Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has slammed his old side, admitting that ‘it is not the same club any more’ following the change of ownership, with the Blues meekly exiting the Champions League at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday night.
Led by Drogba’s old teammate Frank Lampard, Chelsea headed into the home tie needing to overcome a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, but despite a promising first half they ultimately fell to another 2-0 loss courtesy of a double from Los Blancos winger Rodrygo.
It leaves the Blues with nothing to play for this season, with the west London side currently sitting 11th in the Premier League and 10 points outside a European place with just seven games left to play, meaning that they are guaranteed to be playing only domestic football for just the second time since 1996-97.
And Drogba, the club’s top goalscorer in Champions League football and a club legend, admitted that he was concerned about the ‘new vision’ of the club.
“It is not the same club any more,” Drogba told Canal+.
“I don’t recognise my club. There is a new owner and a new vision.”
“A dressing room with 30 players is difficult to manage for the coach, whoever he is,” added Drogba.
“We try to compare with what was done under the Abramovich era, where there were many acquisitions of players, but the choices were very intelligent.
“Bringing in players like Petr Cech, Andriy Shevchenko, Hernan Crespo, Michael Essien, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, and I go on. It was to win titles and they are players who already have some experience. Here the strategy is different, they bet on young players.
“I think they certainly lack charismatic players and leaders. It needs players who take responsibility.”
Chelsea will be looking to bounce back in a bid to avoid five straight defeats under Frank Lampard when they face Brentford next Wednesday.
