Former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has explained why he decided to convert John Obi Mikel into a defensive midfielder.
John Obi Mikel Before Mourinho
John Obi Mikel first captured the eye of the footballing world when he starred as an attacking midfielder for Nigeria at the 2005 U-20 World Cup in Holland.
Here, Mikel helped his team reach the final of the competition where they lost 2-1 to Lionel Messi’s Argentina, with Mikel also finishing as the second-best player at the tournament to, yes you guessed it, future 8-time Ballon d’Or winner Messi.
Following the tournament, Mikel was heavily linked with a move to Manchester United, and was even pictured in a Red Devils shirt, only for Chelsea to steal in to capture the Nigerian’s signature in 2006.
"Mikel Obi is my first boy to ask me to do it"
Jose Mourinho explains why he agreed to come on the Obi One Podcast. pic.twitter.com/cAMlFItob3
— @𝗼𝗻𝗲𝗷𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗯𝗼𝘆 (@OneJoblessBoy) December 18, 2023
Mourinho On Converting Obi Mikel at Chelsea
Speaking to John Obi Mikel on the Obi One Podcast, Mourinho explained why he converted the Nigerian into a defensive midfielder: “I liked everything about Mikel. If you go through all the positional [defensive] midfield players that I have had during my career, there are lots of similar things.
“Aside from Claude Makelele who was small, I had them all tall and physically strong. They also knew how to occupy space and they have what I call ‘the simplicity of football’, which is fundamental in that position.
“The team needs balance, with or without the ball. A defensive midfielder needs to be humble in the sense that they recognize that the team is more important than themselves.
“With me at Chelsea, Mikel was a fantastic positional midfield player, very quick thinking, one touch, two touch, everything was simple, and the game was flowing.
“He was not a guy to win a race of 100 meters, but everything was fast with him on the ball and he understood the situation of the game.”
John Obi Mikel would go on to spend 11-years in west London, winning countless trophies and even saw Mourinho return for a second successful spell at the club.
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