Chelsea Fans Underappreciated Mikel, Says Di Matteo

Former Chelsea manager, Roberto Di Matteo has claimed John Mikel Obi was not well appreciated during his stint with the Blues.

Mikel spent one decade and a year at Stamford Bridge winning several laurels with the club.

The former midfielder was an unsung hero with the likes of Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien and Claude Makelele hugging the headlines. The former Nigeria captain played a crucial role in Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League success in 2012.

Di Matteo, who masterminded the West London club victory in the final against Bayern Munich claimed Mikel was underappreciated by the fans despite doing the dirty job.

“I played in the same position as you so I knew exactly what you go for in a game and what you felt,” Di Matteo said on The Obi One Podcast.

“The role that you played in our team is a little bit of an unsung hero role. You have to do a lot of work that the fans or the critics in general don’t really understand or appreciate but because I played a similar role I knew exactly how important you were for the team.”