Chelsea's nightmare season went from bad to worse yesterday as the struggling Premier League giants were officially eliminated from the UEFA Champions League by Real Madrid in the quarterfinals.
After losing 2-0 at Santiago Bernabeu, the Blues hosted Los Blancos at Stamford Bridge with the hopes of putting up a fight. While Lampard's men delivered one of the team's best performances of the campaign, it was still not enough, as the two-time European champions lost 2-0 at home — 4-0 on aggregate.
This sparked further anger from the fans towards Todd Boehly and Co. following several managerial changes and the overall hectic direction of the club. This was a sentiment echoed by even one of the club's best players and that man is Thiago Silva.
The Brazilian center-back, who is still performing at a high level despite being 38, spoke to the media following Tuesday's defeat and reflected on the club's struggles this season. It should be noted that the defender didn't only point fingers at the higher-ups, stating that the players should take responsibility for the poor displays.
However, the former PSG ace also sent out a stern warning to the Stamford Bridge board: stop signing new players and come up with a proper strategy to lead the London giants out of this mess.
"I think the first step has been made, an incorrect step, but it has been made," the Selecao ace told beIN Sports. "We can't be blaming the managers if we don't take responsibility. It's a hard period for the club, with a lot of indecision.
Veteran @ChelseaFC defender @tsilva3 slammed the way the faltering @premierleague club has been run pic.twitter.com/LRkIU0njvG
— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS_AUS) April 19, 2023
"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.
