Middlesbrough of England midfielder, John Mikel Obi has opined that the missing links at his former club, Chelsea, are lack of a leader on the pitch and inability of the players to community with one another.
In the wake of Chelsea stumbling to a scandalous 6-0 loss away to Manchester City on Sunday, footballlive.ng can report that Mikel was taken aback by another slump for his former team.
The Blues subsequently dropped out of the English Premier League top-four, leaving them with a struggle to make the UEFA Champions League cuts, but Mikel says they need someone to carry charge during matches.
He recounted how it was during his days at Stamford Bridge, when he could talk to the other players, even when he was younger than many of them, while the big stars were also always ready to lead by example.
Mikel, who played at Lyn Oslo of Norway before joining Chelsea, then moved to Tianjin Teda of China in 2016, added that the London club are still battling to replace his generation of players.
Mikel posited: “Now when I watch them, there’s no one talking to each other, taking responsibility of being the leader.
“You need that edge and right now that’s what they’re lacking. When I watch them now, they’re fantastic players but I don’t see leaders.
“During our time I could scream at Didier Drogba or Lampard. I was 24 or 25 years old but I could voice my opinion and it would be heard.”
