Mikel, who spent 11 years at Chelsea, had a highly successful tenure in west London, winning two Premier League titles, the Champions League, four FA Cups, and two League Cups. ..Continue Reading
After Chelsea’s 3-1 loss to Manchester City, Mikel criticized Nicolas Jackson and Robert Sanchez, stating that the duo are “not good enough” to help the club return to their former glory.
Chelsea had a promising start at the Etihad, with City debutant Abdukodir Khusanov gifting Noni Madueke an opening goal within just three minutes.
However, that was the peak for Enzo Maresca’s team. Josko Gvardiol and Erling Haaland scored on either side of half-time, putting the champions in control.
Phil Foden then raced through and calmly beat Sanchez in the 87th minute, solidifying the lead and keeping City in fourth place in the Premier League.
Chelsea, on the other hand, sit in sixth place after a disappointing streak of results, now trailing leaders Liverpool by 13 points.
The match could have had a different outcome if Chelsea had capitalized on their chances in Manchester. Questions have again been raised about Jackson’s inefficiency in front of goal.
Jackson, after assisting Madueke for the first goal, had a prime opportunity to double Chelsea’s lead but opted to pass the ball back to Jadon Sancho, whose shot was blocked.
‘Not the scoreline we all wanted, is it? I’m a bit gutted,’ ex-Chelsea midfielder Obi Mikel said on The Obi One Podcast.
‘We started well with the goal and then we thought, “Let’s kick on from here”. This has been what has happened for the last three or four games.
‘We got 1-0 up or 2-0 up and then we don’t kill the game, we don’t finish the game and we end up paying for it. ‘Again, we went 1-0 up and we had that chance to go 2-0 up with Nicolas Jackson.
‘Some people are saying that the pass from Cole Palmer is a little bit… no, it’s not. You’re a striker, just put your foot through it.
‘If you miss it, it’s fine. But attempt to score. What did he do? Just controlled the ball and then came back.
‘Your job is to f***ing score the goals, that’s why you were brought to the football club. Put the ball in the back of the net and try to score. He didn’t do that.’
While Obi Mikel has been critical on a number of occasions, he insists he has no agenda against the former Villarreal star.
‘I have nothing against Nicolas Jackson and every time I talk about him, it’s like I have something against him, it’s like I’m trying to get Victor [Osimhen] to come to the football club. No it’s not, I’ve said it,’ Obi Mikel added.
‘If the people at the top of the club don’t get Victor… Viktor Gyokeres’ goalscoring stats are unreal. We need somebody who can score goals to get us there. We don’t have that.
‘The reason why we succeeded in my time and, again, I’m not trying to compare him with Didier [Drogba], because we had somebody that when we called upon him he was there to put the ball in the back of the net. We don’t have that right now.
‘Nicolas Jackson, he’s doing well with his combinations. But he’s not a goalscorer and that’s what we need.’
Later in the podcast, Obi Mikel shifted his focus to Chelsea’s goalkeeper Sanchez, who endured another difficult outing.
The Spaniard arguably could have done better to prevent Gvardiol’s equaliser and found himself in no man’s land after inexplicably rushing out for Haaland’s goal in the 68th minute.
‘Not good enough. He’s not a top, top ‘keeper,’ Obi Mikel said when analysing Sanchez’s performance.
‘He’s good enough to be there in the league but he’s not good enough [for Chelsea].
‘What I keep saying is players who are good enough to win the league and put us in the top four. He’s not that goalkeeper and Nicolas Jackson is not that striker that will get us to win the league.
‘Top four, they might get us there, but to win the league, to get us to where we belong… they are not those people.
‘Sanchez showed that again with that mistake. What are you doing rushing out? What are you doing?!
‘If you called Petr Cech now off the cuff, privately, he would say the same thing but I’m the only person who is coming out to say it.
‘I understand that my colleagues don’t want to come out and say it but I am saying it. This is what we need: we need to get another top striker and a goalkeeper.’
