Oliver Holt’s piece on Todd Boehly’s ownership of Chelsea paints a portrait of a man who has made a series of arrogant and naive decisions during his time at the helm of the club. Using an abundance of money, Boehly tried to solve the many issues at the club, from hiring and firing Thomas Tuchel at the request of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to buying numerous players without a cohesive strategy or vision.
Boehly’s underestimation of the traditional methods of building a successful football team was on full display during his time at the SALT Conference in New York where he stated that the best way to gain money for the English Leagues was to hold a North-South All-Star game. However, it was the mismanagement of Graham Potter’s tenure at the club that definitively exemplified Boehly’s struggles. Despite signing a new contract that promised him time to implement his system and plan of building, Potter was dismissed abruptly just seven months later. The club was left worse off as Potter was replaced with a bloated but largely untested squad.
This mismanagement has not gone without consequence, with Chelsea now lying in eleventh place in the Premier League, miles away from the coveted champions league positions that they were once in. All of this serves as a reminder to be aware that success in any sporting venture comes from intelligent planning and long-term building, not from signing a multitude of players with no unified plan or strategy.
The company mentioned in this article is the SALT Conference. This is a notable annual event held in New York that revolves around global finance, technology, and policy. It is known for hosting prestigious figures such as former presidents and other influential people. The conference is an important platform because it allowed Todd Boehly to make his views global while discussing his vision of Chelsea’s future.
The person mentioned in this article is Graham Potter. Potter is an English professional football manager, previously managing Ostersunds F.K. of Sweden, Swansea City and Brighton & Hove Albion. Potter enjoyed a successful career at Brighton before he was dismissed by Boehly and replaced at Chelsea with Thomas Tuchel. Potter made a name for himself at Ostersunds F.K. by getting the team promoted from the fourth division to the Swedish Premier Division, which earned him a well-deserved reputation as a talented football manager.
