Former Chelsea player, Alan Anthony Hudson has blamed the current problems at the Bridge on Nigeria’s John Obi Mikel.
The Super Eagles midfielder has benefited from the gross under-performance of first-choice midfield pair of Fabregas and Matic in recent times which has seen Chelsea slump in their current campaign.
The former English footballer, who spent six years with the Blues, as well as the England national football team, argued that the Nigerian international has failed to impress and it’s perhaps little coincidence that some of his appearances for the Blues have coincided with their poorest results of the campaign.
The midfielder started in the 3-1 loss to Everton, the 2-1 away defeat to FC Porto in the Champions League, the Capital One Cup elimination at the hands of Stoke City and last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Liverpool. He also featured for 45 minutes in the Blues’ 2-1 loss away at West Ham United.
Alan Hudson believes that sub players like Mikel and under performing striker Diego Costa are the chief reason why the West Londoners are struggling this season.
“I think they need a facelift. You can’t carry on with players like John Obi Mikel, you need better players than that in midfield.
“They need a clearout of players. Branislav Ivanovic has been tremendous for them but he seems to have hit a brick wall at right back.
“When they bought Pedro from Barcelona at the start of the season I thought it would give Chelsea more width, with him on one side and Eden Hazard on the other, and they would open their game out a bit.
“They play through the middle too much and rely on Diego Costa up front too much. Costa, in my opinion, is nowhere near as good as people make him out to be,” Hudson told Reuters.