In his most recent column, former England midfielder Paul Merson shares his candid assessment of Chelsea’s ongoing decline and the mounting pressure on manager Liam Rosenior. The Blues have now suffered six defeats in eight fixtures across all competitions, a slump that was highlighted by a 1-0 loss to Manchester United at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
This defeat has left the club teetering on the brink of missing out on a Champions League spot for the first time in many years. Chelsea currently sit seven points adrift of fifth‑placed Liverpool with only five games remaining in the Premier League season. The weekend’s results all went against them, and a loss to Brighton on Tuesday – a match that will be broadcast live on Sky Sports – could see the club tumble as low as 11th place by the end of the week.
With Rosenior’s future looking increasingly uncertain, Merson lays out his thoughts on the situation. "No Champions League football for Chelsea next season looks like the case now.
I just don't see how they get in; I'd be shocked if they did," Merson writes. He adds that the club is still fighting for a place in European competition, but the odds are grim.
After 33 games, Chelsea are level on points with Brentford and Bournemouth, and a win for Sunderland at Aston Villa would push the Blues further down the table. Merson is blunt about the upcoming Brighton match: "If Chelsea don't beat Brighton on Tuesday, they could be 11th by the end of the week.
And do I expect them to beat Brighton? No." He does note a tiny glimmer of hope: a victory over Brighton followed by a win against Nottingham Forest would keep the team in contention for a crucial showdown with Liverpool, but even that scenario offers no guarantees. The former striker stresses that the lack of fixtures against top‑five opposition means Chelsea have limited opportunities to close the gap.
"You don't have the chance to gain any other points, and that's good news if you're a team in the top five, with five games to go," he observes, underscoring the difficulty of catching up. A missed Champions League berth would be a major blow to the club’s prestige. Merson doubts that rising star Cole Palmer will stay at Chelsea if the team ends up in the Europa Conference League, suggesting that Manchester United’s continued presence in the Champions League could lure him away. Regarding the squad, Merson believes Chelsea need reinforcements in key areas.
"They need a centre‑forward, badly. They need a goalkeeper. They've got some good defensive midfielders in Moises Caicedo, Romeo Lavia and Andrey Santos, but they need another player in there with a bit more guile," he writes.
He also questions the future of Enzo Fernández, noting that no club is likely to pay £100 million for him and that Chelsea are unlikely to let him go for less. Merson reflects on Rosenior’s short tenure, describing it as a difficult transition from Strasbourg to a high‑profile role. "He's always one defeat away from pressure," the columnist says, pointing out that Rosenior has overseen just two wins in his last eight games – the only victories coming against lower‑league sides Wrexham and Port Vale – and five wins in 15 overall, a record far below the club’s standards.
He then shifts to the broader strategic model at Chelsea, emphasizing the financial focus: "The whole idea of the model is to make money, not to lose money. It's to buy players, develop them and then sell them on for a profit." Merson reminds readers that many supporters, especially younger fans, have only ever known success at Chelsea, making the current struggles even more jarring.
The columnist notes that the era of managers like José Mourinho, Antonio Conte and Thomas Tuchel appears to be over, and suggests that any new appointment would face immense scrutiny. He mentions Andoni Iraola as a speculative candidate, but doubts he would leave Bournemouth without a confirmed role elsewhere. "If he comes to Chelsea, you lose a couple of games and you're under severe, severe pressure," Merson warns.
Merson concludes that Chelsea’s primary objective should not be winning the league but rather developing players and ensuring profitable sales. "They ain't got to win the league, absolutely not.
They've just got to make sure that they make the players get better and they sell them on," he says. Fans can catch the Brighton versus Chelsea clash live on Sky Sports on Tuesday evening, with kickoff scheduled for 8 p.m. after a 7:30 p.m.
pre‑match build‑up. The outcome of that game could be pivotal in determining whether the Blues finish the season with a respectable European place or slip further down the table, potentially marking the end of an era of sustained success for the club.