Mikel Obi talks about life after Mourinho's exit

Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi says Chelsea is much more happier under Guus Hiddink and have a better atmosphere in the team than under former manager Jose Mourinho, who was removed by the club owner, Roman Abramovich, before Chelsea's 3-1 victory over Sunderland on 19 December. Obi said;

"We’ve moved on and the atmosphere has improved since the change of manager. It’s fine now, we’ve just not been getting results. José is a fantastic manager and will always be a fantastic guy. But sometimes football is a cruel game and you have to move on.

He came back to the club a second time and won two trophies but now he’s gone and we have to move on. Is it the right decision? Who knows? We’ll only see in the future. “He [Hiddink] hasn’t changed much yet but he was here before and he knows the place and all the staff. The players are different – only me and John Terry were here before – but he knows what to do. We’re down there in the table for a reason so he can’t come in and perform miracles but we want to get out of there and climb the table. We’ve had three games now without losing so are making the right steps. I’ve been as confused as everyone else,” he said.

“It’s difficult when you’re not playing, as you don’t really know what the problems are. I wasn’t playing that much under Mourinho so couldn’t put my finger on what was going wrong. It was a collective thing – the players and the manager were not performing.” he concluded

Mikel also feels Man Utd played for a draw just like Chelsea were content with a draw at their recent clash at Old Trafford.

“Sometimes you could see in the game (against Man Utd) that they had chances to attack but were a little bit sceptical or hesitant. Maybe they were a little bit scared. “I don’t think they were really scared but just a bit cautious. They were playing not to lose as well. Because of the fast players we have up front, who can break, they were cautious and approached the game not to lose. Both teams are not in the right place right now to attack, attack, attack, attack. Sometimes you have to be smart and settle for a point.”