Chelsea in Crisis: FA Cup salvation, JT’s snub & why Filipe Luís should be boss

21:51John Obi Mikel:They're not going to do that. They're going to allow, they will never in million years allow that to happen. So what we're going to get it's another yes man. That's what we're going to get. And Andoni Ariola, for me, I'm not saying he's a yes man, but he's a guy that doesn't want to get involved with who comes in and who goes out. He just wants to get on with what happens on the field board pitch, which is coaching. They will sign the players and he's going to coach the players. So tell me what top manager is going to want to take over this Chelsea's job right now. There is not many. There is not many.

22:22John Obi Mikel:The top manager that we can talk about is Luis Enrique, Diego Simeone, and you can talk about, again, who else is out there? club, club we want to, club we want to, you know. So tell me what top manager will want to come and take over this football club and manage because those guys, they are not yes mans. They want to be managers. They don't want to be coaches. So there is no top manager that's going to come and take over this job right now. So the only thing we're going to get is another yes man. It's another coach that's going to come in and they're going to tell him absolutely what to do. And we're going to be again in same position where we are.

22:57John Obi Mikel:It's just going to be the same position where we are, because you're going to get somebody that has absolutely zero experience of managing a top club like Chelsea. A club that's been spoiled with success, with winning trophies, competing year in year out. This is what these fans have been brought up with. Our fans have been brought up with winning. Absolutely winning. Competing year in year out, season after season. Winning trophies. Winning trophies. Competing year in year out. So you can't keep bringing those managers and chopping and changing. What is the point? What is the model? What is the actual direction?

23:34John Obi Mikel:The direction for me was Enzo Moresca. Enzo Moresca was the direction. Because he wanted a bit more power. Nope, that's it. You're done. You're gone. He wanted to be a little bit more power of who comes in, bringing a little bit more experience to help the team. Because he can see that the team is suffering. He can see it. He knows what's happening. the problem of the football club is experience. It's leaders, characters that can come into that dressing room and pull those young players along. That's all they need. You pull those young players along because there is the talent is there. The quality is there.

24:08John Obi Mikel:The potential is there. But to grow as a player, you need the experienced players to guide you through it, to lead you through it. That's what you need. And we don't have that. We do not have that. It's a fucking no-brainer. We can all see it. Everybody can see it. Even if you're not a Chelsea fan, you can see the problem that we have. The potentials are there. Don't get me wrong. But to be able to become successful, you need to mix it up with the experience and the young. If I gave you the choice, I'm coming back to you. Areola, Felipe Luis, Cesc Fabregas, they are three of the favorites. I think for me, Fabregas is being too early for Fabregas.

24:49John Obi Mikel:For me, I like, listen, we can all hear, I haven't seen, We can all hear the successes he's having with Cuomo in Italy, in the Italian league. But for me, I just think it's a bit too early for him. I think give him a couple of more seasons, you know, for him to establish himself a bit more, get a bit more experience. Maybe come to the Premier League, coach a lesser team like Chelsea. Listen, mate, we are not an experimental club. We're not that club. You don't experiment with Chelsea Football Club. No, we already made a team, a club, established football club. That's who we are. We're very established ourselves.

25:26John Obi Mikel:We're winners. We win trophies, big trophies. We compete. The biggest team in London, winning trophies, titles. Don't come and experiment with us. No, the football club. No, get managers that are already made, that knows and have experience of what it feels of winning titles. Whether you won as a player or you won as a manager. That's what we need. because if you've won titles, it's a huge, huge experience you're going to gain, whether as a player or as a manager. If you haven't won anything, I don't respect that you will gain from the players when you walk into the dressing room. That is huge.

26:04John Obi Mikel:When you haven't won anything and you walk into the dressing room, trust me, as football players, we can sense it. We can feel it. Smell it. We can smell it. Who's this guy? What has he won? We don't say, oh, but that's what we think as players. That's what we think as players. Yes, a lot of people might say Jose Murray didn't play football, but he won with Poto before he came to us. Champions League. Europa League. Europa League. Yes, something like that. He was a winner already before he came to us. So he has the experience. So that's what we need. We need winners. We need managers that's been there, done it.

26:40John Obi Mikel:Knows how to win title, whether you won as a player or as a manager. That's a huge experience you're going to gain from it. And those players are going to learn from you. They're absolutely going to learn from you. And that's why when I talk about it sometimes, that's what we need. We need that. And that's going to bring experience to the squad. And it's also going to galvanize the fans because what the fans need is somebody, is a winner. Somebody that you can call a winner. And so far, lately, we haven't had that. Okay, so on that, I'm putting words in your mouth right now, John. Got to. But Seth Fabregas needs more time.

27:13Di Riola done an unbelievable job at both Rayo Vallecano and Bournemouth, but he ain't won trophies. So on that basis, your old muck, Felipe Luis, Copa Libertadores with Flamengo, brought a style to that football club. He knows Chelsea. He talked on the podcast to you about the fact that Diego Simeone had a big bearing on who he is. Jose Mourinho has rubbed off on him. So I'm asking you, Felipe Luis, yes or no? Would you get on board with him?

27:40John Obi Mikel:Has he coached in the Premier League? No. No. Has he coached in Europe? No. Do I think he has the potential to be a good manager? We all saw how his team played in the Club World Cup. Some absolutely fantastic football we saw they play. The style of play, the way they played, playing on the front foot, creating chances, having control of the game, playing with purpose, going forward to create chances. Not just passing the ball around. They had an objective of how they wanted to play. There was a philosophy of how he wanted the team to play. That's how there was a structure. That's how you can tell.

28:16John Obi Mikel:That's how you can know somebody who can become a top, top manager. Maybe he doesn't have the experience right now, but from the way the job that he's done with Flamengo, the way we've seen his team play, yes, there is something to be excited about. Yes, you can see the way his team plays. There is something that can get you off your seat. There is an expectancy of how, of what you feel that you can achieve. And that's something that I like with Felipe Luiz. Yes, of course, he played for the football club. His dream is to one day come and manage Chelsea football club. He did say it here in the podcast.

28:49John Obi Mikel:It will be his absolute dream one day to manage Chelsea football club. So there is no question about that. Is it too early for him right now as well? Maybe. But out of these three that you've mentioned, if they will go with any of them, I'd probably say Felipe Luiz. because I think he's been at a football club, the fans we take to him straight away, and the style of football that he plays is the way we want to play. Playing out from the back, being courageous on the tight spaces, having the balls to be able to play when it's not going well, the way he coaches his team, the philosophy and the structure of how his team plays.

29:31John Obi Mikel:I think for me, he's going to fit perfectly well with Chelsea Football Club. But does he have the experience? Does he have the credential right now to manage in the Premier League? And not just in the Premier League, a club as huge as big as Chelsea Football Club. That is the question mark. And can he mesh with the owners? It's all good for us talking about these managers. But unless the owners who said some of them self-reflection, unless they tweak their model. What is self-reflection anyways? What are they trying to reflect? It's all there in black and white, man. We can all see what the problem is.

30:04John Obi Mikel:The problem is that the model that they have is not working. It's absolutely not working. And they've said a few comments now that they're going to try to change some of it. They have to change. Go and tear up that book of the model that they have right now because it's not working. It's absolutely not working. Get back to who we are. Get back to bringing players. I'm not saying fill the club with experienced top-top players like we had. I'm saying mix it up. Mix it up. Bring in players that want to win. Bring in winners. Players that want to win trophies. Experienced players that are already made.

30:42John Obi Mikel:That can help this young squad. That can be able to feel what the fans want and play and pull this team. And know that where they are, where they are right now. Chelsea Football Club is about winning. You have to bring in those players that know, that will come in straight away and straight away know exactly where they are. Because these young players, they're thinking, oh, in the next five years, that's probably when I'm going to start establishing myself. No, no, no, no, no. Chelsea Football Club do not give you time. I said it last week. Does not give you time. And we can see that with Liam Rossini.

31:14John Obi Mikel:Does not give you time. Doesn't matter whether you're a player or you're a manager. Does not give you time. Roman used to tell us back then, if you think you're comfortable, if you think you have two, three years contract left, I have the fucking money. I will get rid of you. And I'm going to bring you someone else. and I'm not. So you better buckle up and get your shit together. Otherwise, you're gone. We used to have these meetings when things are not going well. We have this meeting, closed doors. Get your shit together, mate. Otherwise, you're out of the door. Someone else comes in. Takes your place.

31:45John Obi Mikel:And takes your place. That's what it was. That was the competition. That was what it felt like playing for Chelsea football. That's who we are. And right now, I can see that. Again, we talk about acceptancy. accepting who we are. Credit to them. Yes, we won the semifinals. We're in the final. But when you see Chelsea celebrating the way we celebrate, beating Leeds United, take nothing away from them. But is that who we are right now? Celebrating beating Leeds United in the semifinals? Yes, it is a win. I take it. I'll take it all day. But we're pumping the chairs, screaming and shouting. it is Leeds United at the end of the day.

32:28John Obi Mikel:No disrespect to Leeds United. No disrespect. But they have struggled to stay in the Premier League. They've been fighting relegation battles the whole season. So for us to beat them in the FA Cup semifinals, it's not something that we have to... It's not something that we're going to have to get carried away with. We enjoy it and move on. You know, the big game is a final. You know, it's a different kettle of fish when you play Manchester City. Win that game. Win that game, then. But still, for me, it still doesn't make it better. Because for me, I will take qualifying for the Champions League over winning the FA Cup.

33:03Just on that, man. Because on Tuesday night, we saw the players. Liam kind of apologised. He went down the tunnel. Enzo Fernandes had a bit of a stay-out with fans. Five, six minutes.

33:16John Obi Mikel:Yeah, what was that about, man? It was a performative. I mean, it was what it was. There was a lot of Chelsea fans giving it back to him. I don't know what it was. Was it performance? What was he trying to gain from that? What was he trying to achieve with the stare now? Is he staring the fans now? Is he saying... I guess he's fronting up, John. Yeah, he's fronting up. Is he saying, oh, here I am. I'm the big man. I can take it. Yeah, give it to me. Like, what is that? If you are the big man, if you're the top guy, show it during the fucking game. Show it in the game. And he did yesterday. He did yesterday.

33:52John Obi Mikel:Credit to him. Credit to him. One game though. But that was again, we're talking about Leeds United. Again, they've been struggling. What have Leeds done to you, John? No, I'm talking about it. When you beat a team that's been struggling the whole season, that's been in the relegation battle the whole season, don't get giddy about it. Don't get too excited about it. They beat you 3-1 Ireland Road. Yes, they did. And they drew 2-2 the bridge. Yes. So they've cleared. You're smiling. But it's still, but again, I'm taking nothing away from Leeds listen you're taking all away from him no no you're taking all Daniel Falke has done an absolutely fantastic job amazing job absolutely fantastic job and the players they should take credit for what they've done they still must say are they safe safe here but they're close to being 100 % safe but what they've done Daniel Cavalui that we thought you know he's done everything but you know the transformation he's gone to Leeds United The way that what Daniel Farker, how he's been able to get the best out of him.

34:55John Obi Mikel:But that's something that you can tell a manager that was on his place. But that's what I'm saying. I'm not taking anything away from Leeds United. But at the end of the day, they've just come back to the Premier League and they've been struggling the whole season. They've been in relegation battle the whole season. We shouldn't be getting carried away by beating Leeds United. That's all I'm saying. That's all I'm saying. Is it a positive result? Yes, it is a positive result going forward. and I hope that we can go on and then finish the rest of the season this way by winning, by winning the rest of our games and see if we can get to Europe because we have to be, is Champions League out of reach right now?

35:33John Obi Mikel:Maybe, what are we, seven points away from Liverpool? I want to get to this. So that's, for me, maybe it's out of reach but all we have to do is show the character, show the belief that we still want to compete. Yes, it's four or five games left but show the character. Go out there. Play for the badge. Play for the football club. Show that you want to be here. That's what I want to see from this place. Show that you want to be a Chelsea football club. You want to continue the culture of who we are. Do that and show the fans that you belong here. And that's what I want to see from this place. That's what I want to see.

36:10John Obi Mikel:So hopefully, come the rest of the season, this positive result that we got yesterday can just take us to the rest of the season and we can be able to win the rest of our games. The reason I say Champions League is not out of the equation, I think it was you that mentioned it on last week's podcast. There is this weird scenario evolving and emerging whereby Aston Villa, who are currently fourth in the Premier League in the Europa League semi-finals, gives nothing for us upcoming. If they finish fifth but go on and win the Europa League, I'm going with this, John, sixth place in the Premier League will get Champions League football.

36:47so Fulham Chelsea's great West London

36:51John Obi Mikel:again we don't want to be handed gifts mate you don't want to be handed gifts that's not again that's acceptance you just want to accept gifts that's not who we are but we want to earn it we want to earn it we want to earn it mate we want to earn it we want at the end of the season we can beat ourselves in the chest and say yes we earned it ourselves we're not given the the the the Champions League spot no It would be embarrassing if you do something. If you get it by virtue of finishing sixth, Villa fifth, and Villa winning your whole round. Is that who we want to become? It's where you are right now.

37:25John Obi Mikel:People handing gifts for us. Thank you very much. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And now Chelsea football club. The owners will take it. They'll take it because they'll take it. I mean, is that who we want to become? That's not who we want to become. But can I ask this? Win the FA Cup against City, May 16th, And whichever way they do it, John, they get Champions League football. That's success, yes. That will be deemed success. Winning the FA Cup, not qualifying for the Champions League, that's not success. No, no. But getting both? Getting both, yes. Pass mark, pass mark. Yes, pass mark. Then we can build on that next season.

38:03John Obi Mikel:Then we can say, okay, we can build on something next season. Because then you're going to attract big players, experienced players, players that want to win. They want to come to Chelsea Football Club because they want to play Champions League football. And if we do get a top manager that can attract those players, a manager that players can look at and say, you know what, I want to come play for this manager. Why do you think it's Pep Guardiola pick up the phone today and call any player today in the Premier League? They all run. They walk to Manchester. They don't run. They fucking walk. They will swim to Manchester to go play for Pep Guardiola.

38:38That's how much players, managers play a big part

38:44John Obi Mikel:on players moving to a football club. They do. And Pep Guardiola has earned that right. Today, when he picks up the phone and call any football club and call any player, you listen. You absolutely listen. Are you going to win titles? One. Are you going to win titles? Yes. Are you going to become a better player? Two. Yes. Are you going to look at yourself, come to the end of your career and say, you know what? I made the right decision? Yes. By winning titles. By being successful. That's what a football club is. And that's who we were 10, 15 years ago. Yeah, you are right. That's who we were. A lot of players looking at children.

39:20John Obi Mikel:That's why when Roman was there, picked up the phone and called players, Michael Ballack, they answered. Shevchenko, they answered. Deco, they answered. Eden Hazard. Eden Hazard, they answered. Nicholas Anelka, they answered. We all fucking answered. Because we all wanted to play for Roman Abramovich. You shouldn't have answered. You should have been in Old Trafford. I did a U-turn mate. I know you did. Romans on the phone. But it was about going and creating your own history. That's what I wanted to do. And I was happy to be part of that. You know, we were successful football club. And today, when you look back at it, you can say, that's why I made that decision.

40:02John Obi Mikel:That's why I joined the football club. Because we've built this dynasty. We've built this winning machine that wants to win, that has a culture of winning. That's who we are. And it's just a shame to see us declining, absolutely declining as a football club. I feel sorry for the fans. I feel sorry for whoever connected to Chelsea Football Club right now because whichever way you look at it, we are not on the right path. We are absolutely million miles off it. Something has to change. Something absolutely has to change. Are the owners going to go? Maybe not. Can they change their model and get the football club back to where it belongs?

40:49John Obi Mikel:That is something they can do. That is something we can absolutely demand from them, the fans, everyone connected to Chelsea Football Club. Change your model. Yes, you're investors. You want to make money. You buy plays. You want to sell them on in five years' time and make profit. Fine. But mix it up, bringing players that want to win, players that know how and what it feels like winning trophies. Because the club is about winning. The club has been built on winning, on being successful. When Roman took over, that was what he wanted. Spent his money, his time, his energy on winning. That's what he wanted.

41:32John Obi Mikel:And that's why everybody who was there knew exactly what you were walking into. You're walking into a team, a machine that is being built on winning, on being successful. The dynasty of the football club, the culture of the football club is about winning. And I'm not sure this place, this young place with potentials, don't get me wrong. When you watch some of them, you can see the potentials there. They don't understand quite yet where they are. And that's understandable. and who we are. That's understandable because the experience is not there. That's fair. The people, when you look at the whole building, maybe Rhys James is probably won something there.

42:15John Obi Mikel:Yeah, Champions League. Champions League, that's it. That's it. But I don't see Rhys as that vocal kind of guy that's going to go on everywhere. John Terry made it known to everybody when you walked through that door, mate. This is where you're walking into. You come into a football club that wants to win. that wants to win. You have to win. You have to compete. If you're moaning around the training ground, walking around and thinking, oh, I'm not playing. I'm Michael Ballack. I'm not playing. I'm Shefchenko. I'm not playing. No, get your shit together and fight and compete because it's never going to be handed over to you.

42:50John Obi Mikel:It's not going to be given to you. You have to fight for it. You have to compete for it. Week in week, every single day in training, we are all fighting, competing for positions to be in the starting 11. And that's what takes you to the finish line. That's what makes you successful. That's what builds a football club, a winning mentality. If you don't compete, if you don't have the top players that can every single day push you in training, you can't get there. And also when you've been given an eight, nine years contract, where is the motivation? Where is the hunger? Where is the desire? It's gone.

43:28John Obi Mikel:Because when you think about it, Your bank account for the next eight years, it doesn't matter what you do. You can be lying in bed all day. You're getting paid. For eight years. I'd love it. Who wouldn't love it? It's mental when you say it like that. But you don't do that. You mentioned JT. As soon as you walked into that football club, in that period, JT, maybe even more so than Roman, Jose, JT's voice would be booming, setting the standards. He's come out in the wake of being overlooked again in an interim basis, John. you talked last week on the pod the lovely line about who's leading who this is obviously Liam young manager inexperienced by and large at a club of that stature the players by and large inexperienced who was running who you know where I'm going with this JT said no call was forthcoming could he have been someone and Callum taking nothing away from him but would JT have not had the the broad shoulders the weight of personality The personality, the character.

44:29John Obi Mikel:The character. Yeah, yeah. I think, yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course, of course. Like, listen, JT's my mate. You know, he's my friend. He's my, you know, he's my guy. He's my captain. I didn't say that. Crazy, but I love him. I love him. I love JT. Was he too big for the owners, John? You know what I'm getting at? Is he simply, because he's, quote, unquote, Mr. Chelsea? The one thing with JT is that you cannot control JT. He's not a yes man. No. Would he have been the best appointment till the end of the season? Maybe. Maybe. Yes. Why not give it to JT? Why not give it to Mr. Chelsea? You know, the one person that actually bleeds, bleeds blue.

45:19John Obi Mikel:He is blue. He is Mr. Chelsea. Why not give it to him when the club is in a disarray, when the club is all over the fucking place? Give it to the guy that's going to galvanize the whole place. That when he walks through that door and has a meeting with those players, those players will look at him and absolutely listen to every word that comes out of his mouth. Because you know why? He's been there. He's done it. He knows how to win titles. He's done it all. He knows how to win titles. Has he managed as a manager? No. But what we needed or what we need right now in this situation where we are right now, somebody is going to come in and bring in some sort of calmness, some sort of positivity, some sort of direction, galvanize the fans.

46:03John Obi Mikel:Because that's what is happening. The fans have been protesting. It's all over the place. Everybody's all over the place. It's a shit show right now. Somebody is going to unite the whole place and bring everybody together. I thought JT would have been that guy. But of course, the club overlooked him the first time and they've done that again this time. I have absolutely no idea why and why that happens. I have absolutely no idea. It's not my place to talk about that. Maybe there's reasons why. I have absolutely no idea. But I just felt maybe John Terry would have been that guy. And the club had decided to ignore him again, push him on the side, and pretend like he never existed at a football club.

46:39John Obi Mikel:So for me, that's a shame. I would like to see him at some capacity. if we want to get back to who we are i think in some capacity i'd like to see him being involved with the first team i'd like to see that maybe not as a first team maybe not as a coach maybe you know on the backroom staff somebody that you know when it's not going well before the manager even say something he's already ripped up to the whole fucking dressing room and tell them everything he demands from them what the club stands for who we are they have to go out there in the second half and make sure that they get their shoes together and go out there and perform and run and fight for the football club.

47:19John Obi Mikel:JT is that guy, he's done it with us. He did it with us. It doesn't matter the ego that came into that football club. He ran the football club. His voice was everywhere. He demanded so much from everybody. You know, when Balak joined top, top player, you know, played German captain and all. But when you have somebody like JT that can put him in his place and tell him, you know what? This is who we are. This is Chelsea Football Club. And he listens. So, and they tell me this place, of course they're going to listen. So for me, that was probably, you know, Callum again has come in. He's done the job.

47:56John Obi Mikel:You know, we've won. We win the FA Cup final. You know, if we go on to win it, absolutely fantastic. But again, like I said, I'd rather just finish top four, top five, qualify for the Champions League. Top six. No, top six. I don't want to be handling the fucking Champions League sport, mate. No, no, no, I'm not going to take it. Because then we become this team that just accept gifts. We just accept gifts. We accept, you know, people handing over. What is it? We're going to start begging to win Premier League games. No, can you give us three points, please, mate? No, we want to compete. We want to earn it ourselves.

48:32John Obi Mikel:No, I don't want to finish top six. I don't want to finish six and qualify for the Champions League because Villa has won the Europa League and then finish fifth. No, no, no. You feel like you didn't earn it. You have to earn it. You have to fight for it. You have to struggle for it. When you do that, it feels better. It feels good. We're going to do a podcast in three weeks' time and this is all going to happen. I'm never going to take it. And you're going to be there. I am not going to take it. Honestly, I'm not going to. The players in that dressing room, if they know who they are, if they are winners, if they have courage, if they have some self-esteem, they will feel bad accepting that.

49:13John Obi Mikel:But it is what it is. If it comes, it comes, right? In the Champions League next season. They're in the Champions League next season. But did you end it? No. We gave it to you probably. Yeah, Villa fans will say that. We helped you out. Listen, there's been a lot of fake news on social media regarding you, John. I've seen a lot about it. Ooh, fake news. There's so many fake news on social media about me. So many, so many. You know, the one with Tony Cruz and all. But then I saw that he actually fell for it. I saw that he tweeted. Tony. Yeah, I mean, I don't want to say, but why will he ever think I will say such a thing about him?

49:57John Obi Mikel:A player like Tony Cruz, Luka Modric, Carver Hall. I saw that. I'm not going to come out here week in, week out for people trying to damage my reputation or this podcast and trying to say things that I never said. I'm not going to come out here every day week in, week out to defend myself. If you have a problem as a top player, somebody with character, with dignity, right? You have my social media. If you don't have my number, drop me a line on social media, on my Instagram and say, listen, mate, did you say this? I'll tell you no way. Show me how. When did I say that? You know, and for Tony Cruz to buy into that and actually comment on it, I will never say anything about a legend like him.

50:44John Obi Mikel:But yeah, go on. Yeah, you brought up the fake news, so I just want to clarify that. Yeah, the reason I bring it up is it went viral this week about the players that apparently you had said you'd keep it, Chelsea. Oh, God. You'd sell. And I knew it. I sent it to you straight away and went, we haven't spoken about this. Who have you been talking to, John? you haven't been talking to anyone. No. I want to look at his sales list on this. Again, to be clear, fake news. Mark Kukaria was on that list. I know you're a big fan of Kukaria. Yeah, but not last week, mate. Well, no. No, no, no. When he gave away the team sheet to his barber, who does that?

51:19John Obi Mikel:I never gave away my team sheet to my own mother. Allegedly. To my own mother, I never did. That's something you never do. Your own mom, John. To my own mom. I'm not telling you. No, I'll probably say, mom, I'm not playing. That's it. I don't run the whole, from starting, from goalkeeper to the whole team. To a barber. Somebody that cuts your hair. Somebody that you absolutely do not know. He cuts your hair. That's it. That's it. You run through the whole team news, team shit for him. For him. He might have done that. What kind of trust do you have? Well, what I said to you. With that guy. What kind of trust?

51:54John Obi Mikel:But then he comes down again to a responsibility. to lead us. There's so many things that, gosh, if I tell you guys the amount of things that was going to come out, that was going to happen in that dressing room back in the day in our dressing room, that the top players, that the senior players, the likes of JT, Frank Lampard, DJ Drugman, Peter Chex, that they shut down. They'd be like, what are you doing? They call you in straight away. What are you doing? Are you stupid? Take that down. What are you doing? But now when I see those things happening, where is the leadership? Where is the leadership?

52:37John Obi Mikel:The leadership is so massively important. Massively, massively important. And we don't have absolutely zero. Zero at that football game. Zero. Rich James, yes, captain. I have a huge respect for him. But leadership is absolutely zero. And that, again, comes from the top. The top is not run properly and that trickles down and when it trickles down it becomes a shit show I said it to you on the whatsapps if And it's all alleged, but if his barber has leaked the team which we believe he did It says a lot and I know It happened twice it happened again before PSG It's one of the two games of PSG Yes, yes So there's so many leaks there's so many leaks there's so many People leaking leaking stories It's not good.

53:25John Obi Mikel:Not good. Not good for a football club What other football club do you hear that happening right now? Where? Tell me. Which other football club do you see that, do you hear that happening right now? It used to be United. It used to be United, but it's gone quiet. They've dealt with it. But a Chelsea football club, that never happened. Because there were leaders, there was characters, there were top managers that you can look at and you'd be like, oh, I don't want to mess with that manager. And if they found out that you were the one. And if they found out and you were the one, you're gone. You are gone.

53:55John Obi Mikel:You are absolutely gone. That is a no-no to snitch. On the players, on the squad, on the starting 11? No. I mean, I don't think anybody likes a snitch. I don't think anybody likes somebody who's gonna go and start telling, you know, giving away a starting 11 a few hours before the game. Like, you're just signing our debt warrant before we step on the pitch. Who would you have feared most, John? You never were. But if you were doing that and you went, oh, it's out. Roman's call, Jose's call, or JT's call? Read you through the most. Obviously, how that used to happen, happens if Roman hears it, Marina hears it, it goes, Marina, you know, she hears it, calls the manager, the manager's like, oh my God, what's that?

54:40John Obi Mikel:And then, obviously, if the manager doesn't want to deal with it, it goes to JT, and then he calls you in. Oh no. And then you get that, you get the absolute bollocking, mate. You get it. You get it. You know, he's right in your face. Those things don't happen. It never happened. We were always held responsible, accountability of every action we took, not just on the pitch, outside it, what we did. You know, there's so many things we did off the pitch. We enjoyed ourselves, but we were winning. A lot of it nobody heard about because we were so close, we were so tight. you know the the the the code was there the code of not giving away anything was there and we all respected it there was a code we all respected it and then you respect the football club respect your teammate respect where you are and where you belong we all did and that's something that i don't see right now nobody respects anything at that football club you know it's a shit show everybody wants to leave players wants to leave managers come in and going The owners are just there.

55:48John Obi Mikel:You know, who's going to come in next? Who's absolutely going to come in next? I'm telling you this. We are going to get another, another absolutely yes man. Because no top, top manager is going to accept coming in and getting his hands tight on what he can do and what he can't do. Just on this fake news, John, I want to rattle through these players that you allegedly told someone, an entity, a publication. Oh, God. I know you're a fan of this fella. He's gone a bit quiet. Pedro Neto, seller keep. We're not doing that. You're keeping Pedro, right? No, no, no. Listen, I hate when people lose their job.

56:28John Obi Mikel:That's not me. I hate when people lose their job. All I can say to those players is to absolutely roll your sleeves up and absolutely give your all to the football club. That's it. Absolutely give your all to the football club. Like, if you want to stay, if you want to go, make it known. Go to the football club. Go to the manager's door. Knock on the door. As you should do. Respectfully. Tell them that you're done. You've had enough. You want to move on. Fine. That's good. I've always said it. Be transparent. No player is bigger than the football club. Yeah. No player is bigger than the football club.

57:03John Obi Mikel:We all finished. We've all gone. We've all finished our career at the football club. We've all left. What's happened to the football club? It's still existing. It's still going. So no player is bigger than a football club. If you're tired, you want to move on, you want to go play for Remodit, fine. Fine and good. You want to go to Manchester United, fine and good. Just make it known respectfully. And don't disrespect the badge. Don't disrespect the fans. Most importantly, don't disrespect the badge at a football club. Yeah, I love that. Okay. Right, that's Chelsea. So let's see what comes in the next few weeks.

57:32John doesn't want sixth place, Aston Villa. Don't you dare finish FIFA.

57:36John Obi Mikel:No, but he's too, you know. I know what you're saying. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I just don't feel like we want to be that club where, you know, we're going to be hunted all the time, you know, because there's this sense of acceptancy right now. We're accepting so much. We're accepting losing. We're accepting, you know, being so carried away with beating Leeds United. Again, we're accepting who we are becoming because we are this team that's declining massively. The drop-off has been absolutely ridiculous. The drop-off of who we're becoming. and we need to change that pretty quickly because once you get stuck in that model of who you are and you start accepting that, you know, with this team that finished 10, 11, 12, no, that's not who we are.

58:18John Obi Mikel:We want to compete again, winning trophies next season. How do we get better? How do we compete to win in the Champions League, the Premier League? Because once again, I keep saying it, if you start taking yourself out of the equation, you're going to say, oh, it's next season. Oh, next season. No, no, no. you know, it builds up. Of course it does. And then 5, 10 years, 15 years, we haven't won the Premier League. Yeah, your standards are... You start declining as a football club. We don't want to become that football club. We want to keep who we are, the culture, keep winning, keep winning, keep existing, keep that culture of winning because that's who we are.

58:54I tell you, you can understand the size of Chelsea and Chelsea are a big club, but you really sense how big they are. They've dominated the headlines this week to the point where City's 1-0 win midweek against Burnley. City's 2-1 win in their semi-final against Southampton. No one's really been talking about it. And even Arsenal's won the win to move them three points clear again in the Premier League race. All of that has been a bit of a sideshow to the Chelsea story this past week, John. But City did get their win against Burnley. Arsenal did win against Newcastle. It's back to three points.

59:28The title race is still alive in Canada.

59:29John Obi Mikel:Oh, it's exciting, the title race. I mean, it's absolutely exciting. For the neutrals, you know, we watching, everybody watching, It's absolutely exciting because right now you can say, okay, this is probably going to be the most exciting Premier League finish in a long time. Two teams battling, fighting for it. And I just think it might come down to goal difference. I think that probably might be what separates both teams. City, of course, playing Burnley. Coming off that win against Arsenal, a game with such magnitude, a huge, huge game against Arsenal at Atihad. You know, what that must have taken away out of those plays, you know, in terms of, you know, physically, what it must have taken out all those plays, you know, the winning, what they put in, the energy that they put into that game to be able to win that game.

1:00:21John Obi Mikel:It was a must-win game. They had to win it. They absolutely had to win it. I see some people saying, was the celebration a bit too much? Oh, hell no. Not too much. When you win such a game, it was a shoot-off game. It was a playoff game. No matter how you look at it, it was a final. City had to win it. City had to win it to still be in the title race. They had to win it. They absolutely had to win it, playing at home. And of course, the way Arsenal came out to approach the game, was good to see. It was the best they've played in a long, long time. And then we thought, OK, this is Arsenal. Now, this is going to be the blueprint of how they're going to play towards the end of the season.

1:00:56John Obi Mikel:But what's happened? Again, Arsenal going back to who they are. Boring. flat and nerves. Yeah. Absolutely boring flat and nerves. They got the win. They went up 1-0 out in the 90 minutes but that was it. That was it. But again you can feel that there's so much nerves around the place. When you go to the Emirates to watch a game now you know the fans are so nervous they're so tired because they absolutely don't know what to accept. They have absolute idea what's coming whether they're going to score or they're going to concede or what's going to happen. The fans, it's so tense around the plays and that rubs up the plays.

1:01:38John Obi Mikel:The plays are so tense. The manager is tense. The fans are so, so tense. And when you see Manchester City win 1-0 against Burnley and you have an opportunity, playing against Newcastle, a fragile Newcastle, a vulnerable Newcastle, that you've gone 1-0 up at the ninth minute, very early, Again, I talk about it. Putting pressure on this Manchester City side. This is the title that might be separated by goal difference. This is the title that might be separated by goal difference. What did Arsenal do? Took their foot off the fucking gas. Again, again, Chris, put your foot on the fucking accelerator and press.

1:02:27John Obi Mikel:Put the pressure on City. Go 1-2-0. 3-0 up because this might come down to goal difference. They absolutely failed again. They absolutely failed. They didn't create chances. They weren't excited. Yes, of course they got the win. It's three points ahead now. But looking at the title, we're all talking about it. Everybody's talking about it. It might come down to goal difference. They know that the Arsenal players, when you watch City against Burnley, they created what, over 20-something chances? They were at it. Yes, the ball did. Yes, they didn't score two, three, four. But they could have easily done that.

1:03:06John Obi Mikel:That is a winning team. That is the mentality. That is the difference when you talk about mentality-wise. On one hand, you have a team that absolutely knew that this might come down to goal defense. They were pressing. They were going forward. They were creating chances against Burnley. That's part of making those changes. They were pressing. They created a lot of chances. they wanted to win by 2-3-4 goal margin, but it didn't go in. You know, finishing in 1-0. But this is the mentality. They wanted to score more goals because they can sense, they can feel, they can smell that this might go down to goal difference.

1:03:43John Obi Mikel:And on the other hand, you have a team that went 1-0 up, early stages, playing at home against Newcastle, vulnerable Newcastle, that haven't won in a long time, that are not playing well in a long time. Press goals, Scored two, three, four goals. Put the pressure on Manchester City. Put the pressure back on Manchester City. Yes, it's three point now. But with that goal difference would have been a lot, lot more pressure on Manchester City. And they failed to do that again. Atletico Madrid midweek, of course, he's maybe got one eye on that. Then they've got Fulham on Saturday, do Arsenal before City go to Everton on Monday night.

1:04:17So there is a chance by the time we're back here next week, John, Arsenal could be six points clear of the Premier League once again. It's going to be nip and tuck all the way. It's nip and tuck at the bottom as well. It is. It's now between, I think, not even four is five no winners over Sunderland. Won a win on Friday night. West Ham getting the win against Everton late on. Spurs getting the win. Finally, a first win in 2026 for Spurs. Two points to the gap, four games to go.

1:04:44John Obi Mikel:Yeah. It's between one of those. Yeah, no, no. But again, coming back to Arsenal, I mean, it is huge when you talk about the Atletico game. I think that's a huge game for Arsenal. Huge game. Huge game. You can ask the question. Again, it might come down to what do they want to win? Or both? They want to win both. Fine. Good. That's a good mentality to have. I think. Of course. But if you ask every Arsenal fan, they say they won the Premier League. Yeah, I agree. So it will be interesting to see what does he do the game against Atletico. Yeah. Is he going to raise the players? No. Is he going to place his main 11?

1:05:25John Obi Mikel:Is he going to start his main 11? Or what is he going to do? Is he going to prioritize the Premier League? No. That's a great question. Surely. It will be interesting to see what he does. Because I looked at that game. The one player that I think that's been driving this Arsenal football club, this Arsenal team, this whole season, I watched him over the weekend. He looked like a tired man to me. Declan. Declan Rice. He looks tired. He looks absolutely shattered. The legs are not there. He's not doing what he usually do, carrying the ball, driving forward, running, doing, tackling. He looked absolutely tired to me.

1:06:10John Obi Mikel:And for me, that's a worrying sign for Arsenal. Absolutely worrying sign for Arsenal. And they cannot afford to drop him. And they cannot afford to drop him. So, he has to play. He has to play both games. And he'll play every game. He'll play every game from now to the end of the season. No doubt. if he's fit. If he's fit, unless he gets injured. So for me, they look a tired team. You have one team, on the other hand,

1:06:36John Obi Mikel:grinding, absolutely grinding everything just to cross the finish line. Grinding, crawling to the finish line. And then you, on the other hand, And you have the other team absolutely sprinting to the finish line. Momentum on their side. Playing well. Creating chances. Confidence on their side. Playing with freedom. Gets you off your seat. Excitement. Creativity. But, again, can Arsenal get there first? Can they get to the finish line first? Of course they can. But I'm just telling you the ball difference. You have one team that is absolutely on their knees, scrolling to the finish line. And on the other hand, you have one team that is full of confidence, playing with freedom, playing with excitement.

1:07:28John Obi Mikel:They're enjoying where they are. They're enjoying this battle. Yeah, they are. You can see that. You can feel that from both managers, from the players. Doku gets you off your seat. Shirky gets you off your seat. Haaland, Rodri, Bernardo Silva when they play. You can see it clicking. Everything's falling into place. On the other hand, you have a team that absolutely zero. Nothing is flat and boring. But they can still get to the finish line before City. They can still win it. They can still go absolutely all the way and win it. Now, it depends. Do you want to give them credit for? How much credit do you want to give them for crawling to the finish line?

1:08:09John Obi Mikel:Up to you. But for me, looking at both teams and watching both teams right now, I just think City are the ones, you know, everything is going their way. Pep Guardiola looks like he's enjoying where he is. He's enjoying the challenge. He's enjoying the challenge. And his team are playing well. Everything is falling into place, you know. I said it, you know, with those two at the back, Gay and Khrushchev, you know, they're absolutely vital for City. And as well as Rodri. Now with the injury of Rodri, it's a huge, huge blow for Manchester City. I've said it last week, and I'm going to say it again.

1:08:43John Obi Mikel:Whatever it is that Pep Guardiola needs to, they need to go and, whatever, whatever injury is, they need to go and inject. Whatever they can find. Legally. Legally. Amazing. Legally. They have to inject Rodri. The more that you've got 115 charges, John, they don't need more for any. They need to get him on the pitch. I kid you not. Watch the game against Burnley. You can see there was something missing. It was absolutely something missing. Same against Southampton. Same against Southampton. He's massive. He's huge for Manchester City. Absolutely crucial. I said when they started playing well was when Rodri found his form.

1:09:26John Obi Mikel:When he found his form, his Rodri being who he is before he got injured. He was dead in there and now he got injured. That was when City found their groove. They got back to their groove And you can see that from these last two games he didn't play, Pep Guardiola did not look to me like a happy man on that touchline. There's something absolutely missing. And that's absolutely Rodri. He's key to them. He's huge for this title race. And it's going to be a massive, massive blow if he doesn't play the rest of the game. If he doesn't play the rest of these games, Rani. If City are going to win the title, Rodri has to be on the pitch.

1:10:06John Obi Mikel:Has to be on the pitch. I've said it so many times. People say, oh, one person cannot make it through. No, he is. He is huge. There's this connection between him and Manchester City, the way they play. Everything. You might not see, he's not flashy. You might not see everything. But everything goes through this fella. Everything goes through him. You cannot deny that. So he's huge for them. He might be back for Everton. That's the million dollar one. Listen, conscious of time, I want to ask as well, moving the conversation on to some sad news over the weekend, John. I've got to go there. Of course, you, former captain of Nigeria, the news of Michael Enoramo.

1:10:41Yeah. 40 years of age. Sad, really sad. Playing a bounce game and passing away.

1:10:48John Obi Mikel:Really sad, really sad. This is not the first time it's happened. There's another guy that lost his life, again, ex-football player that I played with on the 17, on the 20, Isaac Promise, who also passed away. Same heart, I think it was a couple of years ago. few years ago. Not good, not good news that this keeps happening. Sad, sad news. I don't know much about Michael. I think he came to the national team maybe a couple of times. I played with him. I met him a couple of times when he came to the camp, but I don't know much about him. But great guy when he came to the camp. Great guy. Good striker, good player um but yeah really really sad news you know when you lose when you lose doesn't matter who it is but when you lose 40 years of age somebody as if that that young at age of 40 um it's just it's just sad news for nigerian football african football and just you know the, you know, football world, just sad, sad news.

1:12:00You know, to his families,

1:12:06John Obi Mikel:my prayers and thoughts are with them. Honestly, I just, yeah, it's just sad. Yeah, Michael Anaramo, who passed away at the age of 40. Taking the Mikel, we'll be back next week. John, of course it will. I've got a feeling there's so many stories now. There are so many storylines, many of which we haven't even touched, but Chelsea, very much the gift they kept. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But then, yeah. Just a quick one on Liam Rossini. Like, it's a shame to see what's happened to the guy. I said it.

1:12:42John Obi Mikel:He is not, he was not the problem. This problem has been going on before. It's bigger than him. This is not his, this is not Liam Rossini's problem. He didn't create this problem. When you get offered a job like this, of course you're going to take it. No one is going to turn it down. No young man is, no young coach is going to turn it down. They all want to come to Chelsea Football Club and coach. Of course you back yourself. What is there to risk? You know, the only thing you're going to do is, if you fail, say, oh yeah, anyways we knew it was going to happen because he didn't have the experience.

1:13:12If you succeed, oh, wow, you succeeded.

1:13:15John Obi Mikel:But everybody's going to take the job and take nothing away from the guy. You know, I'm sure he's going to go on and manage again. He's going to find a good club. He's going to get another job. He's going to continue coaching. He's going to continue doing what he does. But he was not the problem. Did he lose some of the players? Maybe. Did he lose the dressing room? Maybe. Did he come out and try to defend himself the last game? Of course, you have to, at some point, when you keep defending the players and you keep defending the players and they keep, you know, rubbing it in your face, you at some point have to come out and try to defend yourself.

1:13:51John Obi Mikel:And I thought after the game against Brighton, that's what he tried to do. It's not my fault, actually. Some of those players need to look at themselves in the mirror and reflect on how they performed. And I just thought that's the normal thing to do. If you week in, week out have been defending these players. So he's not actually the problem. But he just didn't have the credential to come and coach Chelsea. Not quite yet. He didn't have the experience to coach the football club right now. And that's what I said. And again, being authentic and being who he is is something that he needs to, if that's who he is, carry on, be who you are and express yourself the way you want to express yourself.

1:14:31John Obi Mikel:But for Chelsea Football Club, I just think it was just way too big for him. It was not the right time. And we have to reset the club. Have to reset, take a pause. Look at ourselves as a football club. The owners, like they said, they're going to make a self-reflection of themselves. They have to. Because at some point, when you keep doing things wrong and keep getting it wrong, time after time, time after time, you have to stop. Reflect on your decisions. Reflect on what you're doing and see if it works. If it doesn't work, you have to change it. They have to change the model, how they run the football club.

1:15:17John Obi Mikel:I'm not saying anyone, Sportwood, Stanley, should lose their job, spotting directors, that's left for them. But change the model, bring in top, top players. They can help this young squad. They can galvanise. They can pull them along to the finish line. They can get them to becoming who we are, which is competing of winning the Premier League and the Champions League. Hopefully they're watching or listening to this, John. And maybe just maybe that dollar has dropped. Right. that is it for taking the Mikel of course we'll be back Chelsea in action this coming weekend doesn't get any easier doesn't for anyone in actual fact it's going to be a cracking end to the season Chelsea home to Nottingham Forest I believe it is this weekend taking the Mikel do tell your friends about us subscribe if I ask you who do you think is going to win the Premier League I said at the start of the season John so I've got to stick with them Arsenal I'm sticking with Arsenal because I think City might draw points you think Arsenal Are they going to drop points?

1:16:17No. I don't. They'll beat Fulham. And then they've got final two games away at Palace. West Ham. Home at Burnley. Away to West Ham, maybe. But I'm going to stick with Arsenal. I've got a steak dinner on it. Right. Taking the Mikel. I take it you're going to City Corrent. Of course you are. You're never seeing Arsenal. Never in a month of Tuesdays. Right. Taking the Mikel. Back next time. Don't have for now.

1:16:44Thank you.