Boehly and Eghbali must learn from hubris to repair the damage at Chelsea

As the panic sets in and Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali work out how to repair the damage they have caused during the past year, the biggest mistake Chelsea’s beleaguered owners could make would be to kid themselves that a season of astonishing excess and underachievement is not their fault.

Perhaps the finger could be pointed at Thomas Tuchel for his reluctance to embrace a new way of working last summer. Perhaps it is on Graham Potter for failing to make sense of his ridiculously bloated squad; or Bruno Saltor for failing to win his one game in charge; or Frank Lampard for failing to beat Real Madrid two seconds after coming in as interim head coach.

Then again, what about the players? Boehly came into the dressing room the other day to tell them the season has been “embarrassing”. Why can’t they live up to their overinflated fees? Why can’t any of the forwards score? Why don’t we just chuck another £500m at it this summer?

Yet Boehly and Eghbali should pay close attention to Thiago Silva’s analysis after Madrid ended Chelsea’s season by dumping them out of the Champions League on Tuesday. “The first step has been made – an incorrect step, but it has been made,” the centre-back told Brazil’s TNT Sports. “It’s a hard period with a lot of indecision. A change of ownership, new players arriving. We need to stop and put a strategy in place, otherwise next season we could make the same mistake.”

The future starts now. Boehly and Eghbali have a chance to start over and they must accept this is not going to be a straightforward rebuild. There could be some short-term pain. The rest of the season is going to feel miserable and demotivating. But there is a chance for Chelsea to move on. They can start to plan if they use these