but proved to be an unmitigated disaster. He scored just eight times in 26 league games and was loaned back to the Italian club last summer.<\/p>\n But knowing that he was likely depart from the moment he arrived, Boehly, who until this week was acting sporting director, didn\u2019t tackle the Lukaku issue head on. It took a long time for him to move and a longer time for Chelsea to react; by the end of the window, it became about who was available, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang<\/strong> was signed from Barcelona.<\/p>\n If anything, he has been worse than par for recent Chelsea front men, hitting his nadir when subbed on and off in the same game against City last week by Potter. To sum up the farcical nature of his Blues career, he joined off the back of the strong bond he\u2019d forged with Tuchel at Borussia Dortmund. Tuchel was sacked just days after he signed.<\/p>\n