Jon Obi Mikel claims “superb” player doesn’t have instincts to be long term midfielder | OneFootball

Job Obi Mikel has pointed out a problem with Chelsea’s midfield that was always going to be an issue with Moises Caicedo injured.

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Chelsea are making do in midfield right now, but their starting pair of Reece James and Romeo Lavia is flawed.

We’ve seen the team bypass the midfield in attack – but defensively they’re being caught out, as Jon Obi Mikel explained on his podcast.

James doesn’t have midfield instincts to cover for Caicedo

Reece James (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

“Listen, Reece James has been absolutely superb, but he is not a midfield player. He’s a right-back. So far, he’s done a good job, but that’s not his position. You have to be able to smell danger. So far, we do not have that.”

It was notable that Arsenal’s second goal in our previous game also came from a midfielder runner into our box not tracked.

It wouldn’t not be nearly as important an issue were Moises Caicedo fit. He would help out massively with the screening. The problem is more when James is combined with Lavia, who is even less defensively capable than the Englishman.

We can’t say it enough – this team should look so much better with Caicedo back from injury. At this point, that looks like it’s going to be after the international break.

In other news…

Joao Pedro has been speaking about the differences between linking up with Cole Palmer and Morgan Rogers in Chelsea’s attack.

A game away at Brentford on a Friday night is not one anyone wants right now – especially Chelsea, who don’t look to match up well with their West London rivals at the moment.