John Obi Mikel now claims ‘fantastic’ Chelsea player has become a problem for Enzo Maresca and ‘needs to get his act together’

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John Obi Mikel has a warning for one Chelsea player after his and the club’s dip in form.

Chelsea have lost their last two Premier League games, being beaten by Ipswich Town and west London rivals Fulham.

It has seen Enzo Maresca‘s men drop down to fourth in the Premier League table. It is disappointing, given that they were only two points behind leaders Liverpool at one stage.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	LiverpoolLiverpool	18	14	3	1	45	17	28	45
2	Nottm ForestNottingham Forest	19	11	4	4	26	19	7	37
3	ArsenalArsenal	18	10	6	2	35	16	19	36
4	ChelseaChelsea	19	10	5	4	38	23	15	35
5	NewcastleNewcastle	19	9	5	5	32	21	11	32
6	Man CityManchester City	19	9	4	6	32	26	6	31

Key:

Position 1 – 4 : Champions League
Position 5 : UEFA Europa League
Position 18 – 20 : Relegation

However, Levi Colwill feels Chelsea have never been title contenders. Next up for the Blues is a London derby against Crystal Palace.

• READ MORE: Why Enzo Maresca went straight over to a furious Enzo Fernandez at the end of Ipswich vs Chelsea

John Obi Mikel thinks Noni Madueke has become an issue for Enzo Maresca

Noni Madueke started the season in superb form for Chelsea, scoring a hat-trick against Wolverhampton Wanderers back in August.

However, the winger was left out of Chelsea’s matchday squad for the 2-1 defeat to Fulham.

Mikel now thinks he has become a problem for Maresca and has told him to fix up.

Speaking on his podcast, the Chelsea legend said: “The manager made changes, kept [Nicolas] Jackson on the bench and Noni Madueke as well. He needs to get his act together; he needs to start performing again. I don’t know what’s going on, but I think that issue needs to be put to bed.

“Both need to find a way to sort it out because it’s becoming an issue. You know, it’s becoming a problem now for the manager, for the team as well because he’s a fantastic player, Madueke. The more we get him to start playing, the more we get him to start playing well… I think there’s a good player there, but the manager is trying to get the best out of him, I understand that, but again we don’t want to make it a problem.

“It’s becoming a problem for the team, for the player, so we need to find a way to sort that out. And I believe that with Maresca and the way he’s dealing with his players, he’s going to find a way to deal with that.”

What is the issue between Noni Madueke and Enzo Maresca?

Maresca just seems to be showing Madueke a bit of tough love while demanding more from him.

Following Chelsea’s Boxing Day defeat to Fulham, Maresca told BBC Sport and the rest of the English media: “The competition has to be higher, but not only for Noni Madueke. Also Renato Veiga was not in the squad and the reason is exactly the same for both of them.”

The Chelsea boss has also not been impressed with the way that Madueke has trained at times.

Maresca spoke about Madueke specifically after Chelsea’s 5-1 win against Southampton last month and said: “The moment he starts to score or assist and is happy, he starts to drop a little bit and the reason why he was not playing is because I do not like the way he trained.”

Like Mikel said, Madueke is a fantastic player and has proven that with some of the goals he has scored this season.

However, the England international needs to find some more consistency and meet Maresca’s standards in training. If not, he will not start for Chelsea going forward.

The Blues have so much attacking talent that Madueke really cannot afford to put in six out of 10 performances. That will not be enough to stay in a team that also has the likes of Jadon Sancho and Pedro Neto available as options.