Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel (Picture: YouTube)
John Obi Mikel has blasted Chelsea’s ‘absolutely crazy’ decision to sack Enzo Maresca and says his former club have gone ‘five steps backwards’ under Liam Rosenior.
Maresca was relieved of his duties at Stamford Bridge on New Year’s Day, less than six months after winning the Club World Cup at the end of his first season at the club.
Chelsea finished fourth in the Premier League in Maresca’s first year and also won the Europa Conference League.
The Blues were fifth at the time of Maresca’s sacking but had won just one of their previous seven league games.
Maresca’s replacement, ex-Strasbourg boss Rosenior, enjoyed a superb start to his Chelsea tenure, winning six of his first seven games in charge.
But Chelsea blew leads at home in their last two games against relegation-battlers Leeds United and Burnley to slip three points behind top-four rivals Manchester United.
Rosenior also failed to send Chelsea into the Carabao Cup final, losing 4-2 on aggregate to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
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Ex-Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca (Picture: Getty)
Obi Mikel, who won two Premier League titles at Chelsea, says ‘something is missing’ in Rosenior’s team and believes his former club have ‘gone backwards’ since the change in the dugout, labelling Maresca’s sacking as ‘absolutely crazy’.
Assessing Chelsea’s form under Rosenior, Obi Mikel said on his podcast: ‘It’s not convincing from Chelsea, not convincing. Honestly it’s a s***show at the club, there’s no question about that.
‘Man United being above Chelsea, given how they started the season, is just incredible, it’s awful to see. I don’t see any consistency at Chelsea.
‘We had Enzo Maresca and I think it was a massive mistake to sack him. I still believe that, I still stand by that.
‘We don’t know the ins and outs but I mean, it’s ridiculous. A manager that won us the Club World Cup, won us the Conference League, we had some sort of identity with the way we played.
‘We took a step forward and competed against big teams under Maresca. For the club to sack him is absolutely crazy.
Were Chelsea right to sack Enzo Maresca?
Absolutely...
No way!
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‘We ’ve gone five steps backwards. Yes Liam has come in and he’s won games, but there is absolutely something that is missing. Something is not quite right.’
Rosenior described Chelsea’s latest 1-1 draw with Burnley as ‘really frustrating’ after Zian Flemming’s injury-time header cancelled out Joao Pedro’s early opener.
‘We should have won the game,’ said Rosenior, who played in the Premier League with Hull City. ‘We should have been more ruthless.
‘There was a lack of penetration in the first half, second half we had more moments without the right final pass or finish.
‘The best teams put the opposition to bed. The best teams are ruthless when they have the upper-hand. If you are not ruthless you have to keep a clean sheet. There are not enough clean sheets.
‘The four points we have dropped in our last two games shouldn’t have happened. We still should win this game and that is something I need to address very quickly.’
Chelsea will look to return to winning ways on Sunday when they face title favourites and London rivals Arsenal.
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