Why I Changed Mikel’s Position At Chelsea – Mourinho

Former Chelsea manager, Jose Mourinho has opened up on the reason behind his decision to play Mikel Obi as a defensive midfielder during his time at Stamford Bridge.

Mikel Obi joined Chelsea in the summer of 2006 after a protracted transfer battle with Manchester United and he went on to establish himself, winning all the trophies available.

He started his career as a playmaker but Jose Mourinho converted him to a defensive midfielder.

The Special One has now revealed the factors behind his decision.

He said, “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.”

Mikel was part of a star-studded Chelsea midfield which included Frank Lampard, Michael Essien, Michael Ballack, Deco and Claude Makelele.

The former Super Eagles captain enjoyed a blissful time at Stamford Bridge winning two Premier League titles, four FA Cup trophies, one Champions League trophy and one Europa League.

Mikel featured in 249 Premier League game for Chelsea and scored just once.

Mourinho enjoyed two successful spells at Stamford Bridge from 2004-2007 and 2013-2015.