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Jose Mourinho reveals the qualities he saw in Mikel John Obi which made him convert the Super Eagles star from an attacking midfielder to a defensive destroyer
Jose Mourinho has always been credited with the life-changing decision to convert Nigerian superstar Mikel John Obi to a defensive midfielder and the Portuguese maestro has now revealed why exactly he did that.
Mikel shone like a million stars playing as an attacking midfielder for Nigeria at the 2005 under-20 FIFA World Cup and then for his Norwegian club, Lyn Oslo but that changed when he moved to Chelsea in 2006.
Mourinho made an appearance on Mikel's podcast, the 'Obi One' podcast where he made lots of revelations, including what exactly made him change the midfielder's position.
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09:20 - 18.12.2023
'He's my boy' — Mourinho reveals special relationship with Mikel Obi
Jose Mourinho reveals his special relationship with Super Eagles legend Mikel John Obi as the reason he honoured his podcast invitation.
Mourinho reveals why he changed Mikel's position
"In the national team he can be what he wants but not with me," Mourinho said jovially when asked the question initially by the podcast co-host Chris McHardy.
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"I like everything and if you can go through my positional midfield players that I had in my career there are lots of similar things," Mourinho said, revealing the qualities he saw in Mikel.
Mourinho continued, "Apart from Makelele who was small, I had them all tall and physically strong with a good occupation of the space but then with what I call the simplicity of football which is fundamental in that position and people sometimes confuse the creative player with the simple one. I think in some areas the creative is fine and in some other areas the simplicity is the genius."
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"The team needs balance and they have to give balance when the team has the ball and doesn’t have the ball. They need to have that discipline to be humble in the sense that the team is more important than myself, what I give the team is more important than what the team gives to me."
"Maybe that’s why in Nigeria he wants to play in number 10, to be the top guy but with me at Chelsea, he was a fantastic positional midfield player, very quick thinking, one touch, two touch, everything make it simple, the game flowing."
"He was not a guy to win a race of 100 metres but everything was fast with him with the ball and understanding the position in the game and I saw that the first time I saw him."
Mourinho's revelation would serve as closure for lots of Nigerians who believe that Mikel could have achieved a lot more had he played as a creative midfielder for his career.
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