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Irish Mirror
Irish Mirror
Sport
Josh O'Brien

Arsene Wenger sticks the boot in as he explains why he's worried about Chelsea

Ex- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted he is "worried" for Chelsea and given his reasons before they were dumped out of the Champions League by Real Madrid.

The Blues have endured a torrid season which has seen them have three different managers and now no chance of any silverware. Their elimination from European football's elite club competition marks a new low in a campaign that sees Chelsea currently languish 11th in the league table.

Having started the season under Thomas Tuchel, the German was sacked and replaced by Graham Potter in September. The former Brighton boss oversaw an astonishing amount of new signings during the January transfer window, only to also be relieved of his duties four months later.

Wenger addressed Chelsea's level of spending while on BeIN Sport, as he claimed: "I'm worried for Chelsea. If you don't invest the £500m [well] then you have a problem. They haven't invested well.

"They've same weaknesses as before. They don't score enough goals. They've a lot of possession but not enough conversion."

However, it wasn't just on the field issues that Wenger discussed, as he also took aim at Chelsea's owner Todd Boehly for regularly interfering with matters that should be left to the manager.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Is Wenger's assessment of Chelsea's struggles fair? Comment below

Arsene Wenger admitted he is "worried" for Chelsea (Getty Images)

The Frenchman's comments come amid reports that Boehly held talks with the Chelsea squad, now led by Frank Lampard on an interim basis, and allegedly called out a senior player following Saturday's 2-1 home defeat by Crystal Palace.

Wenger was asked if he would be okay with an owner speaking so freely in the dressing room, to which he replied: "No, I wouldn’t, that was always clear in my mind.

‘I always put that in my contract. The advice I give to young coaches when they make contracts, I say make what is important for you, put that clearly in your contract that you are the only one, nobody can buy a player without your agreement, nobody can interfere with the team, and you are solely responsible for managing the team."

Lampard was more upbeat than expected with his side's display despite the defeat by Real Madrid, but did bemoan Chelsea's profligate finishing.

"I think for 60 minutes you saw why I picked the lineup. The only thing missing was a goal. One goal or two goals changes the face of the game and at this level when you're not clinical you see what happens."

The Blues were convincingly beaten by the reigning LaLiga champions, losing 2-0 in both legs to register a humbling 4-0 aggregate defeat across the two ties.

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