Chelsea legend John Obi Mikel has suggested that head coach Enzo Maresca would have been sacked if he had been in charge during the Roman Abramovich era.
The Blues dropped down to sixth position in the Premier League table over the weekend, a consequence of losing 3-0 at Brighton & Hove Albion on Friday night.
As a result, Chelsea have now prevailed in just three of their last 11 fixtures in all competitions, one of those victories coming against Morecambe in the FA Cup.
While there have been no suggestions that Maresca may be removed from his position in the dugout, there has been fierce criticism over the club's business during the winter transfer window.
A number of senior squad members - including Axel Disasi, Renato Veiga and Joao Felix - were all allowed to go out on loan without being replaced.
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'The helicopter would have been landing'
Speaking on The Obi One Podcast, Mikel revealed his fury at the recent going-ons at Chelsea, both on and off the pitch.
At a time when full backing has seemingly been given to Maresca, Mikel feels that former owner Roman Abramovich would have already made the trip to the club's Cobham training facilities to sack the Italian.
He said: "That would have been a f***ing crisis back in the day. The helicopter would have been, surely would have been landed by now. Surely would have landed by now.
"And whoever is in charge would have been gone. The helicopter would have landed by now. There's no way, there's no two ways about it. I'm not calling for the sack of Enzo Maresca. I'm not. My issue is that what is going on is not right.
"You can talk about it, the recruitment process that I've been talking about the whole time – Paul Winstanley, I know the guy. Smart guy, clever guy. I've spoken to him a few times. Sounds bright, very, very bright guy. Knows his job.
"But I just think that the recruitment process at the summer, it wasn't good enough, which I talked about."
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Too early to judge?
Since their arrival in 2022, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital have already parted ways with three managers, sacking Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter as well as mutually parting ways with Mauricio Pochettino.
By comparison, Abramovich went through as many as 15 managers between 2003 and 2022, Jose Mourinho's two stints in charge being the longest.
While Chelsea are already planning for next season with Maresca in charge, the Blues need to rediscover some form as soon as possible.
Darren Plant
