Obi Mikel Names The Chelsea Player Mourinho Advised Him To Emulate

Published: October 11, 2019

John Obi Mikel has revealed that Jose Mourinho advised him to borrow a page from Claude Makélélé and improve his disciplinary record during his early days at Chelsea.

In his first season at Chelsea, the former Nigeria captain was sent off two times in matches against Reading and Arsenal but he learnt from his mistakes and was dismissed only twice in his next nine seasons at Stamford Bridge despite playing as a defensive midfielder.

''I saw a red card in my first match after I transferred to Chelsea. After playing a few games, I saw another red card,'' Mikel said in an interview with 61 Saat.

''The cards I saw made Jose Mourinho very unhappy and he advised me to follow Makalele to improve my game.''

Mikel admitted that he improved as a player after understudying Makalele who is regarded as one of the best defensive midfielders to have ever played the game.

''Makalele was an incredible player. His position, was perhaps one of the best in the world. As a young player, you want to intervene on every ball and fly on every ball. I started to change and improve myself when I started to watch Makalele.

''Because my position is perhaps the most important position for the team. Or one of the most important. Every move you make there affects the team completely.''

Mikel did not receive a single red card during his time with Tianjin Teda and Middlesbrough, and has not been red carded after 11 matches for Turkish club Trabzonspor.

Ifeanyi Emmanuel