Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has said that the club’s former manager Jose Mourinho lost faith in him. Furthermore, the 28-year-old added that Guus Hiddink boosted his confidence after he returned to the club.
Mikel was a peripheral figure during the closing stages of Mourinho’s Stamford Bridge tenure, but the Nigerian has enjoyed a spectacular resurgence following the appointment of Guus Hiddink as interim manager.
Mikel told Goal: “I think confidence is everything, if a manager doesn’t believe in you, trust me there’s no way you can succeed.
“Even if you do things right he would always make sure he finds fault.”
“People change in any walk of life, maybe he decided he wanted to do better in a different way and he didn’t need me anymore.
“He didn’t have the belief that he had in me before, which is fine because every manager has the player that they have trust in.
“It is a tough business, football, so when a manager comes in he wants to have people he believes in. If he doesn’t believe in you he doesn’t play you. And I think it’s all about a manager giving a player confidence.
“Hiddink came in, he spoke to me, he gave me the confidence and now I have played 20 games and we’re in the best position – where we haven’t been all season.”
The midfielder has kept the ball extremely well this season, registering an average pass accuracy of 89% in the Premier League, and will hope to retain his place in the side when a permanent manager is appointed in the summer.
Although he isn’t a player renowned for flair or finesse, Mikel is a very important component of the side and is hugely effective at winning back possession and distributing the ball to his team mates.
Chelsea’s league form has improved significantly since Hiddink took temporary charge, with Mikel having played a major part in the club’s rise up the table.
Despite their improvement, however, it appears that this will go down as a hugely disappointing campaign for Chelsea, who have been eliminated from all cup competitions and face a battle just to secure a place in the Europa League for next season.
Chelsea have an inviting opportunity to pick up three points on Saturday when they travel to face struggling Aston Villa.
COMMENTS