Petr Cech today leapt to the defence of Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti insisting the players are just as much to blame for the club's failure to win the Champions League.
Last night's 2-1 quarter-final defeat at Manchester United saw them crash out 3-1 on aggregate and ended their hopes of silverware this season.
Chelsea went out in the round-of-16 last year and speculation is mounting that Ancelotti will be sacked by owner Roman Abramovich, who is desperate to win the Champions League.
But when asked if the players need to share responsibility with Ancelotti for the poor results, Cech said: "We win together, we lose together. We are all on the same boat and we try to guide the boat to the harbour as safe as possible.
"The players need to finish the season well for ourselves, the club, for everybody. We are not only playing for the manager or the owner, we are playing for the entire club. The supporters who are all over the world, the staff and everyone involved with Chelsea.
"It is always disappointing if you are part of a big club and you don't win a trophy. After winning the Double last season everyone thought we would defend the titles. We had a good start and then the season became difficult.
"But we were doing well in the Champions League until the two games against United. We were very unlucky in the first game, but overall I have to say they deserved to go through."
Chelsea are third in the Premier League but are only five points ahead of fifth-placed Tottenham so still have a lot of work to do to qualify for next season's Champions League.
The goalkeeper urged his team not to feel sorry for themselves and said: "The seven games we have left will make a big difference because if we win most of the points we can finish second. Of course the season won't be remembered for winning trophies but people will at least remember us for finishing second with our heads up. We need to qualify for the Champions League. Not being in it next season would be the most disappointing thing. So our motivation for the rest of the season is to get in the Champions League. We're more than aware that qualification is just lying there for us to take it."
Chelsea's hopes of beating United were dealt a major blow when Ramires was sent off for a second yellow card when they were already trailing 1-0.
Read More
But Cech felt the team's biggest mistake was when they conceded for a second time less than a minute after Didier Drogba had equalised.
He said: "We were thinking too quickly about getting a second goal and they punished us for that."
