John Obi Mikel claims one Chelsea player ‘looks lost’ on the football pitch, ‘doesn’t know what he’s doing’

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Chelsea’s first-team player has come under a bit of criticism after the weekend’s draw against Brentford.

The Blues were involved in an underwhelming 0-0 draw away to Brentford on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League clash.

Not many individuals stood out in the Chelsea player ratings versus Brentford during a pretty uneventful London derby. If there’s one major positive, it’s that Enzo Maresca’s side now have four clean sheets in their previous five league games.

It means that Chelsea remain in the thick of the race for Champions League qualification, which looks likely to go to the top five.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	31	22	7	2	72	30	42	73
2	ArsenalArsenal	31	17	11	3	56	26	30	62
3	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	31	17	6	8	51	37	14	57
4	ChelseaChelsea	31	15	8	8	54	37	17	53
5	NewcastleNewcastle	30	16	5	9	52	39	13	53
6	Man CityManchester City	31	15	7	9	57	40	17	52
7	Aston VillaAston Villa	31	14	9	8	46	46	0	51

• READ MORE: ‘Quality’ Chelsea player has proven he is undroppable for Enzo Maresca after performance vs Brentford

John Obi Mikel claims Christopher Nkunku ‘looks lost’ as a striker for Chelsea

Unfortunately, Christopher Nkunku will want to forget the trip to Brentford quickly. Even though he was drafted into the starting line-up on Sunday, he was substituted off at half time after struggling to make any kind of impact in the centre-forward position.

John Obi Mikel, the former Blues midfielder, explained that Nkunku simply isn’t a striker after watching his struggles versus Brentford.

He said on The Obi One Podcast: “He’s not a number nine. Every time he plays there, he just looks lost. I was watching him in the game yesterday against Brentford; he looks lost. He couldn’t hold up the play. He couldn’t run into the channel. He looks like he doesn’t know what he’s doing there because that is not his position. He is a No 10.

“He is not a bad player. Yes, he’s had his injuries; sometimes that slows you down quite a bit. He’s still young; there’s still a lot of energy, and there’s still so much he can give. I believe he’s still a great, great player.

“We need to find the best position for him. Obviously Cole Palmer is our No 10. The manager needs to find what to do. How do you deal with that situation? Do you let the player go because Cole Palmer has to play all the time if he’s fit?”

Nkunku was criticised by Chelsea supporters after his lacklustre performance away from home at Brentford.

While the Frenchman struggled to get any change out of the Bees defence in the first half, Nicolas Jackson looked far more threatening in the second period when he led the line.

Paul Merson’s verdict on Nkunku is that he needs to play in the central attacking pocket behind a striker. It’s an opinion we think nearly everyone would agree with, too.

As we saw against Brentford, the 27-year-old doesn’t posses the physical qualities to succeed as an out-and-out forward.

Enzo Maresca comments on Christopher Nkunku from November still ring true

We’re now in April, towards the latter stages of the season, but Nkunku finds himself in the exact same position he did a few months ago.

Back in November 2024, Chelsea head coach Maresca explained the Nkunku problem. The Blues manager said: “[Nkunku] was probably our best player in pre-season, no doubt. He was playing then as an attacking midfielder and now we are using him as a nine, which we all know isn’t his position, he’s more a second striker or between the lines.”

We don’t see a world that Nkunku budges Chelsea talisman Palmer from the starting XI, so there’s no end in sight for his struggles.

Even though Nkunku has made important contributions with 14 goals across all competitions so far this season, we’re struggling to picture him having a long-term future at Stamford Bridge.