Mikel Obi reveals former Chelsea manager who frustrated Didier Drogba

• Mikel Obi spent 11 years at Chelsea and played under nine permanent managers, including Jose Mourinho
• The former Super Eagles captain saw multiple hiring and firing from former owner Roman Abramovich
• He has named one former manager who was sacked after he snubbed Ivorian forward Didier Drogba

John Obi Mikel has named one former Chelsea manager who was sacked after he dropped Ivorian striker Didier Drogba in favour of Frenchman Nicolas Anelka.

Mikel spent 11 years at Chelsea and witnessed multiple hiring and firing by Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich, culminating in him having 11 managers, eight of whom were permanent.

Mikel Recalls and Didier Drogba celebrate during Chelsea's 5-1 FA Cup win over Tottenham in 2012. Photo by Michael Steele.
Source: Getty Images

Italian head coach Antonio Conte ended Mikel's time at Stamford Bridge after the midfielder went to represent Nigeria at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.

How Scolari frustrated Drogba

Drogba was Chelsea’s main striker since joining the club from Olympique Marseille in 2004 until his first departure after the 2012 UEFA Champions League final.

One of his low moments was during the reign of Luiz Felipe Scolari, who preferred French forward Anelka over him, and Mikel Obi disclosed how it unfolded.

“Sometimes you have a manager that comes in and just doesn't fancy you,” he said on the Obi One Podcast. “I remember when Felipe Scolari came into the football club, and he didn't really fancy Didier that much, it was Anelka who was the guy through the middle.“Obviously, Didier Drogba, being Didier Drogba, the main guy at the club, wasn't happy, and the relationship between him and Scolari just went off, there was no fixing it.“They weren't really speaking that much, and of course, the manager had to go at the end of the day because the big guy had to play. Once we started losing games, he had to go because Didier had to come back to the team.”

According to Transfermarkt, Drogba played 21 games in all competitions under the Brazilian tactician, starting only eight and completing the 90 minutes three times.

The former Super Eagles captain found a user's comment hilarious when the excerpt of the podcast was shared on Instagram.

Mikel aims dig at Nicolas Jackson

Legit.ng reported that Mikel Obi advised Enzo Maresca to explore other Chelsea attackers in the number nine position as Nicolas Jackson remains unreliable.

The club legend, who was insulted by the Senegalese forward weeks ago, remains adamant that he is not clinical enough to lead Chelsea back to the glory days.

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Source: Legit.ng