Jon Obi Mikel has got stuck back into his podcast with a bang, giving his thoughts on the manager change at Chelsea and taking aim at a Blues player.
The ex-midfielder took aim at disappointing winger Mykhailo Mudryk, who has not been able to live to his major price tag since joining in January 2022. Mikel conducted a pretty full on verbal broadside about the youngster, who has put out a few awkward social media posts and whose whole attitude certainly seems to rub some people up the wrong way.
“Mykhailo Mudryk needs to get his f*cking head right. He’s such a good player; pace, power, good on the ball,” Mikel ranted.
But he needs to get his act right. Forget about the whole hair and tattoos… play f*cking football and win us games.”
It’s a pretty wild statement from a former pro. Usually they’re very careful around their peers, especially those playing at their old club. You wouldn’t get Joe Cole being so forthright, even if at times he might wish he could be.
A harsh argument that’s hard to disagree with
Now before we all get too outraged, let’s remember that Mikel is on his podcast, and the more outrageous the comments, the more they’re repeated.
But equally, while we wouldn’t perhaps have gone quite as personal as the ex-midfielder did, we’ve been just as exasperated by Mudryk this season. It’s been 18 months of watching him fairly regularly now, and there’s no real signs of progress. Even the flashes of danger remain relatively rare.
We’re stuck with him now, so we’re always trying to see the positives. But we can certainly understand Mikel’s frustration – and it’s a sentiment shared pretty widely both at Stamford Bridge and online. A new manager means another new start for Mudryk, but people can be forgiven for not having much faith left in a dramatic improvement.
Mikel is right that Mudryk needs to sort out his game, but his diagnosis is all wrong. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as simple for Mudryk as just “playing football.” He’s got, without a doubt, the lowest football IQ of any player in the squad and he needs to “hit the books” so-to-speak and actually learn what playing football is all about (movement, space and timing)! His summer ought to be spent studying film of top wingers and their movement off the ball. He needs a crash course on how and WHEN to make runs otherwise all of that pace and power will go wasted—again!