Paul Merson was less than impressed with Chelsea following their shock 2-1 defeat to Sunderland, singling out one anonymous player for criticism.
Chelsea had the chance to move up to second in the Premier League on Saturday and were on course to do so when Alejandro Garnacho opened his account after just four minutes.
But Wilson Isidor equalised soon after, before Chemsdine Talbi silenced Stamford Bridge with a 93rd minute winner, firing the Black Cats up the table instead.
Following an end-to-end first-half, Enzo Maresca’s side dominated after the break, yet failed to create any meaningful chances, a poor showing after big wins against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest and Ajax.
Arsenal legend and life-long Chelsea fan Merson criticised the whole team, saying the sooner Liam Delap is back to replace Marc Guiu the better.
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‘Well impressed with Sunderland today, I wasn’t with Chelsea,’ Merson told Sky Sports.
‘I thought they’d struggle. They need Delap back badly, they need a focal point.
‘Guiu played up front and I think he touched the ball nine, ten times. You can’t do that in a team that are supposed to be dominating the ball.
‘Chelsea ran out of ideas. They had winger after winger but half of them don’t go past anyone. Joao Pedro looked lost as a number ten. They struggled and were pretty poor.’
Guiu had impressed in his last two appearances and was handed his first Premier League start against the club he was loaned to at the start of the season.
But along with Pedro, the teenage striker went missing on Saturday and there was surprise he wasn’t subbed off earlier, with Maresca choosing to replace Garnacho first before the hour mark despite being Chelsea’s best threat.
The result leaves the Blues eighth in the table and five points behind leaders Arsenal, with Merson claiming their inexperience is stopping them from challenging for the title.
‘The team is too young. The oldest player there is 23, 24?’ he added.
‘When you get a young team, you’re up and down, they have wingers who are very inconsistent. [Pedro] Neto on his day will be outstanding, the next minute…
‘There’s no 7/10s all the way through, it’s either eight, nine or fives. They can’t win the Premier League like that.
‘They need a little bit of experience in there. They miss Thiago Silva with his experience and that’s their problem.
‘They’re just going to be up and down, up and down. Hopefully they can get top four, but they’ve got to be better than that.’
Chelsea will be back in action on Wednesday when they take on Wolves in the Carabao Cup, when Delap is expected to return from his hamstring injury.
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