Former Chelsea defender Glen Johnson has criticised Thomas Tuchel's men despite their impressive performances in recent weeks.
The Blues are on a superb run of form, now 12 unbeaten having not lost since Tuchel's arrival in late January when he replaced Frank Lampard.
Lampard failed to build on a good start to this season despite the more than £200million investment in transfers by Chelsea ahead of this season, and he paid the ultimate price.
The Chelsea stars have since shown they are more than capable of competing at the top of the Premier League, now looking a solid bet to finish in the top four.
And that stark change in form does not sit well with former Chelsea defender Johnson, who believes Lampard could have done a similar job to what Tuchel has managed so far.
"When Tuchel first came in, Chelsea were beating teams that they should have been beating, but now they’ve shown they can beat Tottenham, Everton and got a good result against Manchester United," Johnson told CheltenhamGuides.com.
"I think that Lampard could have done a similar job, it’s just a shame and a problem for the players, how can they perform like this for the new manager but they couldn’t for Lampard?
"So the players have to look at themselves. But that said, right now the appointment looks good because they’re absolutely flying."
Chelsea are now fourth in the Premier League and only three points behind Leicester City in third, but West Ham United, only two points behind the Blues, do have a game in-hand.
Tuchel's men face Leeds United next time out in the Premier League before their Champions League round of 16 second leg with Atletico Madrid when they will attempt to see the tie out, having established a 1-0 lead in the first leg.
