Gianluca Vialli believes Chelsea are going backwards this season because they can't beat the top teams.

The former Blues manager watched their dismal 3-1 defeat by Roma in the Champions League as a pundit for Sky Sport Italia and was shocked by how badly they played.

It was Chelsea's heaviest defeat in Europe's premier club competition for four years, while they have also suffered setbacks in the Premier League against their title rivals, losing against Liverpool and drawing with Manchester United.

Vialli said: "I don't think Chelsea are the same team as they were a few years ago. They don't have the consistency any more. They were beaten by Manchester United in the final of the Champions League last season and also lost against Liverpool at home the other week. Before they used to beat these teams."

Vialli feels manager Luiz Felipe Scolari, who has set his sights on winning all four trophies this season, was outthought by Roma counterpart, Luciano Spalletti.

He added: "Chelsea went to Rome to settle for whatever they could get and, when you do that, you end up losing the game on most occasions. Roma had a great reaction to this, especially after all the problems they have had recently.

"Spalletti changed the system, with [Francesco] Totti behind [Mirko] Vucinic as well as [Matteo] Brighi supporting [Simone] Perrotta on the flanks, and this made life difficult for [Florent] Malouda. Roma showed great football with the ball to feet and it worked."

Captain John Terry blasted the players for showing a lack of fight in the Stadio Olimpico, claiming they "will get nowhere near the final" if they continue to perform as poorly. He added: "We didn't get out of first gear. It was a terrible night. We knew they'd been struggling and the pressure was on them."