Todd Boehly has urged Chelsea fans to keep the faith, insisting the owners “will find out” after a disastrous campaign that has seen them finish 12th in the Premier League.
The Blues co-owner spoke to Milken Institute Chairman Michael Milken about his first 12 months at Chelsea in Beverly Hills.
Chelsea are without a win in their last nine games in all competitions, a streak stretching back almost two months, and they will end the season without a title and without qualifying for the Champions League.
But Boehly, who understands the “demanding” nature of fans, believes Chelsea have better days ahead.
“The fans are demanding,” said Boehly.
Todd Boehly confronted Chelsea’s somber season at a conference in Beverly Hills
Mykhaylo Mudryk (left) and Raheem Sterling (right) arrived as part of a £600m squad overhaul
“They know they want to win and we know we want to win, so you know we thought this was a long-term project and you know we’re committed to the long-term.
“We firmly believe that we will find out.”
He added: “We have the best league in the world, we have what I think is the best city in the world and we’re in an incredible location in the best city in the world.”
Boehly spoke just days after Chelsea were humiliated in a 3-1 loss to London rivals Arsenal.
Fans in the ground could hear former owner Roman Abramovich singing and interim boss Frank Lampard offered a scathing assessment of the troubles off the pitch afterwards.
“Winning is just the best feeling there is,” Boehly continued, pointing to his success with the LA Dodgers.
“You have to build a team and of course the coach is the conductor of the team. So I think we’ve learned a lot.’
That conductor will likely be former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino, who is still in talks to take over the position in the summer.
But having already spent £50million sacking Thomas Tuchel and hiring – and then sacking – Graham Potter, Boehly’s next appointment as manager must be a success.
“In the time I’ve been here it’s clear to see behind the scenes at the training ground the reasons for this [things are going wrong]’ interim boss Lampard said this week.
“If you want to be a nice team to play against all the time, it doesn’t matter where you go. That’s not going to change overnight, but we better get there fast.
“The passive nature of our game can be attributed to many things. The players are certainly interested.
“You have low confidence, but when you play for Chelsea you have to play a certain way, even if you have low confidence.
“Whatever it is, it might not even matter because the only thing that will get you out is to understand and work hard.
“The divide was reversed for many years.”
Chelsea have sacked both Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter since the start of the season
Boehly (left) acknowledged it was a learning experience, but he believes it will be found out
On Tuesday, fans could be heard cheering for previous owner Roman Abramovich (right), with whom Chelsea found great success, winning multiple Champions League titles during that period
Boehly has invested heavily and is yet to see the tangible success he envisioned when he bought the club with Clearlake Capital.
But the American billionaire is confident the table will be clean next season, and he pointed to his success with the Dodgers, which has made them one of the most attractive teams in Major League Baseball.
At the moment, Chelsea fans are eager to see the back of this season with a trip to Bournemouth this weekend, followed by Nottingham Forest coming to Stamford Bridge.
Lampard is yet to win since taking the preliminary charge and will be looking to arrest the South Coast Rundown.
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