Chelsea players held a behind-the-scenes meeting with ‘frank word exchanged’ after the 3-0 Premier League defeat to Brighton this month.
It is believed senior members of the squad set up the meeting at Cobham Training Centre two days after the humbling result on February 14.
The loss at the Amex marked Chelsea’s fourth in nine top-flight games, with some Blues stars left concerned over their hopes of a top-four finish.
Following the defeat, Chelsea lost again in narrow fashion at Aston Villa before returning to winning ways with a 4-0 victory over Southampton.
It has now been revealed what Chelsea players said in the secret discussion, with details emerging via The Athletic on Friday.
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The outlet reports that ‘frank words were exchanged’ during the meeting, with an acknowledgement that training standards needed to improve.
It was also agreed, for the good of the team, that ‘individual ambitions’ needed to be pushed to one side going forward at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea stars felt they needed to be generally ‘more serious’ and have more of a togetherness too in an incredibly honest and open discussion.
It is thought that the meeting had a positive impact, with the air firmly cleared ahead of Chelsea’s next match against Copenhagen next week.
Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca branded the 3-0 defeat at Brighton earlier this month as ‘the worst performance’ of his tenure to date.
‘Probably since I arrived that is the worst performance, especially in the moment we are in,’ the Italian said.
‘We [were] fourth in the league and winning [against Brighton], you can go one point from third and make the gap to the rest bigger.
‘The performance is not one you want to offer so we are very upset and sorry for the fans that were here.’
Chelsea are currently fifth in the Premier League table with 11 fixtures remaining as they look to secure Champions League qualification.
Their next top-flight match comes on March 9 when they host struggling Leicester City at Stamford Bridge.
Speaking in his post-match press conference after the victory over 20th-placed Southampton last time out, Maresca told reporters: ‘[It was a] very important [win].
‘We know that from now on every game is important – and when we get three points it’s even more important.
‘We are happy knowing that from now on when we win a game we’re going to be there [to quality for the Champions League], if we don’t win we’re going to drop a little bit.
‘It’s how we manage the emotion until the end but for sure about the performance we are happy.
‘We were happy even against Villa because I think the performance was very good but unfortunately we didn’t win and [after the win over Southampton] we are very happy.’