“The players look like they’re out of ideas” - John Obi Mikel tells Chelsea coach Enzo Maresca what he must do to end Blues’ bad run of form

Former midfielder John Obi Mikel has suggested Chelsea boss Enzo Marescas to be more flexible with his tactics. He believes the players have run out of ideas as the manager's current approach has been found out.

Speaking on his podcast, Mikel stated that Premier League clubs study each other extensively and the tactics are quickly discovered. He believes that the Chelsea manager needs to work on getting more flexible and said (via The Chelsea Chronicle):

“We’ve been found out. The Premier League is where clubs study you. I’ve said it so many times. Clubs study how you play and straight away they will stop you from doing exactly what you know how to. So you need to find a different way. You need to learn how to tweak things, just like Pep Guardiola is doing right now. [City] are not playing 20 passes to get to where they want. We saw against Newcastle at the weekend they went direct. You need to be creative and find a different way of winning games. Right now we’re not doing that. The players look like they’re out of ideas.”

The Blues are currently sixth in the Premier League table, 17 points behind leaders Liverpool.

John Obi Mikel hits out at Chelsea star

John Obi Mikel believes Jadon Sancho 'deceived' Chelsea by playing well in a few games. He noted that the Englishman initially showed what he was capable of but returned to being his Manchester United version in recent weeks.

He said (via Football Transfers):

"There was no one telling Jadon Sancho, 'the first goal you should have tackled for that,' there was no one telling Sancho, 'what the f*ck are you doing?' He's deceived us with a good couple of games. You know, we thought, 'oh f*cking hell, now we're getting this Sancho from Dortmund,' but he's gone again. He's disappeared off the grid. He takes the ball, he doesn't go past people anymore, he doesn't create chances anymore. You know, he doesn't help the team as much as he should."

Chelsea take on Aston Villa next in the Premier League before facing Southampton and Leicester City. They have a hattrick of London derbies against Arsenal, Tottenham and Brentford to follow on either side of the March international break.