“You cannot become a legend with your mouth” - Ex-Chelsea star John Obi Mikel labelled ‘kid’ by Nigeria legend for comments on podcast

Nigeria legend Sunday Oliseh fired back at ex-Chelsea star John Obi Mikel and labelled him a kid in a recent interview. It comes several months after Mikel threw digs at the former Nigerian coach.

Mikel, while speaking on his Obi One podcast earlier this year, described Oliseh as the worst manager he has ever worked with. He said the Nigerian legend had no clue of what he was doing while he was in charge of the Super Eagles.

Oliseh managed the Nigerian men's national team for seven months, between July 2015 and February 2016. However, his time with the Super Eagles was filled with a lot of off-the-field issues with senior team players and the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF).

Meanwhile, several months after Chelsea legend Mikel called him out in an interview, Oliseh has now responded to the negative remarks made by the former Super Eagles captain.

Speaking to Elegbete TV, he said:

“I think the kid (Mikel) needs help, to be honest. There’s something I’ve not really shown much, I won the best coach for the first period of the Jupiler league, which is in the Dutch league. That was not voted by the press, that was voted by the players and the coaches of the league.

“I don’t need to justify myself being a good coach or anything to the kid. I call him (Mikel) a kid because my son is 27 years old. When he made this statement, I heard about it, but I couldn’t go on television and start arguing with someone like him. It’s degrading at a coach, you don’t go into the media and start arguing with your player."

Oliseh concluded:

"But I would like to help the boy because I think he needs some help. You cannot become a legend with your mouth. You cannot achieve what you were not able to achieve on the pitch outside the pitch by talking on a podcast."

---

Sunday Oliseh faults former Chelsea star for throwing his family under the bus

The former Super Eagles manager reacted to claims made by former Chelsea star Mikel that African players suffer financially because of too many demands from family.

Mikel is widely regarded as one of Nigeria's most decorated football players, having spent a large part of his playing career with Premier League giants Chelsea, where he won a total of 11 trophies.

Speaking about financial management by football stars during their active years, Mikel said, as quoted by the Cable in November last year:

"When you come from Africa and make money, it is not just your money. You have all these relatives, cousins and a lot of them."

However, Oliseh responded via The Elegbete TV:

"What shocked me with Mikel Obi was that never in the history of Nigeria or African football has one player ever gone on to a foreign podcast and totally humiliate his family by calling them beggars, problems, and everything.

“How can you do this to your family. In Africa, it is our pride when you earn something or you help your family. In fact, it is your duty."