Chelsea are going through their most difficult spell of the season so far, and John Obi Mikel thinks one Blues player can give them a big boost if he’s trusted to play more.
The first half of the season for Enzo Maresca as the Chelsea manager has been a success, winning 18 out of 30 games across all competitions. However, the last few weeks have been a bit of a struggle as performances and results dip.
A poor return of two draws and two defeats from their last four matches in the Premier League means Maresca’s side is down to fourth in the division table.
Micah Richards says Chelsea look “sloppy” recently in the defensive area, which is something that the head coach must fix quickly.
Chelsea's Italian head coach Enzo Maresca speaks to Chelsea's Portuguese striker #14 Joao Felix as he gets ready to enter the pitch during the Engl...
John Obi Mikel calls for more Joao Felix minutes
According to John Obi Mikel, Chelsea attacker Joao Felix isn’t getting enough game time right now.
The 25-year-old Blues star’s been an unused substitute in three of the last four league games, so it’s obvious that he’s quite far down the pecking order under Maresca.
“I keep thinking, why has Joao Felix not been playing? He’s been frozen out. He’s not getting a kick,” Mikel said on his podcast.
“I understand that he plays in sometimes the same position as Cole Palmer and he (Enzo Maresca) doesn’t find a way to get him in the team or bring him on. He feels like he doesn’t want to take Cole Palmer off.
“Find a solution because I think he’s a fantastic player, Joao Felix. We need to get him on the pitch. We need to get him to start playing because I think he’s going to help the team.”
Felix, who cost Chelsea £45m (BBC) to sign from Atletico Madrid in the summer, is going through a frustrating individual campaign.
The versatile attacker’s scored five goals in 17 appearances across all competitions this season for the Blues. However, he’s only started three of his 10 matches in the Premier League.
Chelsea realise Felix is not satisfied with his current role because he can’t force his way into the best XI. Even when he does feature, the Portugal international sometimes plays out of position on the wing rather than in his preferred central No.10 role.
Felix’s future at Chelsea won’t be decided until the summer, so let’s hope he gets more opportunities in the second half of the season.
Felix previously had an eye-catching loan spell at Stamford Bridge as a Chelsea player, so there was excitement within the fanbase when he returned on a permanent basis before the start of the season.
In contrast, Jamie Carragher immediately raised concern about Felix’s Chelsea return. Speaking back in August, he said: “You have bought Joao Felix, right? Tell me where he is going to play.”
It’s turned out that Felix’s path into the Blues XI has been shut off, largely because of the brilliance of Cole Palmer in the playmaker position. Incidentally, there might not be a footballer in the world that could replace Palmer from the No.10 spot in this current moment.
In terms of Maresca’s decision-making, we’d like to see him be a bit braver with his substitutions and use the likes of Felix much more from the bench.
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