Thiago Silva warned that the situation could get worse before it gets better for Chelsea if the club “doesn’t stop and adopt a strategy”.
Chelsea lost 2-0 to Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday and were knocked out of the Champions League 4-0 on aggregate in the quarter-finals.
The Blues have also lost in both domestic cup competitions and are 11th in the Premier League despite spending over £600m on new players over the past year.
This coincided with a consortium led by Todd Boley replacing Roman Abramovich, and the new backers have nothing to show for their investment so far.
The owners have already sacked Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter and Frank Lampard has been brought back as interim manager, but Silva is hopeful the lessons will be learned.
“I think the first step has been taken, the wrong step, but it has been made,” he told TNT Sports following Chelsea’s departure from Europe.
“We can’t blame managers if we don’t take responsibility. This is a difficult period for the club, a lot of indecision.
“Ownership change, new players coming in, we had to increase the size of the dressing room because it didn’t fit the size of the team.
“The good thing is that there are great players on the team, but on the other hand, there are always players who will be unhappy.”
18 – Chelsea lost four consecutive games in all competitions for the first time since November 1993, and failed to score more than 18 different matches in a season for the first time since 1980–81 (21) (21). Fall. pic.twitter.com/fa17NxpOFq
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 18, 2023
Chelsea have signed 17 contracts in the last two transfer windows – both on loan and permanent arrivals – leaving a number of players vying for any meaningful action.
“There will always be someone upset because not everyone can play,” Silva said. “A manager can only choose 11 from a team of 30+ people – it’s difficult.
“Some people can’t get on the team. We signed eight contracts in January, so we need to stop and strategize, otherwise next season we can make the same mistakes.”
Chelsea have not won in seven matches, having lost five of them, including all four since Lampard was appointed as Potter’s interim successor.
Veteran centre-back Silva, whose third season at Chelsea is coming to an end, admits he and his teammates need to step up.
“Everyone talks too much about changing managers. I think we, as players, should also take responsibility,” he said.
“We’ve had three managers this season, plus a fourth with Bruno (Saltor) where we couldn’t win. Today we lost, and with Lampard we failed to win.
“Everyone is talking about the manager, but we have to look at what went wrong and try to change.”
Chelsea have seven Premier League games left, starting with a visit from London rivals Brentford next Wednesday.