“He’s not good enough” – Chelsea dumped playmaker because Maresca doesn’t rate him claims former Blue | OneFootball

Jon Obi Mikel has carved out a solid niche for himself as a Chelsea podcaster who a) has the insight of being a former player but also b) isn’t afraid to say what he thinks and isn’t in the club’s pocket.

This week has seen plenty of frustration from Chelsea fans over their club’s transfer strategy, and Mikel was able to wade into that, specifically on the issue of Joao Felix, who has just been loaned out 6 months after signing a 7 year contract.

What is happening there? Mikel has a clear answer:

“Enzo Maresca has seen what other managers have seen. Maybe he’s not good enough. Maybe he’s not training well enough. Maybe he’s not applying himself well enough during training or during games or around the place. There must be something that’s made so many managers be like ‘you know what, thank you very much, you’re not good enough.’,” the former Blues midfielder said.

We’d hesitate to put any responsibility on Maresca ourselves – we’d imagine he had very little say in the deal at all. He’s been handed a player and realised right away he’s a poor fit. That’s not on him, that’s on the people who choose the players.

Felix gets his share of blame from frustrated Mikel

Joao Felix trains watched by Enzo Maresca.

The other person who deserves blame is Felix himself, and Mikel didn’t go easy on him either:

“The player has to look at himself. Joao Felix, yes he’s turned 25. I remember when we used to say ‘wow, he’s 18, 19’ – he’s 25 now. Time flies. So if he wants to make something out of his career and stop moving around, he needs to look at himself in the mirror and start to apply himself better. Whether that’s training well, eating the right food, sleeping well, the friends he has around him He needs to make sure he sorts that out. Because now we’ve paid so much money for him, brought him back to Chelsea. Now we’ve got rid of him again.”