Chelsea’s first-choice goalkeeper, Thibaut Courtois has defended the club over its decision to give manager, Jose Mourinho the boot in December.
The Belgium international said the decision was in order as the club needed a change at the helms due to the poor run of form that saw them struggling to stay above the drop zone.
Courtois said: “We needed a change of manager at that point — I have no doubts about it. We drew too many matches and we have also conceded goals too easily. I could have done better with some of them.”
When asked if he could pinpoint why the Blues have moved from being defending champions to struggling to finish in the top 10 in less than a season, the 23-year-old said it was hard to explain.
However, he said their failure to resume pre-season training left the players in poor physical shape.
He said: “It is hard to explain why our season has been bad. Maybe it is as a result of our pre-season preparations, which were very brief.
“We returned to training on July 16 and six days later we were already playing a match against New York Red Bulls.
“We weren’t in a good physical shape. We then lost to Arsenal in the Community Shield and went on to make a bad start in the league. A downward spiral set in.”