Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois has admitted that a change was needed in order to turn their season around.
The defending Premier League champions lost nine of their opening 16 matches under Jose Mourinho this season, resulting in the Portuguese leaving the club to be replaced by interim boss Guus Hiddink.
Courtois believes that the change in management has brought with it a change in psychology, but acknowledged that the players were as much to blame as anyone for the club's failures during the first half of the campaign.
"It's something psychological and sometimes it changes with little changes. Maybe we needed a little change to pick up our level. In football it's always like that. When results are not good the first thing they look at is the manager. But I don't think it is only the manager, the players have to take responsibility as well," he is quoted as saying by PA.
"We were the ones who were not playing as well. With a new manager some things changed. Maybe with some players the mentality changed. We of course know we were responsible as well.
"We had team meetings where we said, 'okay, the manager has gone, but we are responsible as well and we need to pick up our levels because we are not good enough for being a Chelsea player'. Now we are stepping up our game."
Hiddink is so far unbeaten in his second spell in charge of the team, drawing two and winning one of his three outings.
Barney Corkhill
