Zola, who won the FA Cup and other trophies at Stamford Bridge, has been critical of the Todd Boehly-led group’s leadership at the club.
The Italian gave an interview to Ladbrokes where he spoke about the Blues selling the likes of Jorginho, Kai Havertz, and Mateo Kovacic a year ago.
He stated: “Chelsea have had a hard season, especially at the beginning, but they changed a lot.
“They put a lot of young players in place, and lost a lot of experienced ones like Jorginho, Havertz, and Kovacic.
“They lost many players who were the soul of the team, the leaders, so it took time to get going.
“But finally Pochettino got it working and it was working quite well. It was very surprising to see him leaving and I don’t know the full reasons but obviously from a supporter point of view I am disappointed.”