
Yesterday, Real Madrid's quarterfinal victory over Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League effectively ended the struggling Premier League giants' miserable season.
The Blues welcomed Los Blancos to Stamford Bridge in the hopes of putting up a fight after losing 2-0 at Santiago Bernabeu. The two-time European champions were defeated 2-0 at home — 4-0 overall — despite Lampard's team putting on one of the greatest performances of the season.
Following multiple managerial changes and the club's generally chaotic course, this led to increased fan rage toward Todd Boehly and company. Even one of the club's top players, Thiago Silva, had a similar opinion.
The Brazilian center-back, who is 38 years old and still playing at a top level, spoke to the media after the team's loss on Tuesday and discussed the club's difficulties this year. It should be noticed that the defender did not just blame the coaches or managers; he also suggested that the players bear some of the blame for their subpar performances.
The former PSG star, however, also issued a severe warning to the Stamford Bridge management: stop adding new players and develop a sound plan to guide the London giants out of this quagmire.
The Selecao star told beIN Sports, "I think the first step has been made, a wrong step, but it has been made." If we don't accept responsibility, we can't blame the managers. The club is going through a challenging time with lots of uncertainty.
Change of ownership, new players arriving – we had to increase the size of the changing room because it didn't fit the size of the squad.
"A positive point is that there are amazing players in the squad but on the other hand there are always players that are going to be unhappy. There is always going to be someone upset because not everyone can play. The manager can only pick 11 from a squad of 30-something – that's tough.
"Some can't make the squad, we signed eight in January, we need to stop and put a strategy in place otherwise next season we could make the same mistakes."
Chelsea have spent over $740M on 17 players since the new ownership took over — however, not all of those 17 signings were first-team players. Nonetheless, Lampard's squad is beyond bloated yet still lacks a proper striker and a reliable defensive midfielder, and could use a new goalkeeper.
The club's elimination from the UEFA Champions League means they will not play in this competition next season. The London heavyweights are 11th in the Premier League table and are a whopping 17 points behind fourth-placed Newcastle, which means winning the Champions League was their only way to secure a spot for next season.
Meanwhile, the search for a permanent head coach rambles on, with Julian Nagelsmann, Luis Enrique, Mauricio Pochettino, and a handful of other tacticians being linked with the Stamford Bridge job.
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