Paul Merson: Chelsea lack consistency, top five finish in doubt

In his latest Sky Sports column, Paul Merson discussed Chelsea's loss to Sunderland – Xabi Alonso's rocky start at Chelsea continues.

Chelsea performed poorly in their loss to Régis Le Bris's side. Sunderland was at the bottom of the Premier League when the game kicked off, having scored only 1 home goal all season, and Chelsea ultimately lost 0-1 due to an Enzo Le Fée penalty in the first half.

As a result, Chelsea remains fifth in the Premier League, but in-form Everton and AFC Bournemouth are hot on their heels.

If they lose to Leeds United next, they will also fall behind Leeds United; Chelsea's December schedule is tough, with matches against Liverpool, Manchester City, and Aston Villa before Christmas.

Here's what "the Magic Man" thinks about Chelsea's latest setback.

I am very, very disappointed with Chelsea's performance at Sunderland. They simply did not play to their expected level.

I'm not trying to downplay Sunderland; they also played well – just like they did when they were on a good run last season.

But this is Chelsea, after all. At this club, you can't be good one week and bad the next.

Chelsea has always been known for winning trophies, one after another. Don't get me wrong, it's been a long time since they won the Premier League, but you'd still expect them to be more consistent.

The consistency they are showing now is not up to the standard of a top-five Premier League team. Chelsea's goal is to qualify for the Champions League.

If they don't make it to the Champions League, it will be a huge failure, a monumental failure.

Look at how Brighton & Hove Albion and AFC Bournemouth have performed this season. Everyone said that Thursday night European games would drain them, and that they had small squads. Now, Chelsea only plays once a week, so such excuses are even less tenable.

Honestly, I think Xabi Alonso played right into Sunderland's hands. He went there and showed them more respect than I think he should have.

They only had 5 points at the time, bottom of the league, and they were bottom for a reason.

What really worries me is that Estêvão was Chelsea's best player last week against Manchester United, far outshining everyone else – especially in the first half, when the team played very poorly. They should have been 0-2 down at halftime.

But then suddenly at Sunderland, he didn't play. Chelsea really missed him. He's the kind of player who can drive the ball all the way to the front.

Alonso should have chosen Estêvão, sticking with the same lineup as against Manchester United, and let him run with the ball. Instead, he wanted to tighten up the game, focusing on not losing rather than going all out to win.

At Chelsea, my feeling now is that these big-name players are all waiting for someone else to step up before they start playing.

It feels like, "Let someone else create some magic, let's go one or two goals ahead, and then I'll start playing." They need to step up when it's 0-0.

Colwill was exposed in the Sunderland game; he was completely dominated by Brian Brobbey.

You can't go toe-to-toe with Brian Brobbey, nor can you beat him for pace. Yet, Colwill insisted on proving he could, and as a result, he was constantly beaten, which worries me – so it was no surprise he was substituted at halftime.

Because Brian Brobbey had no impact in the second half. Chelsea ensured he couldn't get into physical battles with others, and they dropped their marking on him, not allowing Brian Brobbey to feel any physical contact – this made a huge, huge difference.