Chelsea defender Branislav Ivanovic has revealed the club's dreadful start to the season was a result of the players failing to cope with the pressure of being champions.
The Blues were just one point above the relegation zone when Jose Mourinho was sacked following defeat at Leicester in December.
A month earlier Mourinho admitted it was an "impossible mission" for Chelsea to retain the title they won at a canter last term.
Despite claims an incident involving Mourinho behind the scenes triggered Chelsea's downfall, Ivanovic was quick to play down that suggestion, insisting nobody at the club knew why the team was struggling.
"Jose told us the hardest season in football is the year after you win because everyone else has extra motivation. We were ready for that, but we didn’t start well and we lost control of our game, of our minds," Ivanovic told the Daily Mail.
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"Jose didn’t change. He didn’t change the way he prepared the game. He didn’t change the way he treated us. He didn’t change anything. He was the same."
Ivanovic, who described the first half of the campaign as "one of the disappointing moments of my career", added he believed Roman Abramovich would have got rid of the entire squad - not just Mourinho - if such a move was feasible.
"The players were more responsible for that situation than the manager," he added. "Of course it is difficult in football to change 25 players halfway through the season, but I think at this club if (Abramovich) could have, he would have changed all of us as well."
Chelsea have lost just once since Guus Hiddink replaced Mourinho and they can move to within five points of a top four spot with a win over Stoke on Saturday.
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