Ex-Chelsea star blames Todd Boehly and co for big 'problem' with Reece James

William Gallas believes Todd Boehly and his fellow Chelsea chiefs have been responsible for causing 'problem after problem' at Stamford Bridge, especially when it comes to their recent injury struggles. The Blues were left desperately short at times last season due to many of their key players not being fit.

Data collected from Transfermarkt shows the Blues topped the Premier League injury table with a total of 54 injuries and 306 games missed. They will be without a number of important players heading into the new campaign, with Reece James and Axel Disasi among those on the treatment table.

James has been hampered by injury over the last few years and is reportedly set for another spell on the sidelines with a fresh hamstring problem. He will not feature in this weekend's Premier League opener against Manchester City and it remains unclear when he will return to action.

Gallas, who made 225 appearances for Chelsea between 2001 and 2006, believes the amount of change following Boehly's arrival at Stamford Bridge has created a range of problems. He pointed to the medical department as an area of real concern due to the number of injuries in recent seasons.

"Chelsea have been suffering from the same problems for the last two years and I really can’t understand how the owners and the people that look after the football operations haven’t addressed them," said Gallas in an interview with Genting Casino.

"We’ve seen so many changes at the club over the last couple of years and I don’t think the club are any closer to challenging for the Premier League title and I would seriously doubt Chelsea’s ability to qualify for the Champions League this season.

"Since the new owners have arrived it has been problem after problem. They changed everything at the club, including the medical department, and the club are still suffering from that decision now. It can’t be bad luck for one team to get so many injuries.

"The new season starts this week and the club captain Reece James is injured. Again. He has a problem with his hamstring and will be out for three weeks to a month. Chelsea will have to be very careful with him because he’s got such a bad history with injuries.

"The spotlight was on him anyway because he’s the club captain and one of Chelsea’s best players, but he must stay fit. The only silver lining to James’ injury is that Malo Gusto can step in, like he did last season, and perform well."

It remains to be seen if Chelsea will be able to prove Gallas wrong by returning to the Premier League's top four at the end of the season. They will be hoping to steer clear of any further injury setbacks to key players to give themselves the best chance of achieving that goal.