Caretaker manager Frank Lampard has suggested that Chelsea may take time to return to their former glories.
Two years on from winning the Champions League, the Blues will finish in the bottom half of the Premier League standings and miss out on European qualification for 2023-24.
Mass changes will take place during the summer transfer window, with incoming head coach Mauricio Pochettino tasked with significantly reducing squad numbers while making additions of his own.
With a number of January arrivals having more time to settle over the summer, many are expecting Chelsea to begin the process of re-establishing themselves as a top-four club next season.
While not dismissing that possibility, Lampard has indicated that more realistic targets should be put in place based on the improvement of other teams and his own experiences as a player.
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Speaking to reporters at a press conference, as quoted by football.london, Lampard said: "I don't know that because the Premier League moves on very fast, everyone is moving on and trying to do the same thing and you see the emergence of Newcastle, Brighton and Aston Villa and these teams that are getting themselves in that equation now.
"My experience of football is that if you switch it off, it's not easy to switch it on. It doesn't always become an overnight remedy.
"It's not going to be my responsibility but from my experience of being in a consistent performing club for many years, the moments you do switch off become very hard to switch it on. That will be the test next year."
Lampard has recorded just one win and one draw from his nine matches since returning to Stamford Bridge, the most recent of seven defeats coming at Manchester City on Sunday.
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The club legend took the positives from an improved display at the Etihad Stadium, and he wants to see more of the same when Chelsea take to the pitch to face Manchester United on Thursday night.
Lampard added: "In the short term, the two games that are left in three days the players have to reach the standard and level of performance, I think we did at Manchester City.
"Not easy for the players to approach that game because of what was going on at their end. I thought we deserved more out of the game, the performance had lots to improve but the attitude and the application and all of the basics were good."
Chelsea will return to 11th position in the table if they can avoid defeat at the Theatre of Dreams ahead of Sunday's concluding fixture versus Newcastle United.
Darren Plant
