Former Chelsea defender Frank Leboeuf claims he “doesn’t understand what the owners of the club are doing” following the Blues’ Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool.
Chelsea have endured another disappointing campaign under Mauricio Pochettino, sitting 11th in the Premier League and were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final on Sunday.
Pochettino and his players have come under a lot of scrutiny following the defeat, with Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville labelling them as ‘billion pound bottlejobs’ after conceding to Virgil Van Dijk in extra time.
And Leboeuf believes the club’s owners, BlueCo, which is made up of a consortium of Todd Boehly, Clearlake Capital and others, must take blame for another underwhelming campaign.
“Chelsea’s Carabao Cup final loss came down to three main things,” the former Chelsea defender said.
“Firstly, luck has to be on your side in football, especially in extra-time where the game can really go either way. Two minutes before Virgil van Dijk scored the winner, Chelsea could’ve scored twice and it would’ve been a different story.
“Secondly, Chelsea didn’t take their chances and this has been a problem throughout the season, but then thirdly they simply had a lack of experienced players.
“This a result of the owners’ decisions in the summer. Why did Chelsea let James Maddison go to Tottenham last summer? Why did they let James Ward-Prowse go to West Ham? Why are they not at Chelsea? These players didn’t cost a lot but they’ve brought a lot to their teams.
“I don’t understand what the owners at the club are doing.”
Under BlueCo’s ownership, the club have spent over £1 billion on new players and last season parted ways with both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter.
But Leboeuf, speaking exclusively with BetVictor, believes that sacking Pochettino would be a mistake.
“Chelsea have changed the coach because of poor results for a few years now, but the fact is that they don’t have the players to produce results right now,” said Leboeuf.
“I don’t believe that it would be a good thing for Chelsea to get rid of Pochettino.
“When Pochettino signed I didn’t expect anything from him and if they go and bring in another coach then everything will just start from scratch again. There will be all of the same problems.”
