If they wanted to stay competitive, they had to work hard now. Now that a lot of doubts are being leveled at Chelsea, it makes sense when you look at them at the moment. They are not completely over, there is still a little time to do everything. As long as Chelsea can really take advantage of the time available, before the official match starts.
Chelsea just don't move fast enough in the transfer market so there aren't many players that Chelsea can get at the moment. After all, Chelsea have also sold more old players to get new players with their condition still not so stable from the problems that plagued Chelsea last season. So Chelsea must be able to take advantage of the remaining time to get some new players to be competitive at the start of next season.