Wayne Rooney said Chelsea players must question Enzo Maresca's selection policy following their draw with Qarabag in the Champions League.
Seven changes were made by the Chelsea boss for the 2-2 stalemate on Wednesday evening, marking the fifth consecutive match that Maresca made as many alterations to his starting line-up.
"The players want to play, they want to build relationships," the former England captain said on the Wayne Rooney Show.
"When you keep chopping and changing then the players won't be happy. I think that will come back to bite them.
"If they are getting results all the time then you can't question it but if they're not, there has to be questions asked."
The former Manchester United striker called on Chelsea's leadership group within the squad to ask questions of Maresca's selection decisions given recent results.
In their last five games, Chelsea have won three times, drawn with Qarabag and lost to newly-promoted Sunderland in the league.
"I think most clubs now have a leadership group and as a group you have to go and question the manager," he added.
"You hear people talk about 'player power' but this isn't player power.
"I'd be concerned if the team kept changing. If i was in that [leadership] group I'd be speaking to my team-mates saying 'Look, I'm not happy with this.'"
After Wednesday's Champions League draw, Maresca defended his decisions on team selection.
"The [selection] is always because we think the plan with the players is the correct one," he said.
"Today, we started the right way, scored the goal but then we conceded two, the first one when they had 10 players. We can avoid both goals. In their box, we need to be more clinical."
Maresca pointed to Chelsea's successful run to the Club World Cup title as contributing factor behind his rotation policy.
"The intention was to rest Moises, Enzo, Malo [Gusto] and more players.
"They are not able to play every three days. The Club World Cup affected a lot. We tried to rotate.
"When we win, nobody mentions that but when we don't, everyone is focused on that."
- Chelsea's Maresca defends rotating squad after draw at Qarabag
- Report: Estêvão, Garnacho score but Chelsea frustrated by Qarabag
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Meanwhile, Rooney also said that he had been "harsh" on Virgil van Dijjk after saying the Liverpool defender had "downed tools" after signing a new contract with the Premier League champions.
Van Dijk responded on Tuesday when speaking to Amazon Prime Sport following Liverpool's victory over Real Madrid. Rooney appeared as a pundit on the coverage.
"I think the comment that I signed my new deal and then it was like 'that is it' and I let it slide, I think that was a bit... but that's my personal opinion and we move on," Van Dijk said.
"Maybe I was a bit unfair with that comment," Rooney said in response to Van Dijk.
"Maybe I was a bit unfair because I don't know him that well as a person.
"From a performance point of view I think I was speaking what I felt and what I was seeing and I felt I was right.
"Van Dijk will judge himself by them [high standards]. When he reflects on his performances this season he'd be the first to say they haven't been at the standard he's set."