Critical: Jamie Carragher
Chelsea Football Newsletter
The Blues made a losing start to their Champions League campaign on Wednesday night, falling 3-1 to Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena as they returned to UEFA’s top competition for the first time since 2023.
Speaking post-match, Carragher said he felt the club had regressed since Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital took over in 2022, despite investing close to £2billion in the squad.
They have been criticised over their transfer strategy, which has focused on signing talented young players to lengthy contracts.
Under Enzo Maresca’s leadership, the Blues won both the Conference League and Club World Cup last season, but Carragher feels those wins were papering over the cracks.
“There is no right or wrong way to go about running a football club,” he said. “But we can’t pretend this has been a success after three and a half years.”
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Carragher has been left unimpressed by Chelsea’s titles, describing them as: “A Mickey Mouse trophy, come on.
“They haven’t got a squad better than the other teams in the Premier League. How is that possible when you have spent £2billion?
“[Chelsea’s new owners] came into the club and the manager was Thomas Tuchel. He had won the Champions League at that club. Chelsea were the third-best team (in the Premier League).
“They then change the manager, take a team that was very close to winning trophies and go and spend £2bn. They are no closer. They are further away than what that manager was doing three and a half years ago.
“They have had to bend the rules, or break the rules around PSR in England, if you like, with selling the women’s team to themselves. That proved it wasn’t going well. They have been fined by UEFA. Things aren’t going well.”