Why Mikel was converted to a defensive midfielder – Mourinho

Former Chelsea Manager Jose Mourinho says he converted John Mikel Obi from an attacking midfielder to a defensive midfielder because of his size and ball-retention abilities.

He was speaking on the ObiOne Podcast.

Many football observers say his conversion to a defensive player killed his game.

But Mourinho refused to accept this view.

“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.

“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 touches, everything was simple, and the game was flowing.”

Mikel joined Chelsea in 2006 and was regarded as one of the world’s best young playmakers at the time.

While at Chelsea,  won the FA Cup four times and the UEFA Champions League and Europa League.

Following Mourinho’s comments, we have put a poll to get readers’ opinion on this matter:

Do you believe John Mikel Obi became a better footballer after his conversion to a defensive midfielder?

To vote, CLICK BELOW:

Poll: Do you believe John Mikel Obi became a better footballer after his conversion to a defensive midfielder? 🤔⚽️ #MikelObi #FootballPoll

— Voice of Nigeria (@voiceofnigeria) December 19, 2023