Chelsea goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois feels without Champions League football next season, the club are well placed to launch an all-out assault on the league title.
Under former manager Jose Mourinho, Chelsea were widely tipped to retain their title at the start of the 2015/16 season, but things went pear shaped for the club from the start of the campaign.
And after a few months of underperformance, Mourinho was sacked by the club in December and Guus Hiddink was brought in to steady the ship at Stamford Bridge.
Courtois admits that it has not been a nice experience for the Chelsea players this season and feels it is easy to blame the manager for the problems at the club, but the squad need to take more responsibility for their performances.
The goalkeeper told Belgian outlet Sporza: “Of course it is not nice to be at a top team like Chelsea and not win enough games.
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“Let this be a learning experience for the team, and we will come out of it stronger. Everyone knows that we must do better.
“It is easy to find faults in the manager, but the players have also got it wrong.”
However, Courtois is optimistic about next season and feels that being out of Europe could be a blessing in disguise for the club, as they could go all out to bring the Premier League title back to west London.
“We want to end the season strongly and next season, under a new coach [Antonio Conte], we will again compete for the title.
“The Champions League won’t be part of our season, and hopefully that turns out to be an advantage; we will have more time to prepare for league games.”
