Who exactly was he "forced" to play by the owners?
Most of the team picks itself when fit. The only players who wouldn't be guaranteed game time are:
Tosin, Badi, George, Facundo and Gittens.
Hato seemed like a long term signing, Josh is from the academy and Guiu was only brought back because they thought Delap may not be ready by January.
Even if they did "pick" the team, the fact that he had no plan B in multiple games has nothing to do with ownership and more to do with his limited tactical skills (remember that he was a Championship level manager before getting the chance at Chelsea).