Chelsea vice-captain Jorginho believes that he and his teammates were to blame for the sacking of head coach Thomas Tuchel.
The West Londoners announced last week that they had parted company with the German, the day after his side suffered a 1-0 away defeat in the Champions League group stage away against Dinamo Zagreb.
Tuchel leaves Stamford Bridge after winning only three of his opening seven games as Chelsea boss this season, and Jorginho admits the team are as much to blame for the club's poor start to the season as the 49-year-old.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's Champions League clash with Red Bull Salzburg, Jorginho said: "Of course, we're a team. So it's not one person responsible for what happened.
"We are a team and a group on the pitch. Of course, it's our responsibility what happened."
The midfielder added: "We tried to do what we could and where it could go better. Unfortunately, it wasn't working and the challenge now is to rebuild confidence.
© Reuters
"It was a surprise for us. There is always talking about what happened but now we have games coming and life is quick, so we don't have much time to stay here thinking. We talk and then we need to concentrate on what we do."
Tuchel won the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup and FIFA Club World Cup during his time at Stamford Bridge and he was also named The Best FIFA Football Coach in 2021.
However, Chelsea co-owner Todd Boehly believes that he and the club's hierarchy do not share the same vision as the 49-year-old.
"Our goal is to bring a team together that with the academy, first team, with the clubs we want to acquire and develop, all of that needs to be a well-oiled machine and the reality of our decision was that we just weren't sure that Thomas felt the same way we thought," The American said at a SALT Conference in the United States.
"No one is right or wrong, we just didn't have a shared vision for the future and it wasn't about Zagreb, it's really about the shared vision for what we wanted for Chelsea FC to look like.
"It wasn't a decision that was made about a single win or loss, it was made about what we thought was the right vision for the club."
© Reuters
Graham Potter has since taken the reins at Stamford Bridge, leaving Brighton & Hove Albion to sign a five-year contract with the Blues, and Jorginho has been impressed with the Englishman since his arrival last Thursday.
"He's a humble coach but with a good way to work," said the Italy international. "I think he has this challenge and I believe he is going to do very well because he has good ideas and a group of players ready to try to do the best we can and listen to what he wants.
"I think it's a good combination for good results. We need to work a lot in meetings and seeing what the new manager will bring to us and understand as quickly as possible what he wants from us on the pitch.
"He has done very well, asking us what we feel comfortable with, and that's the way we need to keep going.
"Now, there is a lot of new information and we need to try to understand that and help each other."
Jorginho, who has started in five of Chelsea's seven games so far this term, will be hoping to force his way into Potter's first XI when they play host to Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.
