Mourinho Converted Mikel To A Defensive Midfielder

Jose Mourinho has explained the reason behind the decision to change John Mikel Obi’s position during his managerial reign at the Stamford Bridge.

John Mikel Obi’s position during his managerial reign at the Stamford Bridge.

Mourinho brought Mikel to Chelsea in 2006 following a well publicised transfer tussle with Premier League rivals Manchester United.

Mikel thrived as a playmaker during his time with Norwegian club, Lyn Oslo.

The player also played similar position at youth level for Nigeria.

At Chelsea, Mikel turned the Nigerian to a defensive midfielder a position he excelled in.

Mourinho revealed the factors that made him altered Mikel’s playing position.

“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,” Mourinho said on the ObiOne Podcast.

“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.”

Mourinho managed Chelsea twice, first between 2004 and 2007 and 2013 and 2015.

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Mikel featured in 249 league games for Chelsea and the the Premier League title twice.

The 36-year-old also won four FA Cup title four times as well as the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.