“Are we going to keep pretending?” — Mikel Obi slams Chelsea

Former Chelsea midfielder, Mikel Obi, took to his Obi-One Podcast to deliver a scathing assessment of current Chelsea coach Mauricio Pochettino, expressing concerns over the team’s lack of leadership and urgency in achieving results.

Highlighting the absence of commanding figures akin to Didier Drogba, John Terry, and Frank Lampard, Mikel emphasized that the current squad lacked vocal leaders who could demand excellence on the field.

He lamented the deficiency in the Everton game, where he observed a notable absence of any player stepping up to rally the team during a lackluster performance.

“Are we just going to sit on the fence and say we are still in a rebuilding process?” Mikel said during his Obi-One Podcast.

The Argentine coach’s approach, according to Mikel, lacks the necessary assertiveness to push players to excel. He urged Pochettino to shift focus from rebuilding the team to securing victories promptly, citing the pressing need for immediate results.

“There is no time for that. We need to start winning games. When I look at the team, it comes down to a lack of leaders.

“In the game against Everton, I looked around the pitch, there was not one single leader. There is no one to come out on the pitch to go at your colleagues and say, ‘Wake up, what are you doing?’ – this is what we had before.

“The likes of Didier Drogba, John Terry, and Frank Lampard, when you are having a s*** game, these guys would make you wake up.

“I look at the manager; I didn’t see him scream at one of the players to say, ‘Do your f****** job, wake up, make sure you run around and make sure we win the game.’”

Mikel particularly emphasized the absence of vocal coaching on the field, a contrast to the proactive nature displayed by past Chelsea icons who wouldn’t hesitate to push their teammates to perform better during a game.

Moreover, Mikel criticized the performance of left-back Marc Cucurella, acquired for a substantial fee from Brighton two years ago.

Mikel stated that Cucurella does not meet the standard set by illustrious former Chelsea left-backs such as Ashley Cole, Cesar Azpilicueta, and William Gallas, citing a lack of consistency and quality in his displays for the club.

“He is not Chelsea standard,” Mikel said.

“When you look at the left-backs we have had, Ashley Cole, Cesar Azpilicueta, William Gallas, you are talking about these players who have stayed at the club for many years, played so many games, and the standard they have set for that position. For me, he’s not at Chelsea standard.”