Chelsea chief Jose Mourinho said he felt his "work was sold out" in the Blues' annihilation by Leicester in the Premier League.
The safeguarding champions endured their ninth group rout in 16 recreations with a 2-1 misfortune against the Foxes, who go top.
It leaves the club in sixteenth position, only a point over the transfer zone.
"One of my best qualities is to peruse the diversion for my players and I feel like my work was deceived," said Portuguese manager Mourinho.
"One plausibility is that I made a stunning showing last season and conveyed the players to a level that is not their level and now they can't look after it."
Chelsea just lost three times in the entire of last season as they loped to the title by eight focuses from Manchester City.
They now wind up at the wrong end of the table and come up against second-base Sunderland on Saturday.
"I acknowledge we are in the assignment zone however I don't acknowledge we are in a transfer fight," said Mourinho.
"You take a gander at the table and we arrive however you think you are in a transfer fight on the off chance that you think you arrive for three or four months. I don't imagine that.
"To turn things around, I know one and only way - working at the top level.
"Step by step in preparing I have no protestations with [players]. Be that as it may, it is baffling to see what they are doing in preparing and what they do in matches."
Asked whether the Champions League spots were out of achieve, he said: "We can't complete main four, yet we can at present completion main six on the grounds that such a large number of groups are dropping focuses. Right now we are in a zone where I feel embarrassed."
