Former captain of the senior national team of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has revealed the reason why he played as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea but plays in the attacking midfield positon for Nigeria.
Mikel who retired from international football after the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations spent ten and half seasons at Chelsea playing as a defensive midfielder but within that period of time played as an attacking midfielder for Nigeria.
Now at Turkish side Trabzonspor he is now playing as a centre midfielder and not as an attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder and he has revealed why he plays two different roles for club and country.
” Many people don’t get it but while I was at Chelsea, the setup was proper for me to play in front of the defence not necessarily as the defensive midfielder and it’s about the way we play which is different from the Super Eagles “, Mikel told Owngoalnigeria.com.
” In the Super Eagles we play a straight formation which is normal due to the short time we spend in camp but back then at Chelsea we rehearse several tactics and play in various style with everyone having a definition of what to do and where to be”.
