Chelsea lost 1-0 to Sunderland at the weekend, and Xabi Alonso, once again, needs to take some responsibility for the defeat.

Alonso came in for a lot of criticism after Chelsea lost 2-0 to London rivals Tottenham Hotspur last month, which was warranted. And the flak he is now receiving for the loss to Sunderland is just as deserved.

Levi Colwill contributed to the Sunderland defeat as well after giving away a penalty and allowing Brian Brobbey to manhandle him for the entire first 45 minutes. However, even if that had not happened, Chelsea would still not have won the match.

The Blues did not do enough in attack to earn all three points, and that largely falls down to Alonso, his tactics and some of his team selection decisions.

Xabi Alonso’s decision to use a false 9 instead of Danny Welbeck is baffling

Danny Welbeck is hardly the second coming of Didier Drogba, but there is no doubt that he would do a much better job up front than Pedro Neto and Morgan Rogers. In the absence of the injured Joao Pedro, Alonso has experimented with Neto and Rogers as a false 9, but it has just not worked out.

With the tactics that Alonso is employing, it never will. Neto is only 5’8″ but is having to receive the ball from long and direct goal kicks.

There were times on Sunday when Chelsea were also trying to cross the ball into the box. It is a pointless exercise when your centre-forward is a winger below 6’0″.

Ironically, Welbeck is pretty good in the air and had two headed efforts when he came on. Had the 35-year-old started, it could have been a completely different game. His omission from the starting XI continues to baffle many.

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peter.lynch

Why buy Welbeck and not play him when Pedro is injured? I just don’t get it, should be starting

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It was always suggested that Chelsea brought in Welbeck to add more experience and leadership to the squad. But he can offer so much more than that, especially while Chelsea’s first-choice striker is currently out injured.

After all, this is a Premier League veteran with 408 appearances and 90 goals in the competition. If Alonso never saw Welbeck and Emmanuel Emegha as genuine options to fill in for Pedro when the Brazilian is unavailable, why did he allow the club to sell both Nicolas Jackson and Liam Delap? That is a discussion for another article.

They are no longer at Stamford Bridge, but Welbeck is, making the decision to overlook him and continue using an ineffective false 9 truly baffling. Alonso seems to have a knack for using players out of position.

Alonso moved Moises Caicedo to centre-back after Colwill’s struggles against Brobbey and it actually worked. Caicedo was starting to neutralise Brobbey’s threat, and the Dutchman was eventually withdrawn.

But most of Alonso’s other experiments, such as Neto playing up front and Malo Gusto operating in midfield, have failed miserably. With that in mind, someone like Welbeck really should be getting more opportunities.