Even after their 1-0 loss to Sunderland, collectively, Chelsea are not too far away from where they want to be.

Xabi Alonso’s men are in fifth place and just two points behind Liverpool in fourth. Champions League qualification is well within sight for them.

Individually, though, there are several players in this Chelsea team who will feel that they are not where they should be performance-wise. Simply put, after the international break, some members of Alonso’s squad need to step up and now have a point to prove after showing real inconsistency this season.

Who are these individuals? The Chelsea Chronicle has listed them below:

Cole Palmer

Cole Palmer started the season strongly, scoring an excellent goal in Chelsea’s 3-2 win over Fulham. However, he has really faded since then.

The attacking midfielder has only scored one more goal from open play, which was all the way back in August. In Chelsea’s London derbies against Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur, where the team needed him the most, Palmer was nowhere to be seen.

Palmer is quite fortunate in the sense that he has no real competition. As Chelsea’s talisman, the England international is never going to be dropped. But based on some of his recent performances, you could not have blamed Alonso if he explored that.

After the international break, he will be expecting much more from him. That means getting involved in games more and perhaps not dropping so deep to collect the ball, which happened far too often against Sunderland last weekend.

Levi Colwill

On the subject of Sunderland, Levi Colwill had a game to forget at the Stadium of Light. Brian Brobbey picked on Colwill the entire first half, and the central defender could not cope.

Colwill is Chelsea’s first-choice centre-back, and being left-footed, it means Jorrel Hato is his only real competition for the left centre-half spot. Hato has actually been playing as a left-back and left wing-back this season, contributing to Colwill being an automatic starter.

Alonso wants a new left-sided centre-back, so Colwill could soon find himself under a bit more pressure. Hopefully, he can learn from his battle against Brobbey.

Colwill was quite naive in that duel. He kept going towards Brobbey despite the centre-forward having the strength to hold the 23-year-old off and roll him, which is how he won Sunderland their penalty. Colwill needs to learn when to engage and when to back off.

Wesley Fofana

Interestingly, Wesley Fofana also engaged Brobbey quite often, yet he was able to win his one-v-one duels, in contrast to his teammate. It was definitely one of his better performances this season.

Overall, though, Fofana has struggled in the current campaign. One Chelsea fan even told Fofana to remain on the bench when he saw him arrive at the Stadium of Light.

While the Frenchman fared better against Brobbey than Colwill did, Alonso wanted to see stronger defending from Fofana and his centre-half partner on Wearside. Fofana is guilty of lapses in concentration, which is something he must work on after the international break.

Marco Palestra

This may be harsh on Marco Palestra, as he recovered from his injury not too long ago. However, what the full-back has shown since his return has been a bit underwhelming.

Palestra was really exciting during pre-season as he bombed up and down the wing. The Italian has not shown that dynamism yet, perhaps because he has just come back from injury.

Still, for a player who cost £47m, you want to see a bit more. That is what Alonso will be hoping for, in defence and attack.

It is up to Palestra to prove that he was worth the investment and that he is an upgrade on Malo Gusto.

Malo Gusto

Finally, we have Gusto, who is in a fight to save his Chelsea career. Alonso has used him in midfield and at right-back this season. He has not impressed in either position.

In front of him, the France international has Palestra, Pedro Neto and Josh Acheampong. They have either played as a right-back or right wing-back this term.

When Reece James returns from injury, that will be another body in front of Gusto. If Gusto is to have any future at Chelsea, he needs to defend better and be smarter in possession.