‘Do your f***ing job!’ – Former Chelsea star blasts a ‘lack of leaders’ in the Blues squad… with big money signings slammed as ‘not up to standard’
- Chelsea dropped to twelfth in the Premier League after a 2-0 defeat to Everton
- A former Blues star has raised concerns about a lack of leadership in the squad
- Chelsea are BAD without the ball and you have no idea which team turns up every week – Listen to It all starts
Chelsea's expensively assembled squad has been criticized for a lack of leadership after Sunday's 2-0 defeat to Everton.
Mauricio Pochettino's side have slipped to their seventh defeat in sixteen Premier League games at Goodison Park this season.
The result leaves Chelsea 12th in the Premier League and in miserable form with just one win in their last five games.
Consecutive defeats have increased the pressure on the Chelsea team and Pochettino, with the Blues now fourteen points off the Champions League places.
A former Chelsea star has expressed concern about the lack of leadership in the current squad, despite owner Todd Boehly spending more than £1 billion on signings in three transfer windows.
Chelsea's poor season continued as the Blues lost 2-0 to Everton on Sunday
The result increases the pressure on Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino after a poor run
A lack of leadership in Chelsea's current squad has been criticized by a former Blues midfielder
Speaking of his The Obi Wan PodcastTwo-time Premier League title winner John Obi Mikel claimed the Blues lacked leadership compared to his time at the club, when John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba set the standards.
'There is no identity about how the team wants to play. “I'm a big believer in giving managers time, I don't believe in firing managers left, right and centre,” Mikel said.
“Are we just going to sit on the fence and say we're still in a rebuilding process?
'There's no time for that. We have to start winning games. When I look at the team, it comes down to a lack of leaders.
'In the game against Everton I looked around the pitch, there is no one leader.
“There's no one who comes onto the pitch to go to your colleagues and say, 'Wake up, what are you doing?', to come up to you and shout at you – this is what we had before.
'People like Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard, if you play a *** game, these guys wake you up.
'I look around the whole pitch and look at the manager. I didn't see him yell at any of the players to say, 'Do your damn job, wake up, run around and make sure we win the game.'”
WARNING – CONTAINS STRONG LANGUAGE
John Obi Mikel expressed concern that Chelsea do not have any leaders in the current squad
Mikel believes Chelsea are missing strong leadership figures like John Terry in the current squad
Marc Cucurella was part of the squad that Mikel felt did not meet Chelsea standards
Mikel also raised concerns about the ongoing fitness issues of captain Reece James, who limped off in the first half at Goodison Park with a hamstring injury.
The former midfielder, who was part of Chelsea's Champions League-winning team in 2011, stressed the club needed a fit captain and noted Terry was available for the club even when he had nursing problems.
Mikel gave a stark assessment of the state of Chelsea's squad as he claimed Marc Cucurella, Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi were among the players who started at Everton and were 'not up to standard'.
He expressed concerns about hit and miss goalkeeper Robert Sanchez and said signing £88.5 million Mykhailo Mudryk was a bad thing against the Toffees.
Mikel added that more should be expected from Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez in midfield, while suggesting Conor Gallagher would have had 'no chance' of playing in previous Chelsea sides despite being a 'decent player' used to be.
Chelsea will look to bounce back from back-to-back defeats as Sheffield United were threatened with relegation on Saturday.