Pundit names Xabi Alonso team decision which “really worried” him as Blues lose to Sunderland

Xabi Alonso made one team decision which Paul Merson was very uncertain about and has him worried about the Blues coach.

Paul Merson is a Chelsea fan as well as a Sky Sports pundit, so we always take his thoughts pretty seriously when it comes to the games.

He wasn’t happy with what he saw on Sunday – much like the rest of us. The performance was very disappointing as the Blues lost to Sunderland, but worse than that some of manager Xabi Alonso’s decisions were very questionable too. Merson picked out one element of the starting team that was very questionable.

“Do you know what really worried me? Estevao was Chelsea’s best player by a million miles last week against Manchester United – especially in the first half when they were really bad. They should have been 2-0 down at half-time,” Merson explained in his column.

“But all of a sudden, they go to Sunderland and he’s not playing. And he was missed. He’s someone who can take the ball up the pitch for them.”

Many fans would agree – and Alonso seemed to own up to the mistake by bringing the winger on at half time. However at that point, his team were already losing 1-0, and the Brazilian didn’t have the space he would have done playing from the start.

Merson also commented on how big the problems for Chelsea would be if they failed to finish in the top 5 this season.

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