See WhyMikel-Hiddink work so well for Chelsea

 
Goal investigate what's going right for the Nigeria midfielder since the Dutch coach replaced Jose Mourinho at Chelsea In the 18 matches that John Obi Mikel has played under Chelsea ’s interim coach Guus Hiddink over two sessions, the Blues are yet to lose, winning 15 and drawing three.

Mikel Mania in focus: Nigeria star revived under Guus Hiddink

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If you want to call the Nigerian Hiddink’s lucky charm, you can go ahead, but we still need to answer the pressing question, "what it is really about Mikel’s game that suits Hiddink’s plans to a tee?"
The midfielder was lauded to the heavens after his display against Crystal Palace last Sunday as he helped the Blues record their biggest win in 12 months.
After the win over Palace, Hiddink had the following to say about the Nigerian midfielder, “He is the ideal player in my option to bring balance to the team.”




Mikel under Mourinho
Unfortunately for many a Jose Mourinho fan, the Super Eagles talisman was not deemed worthy of a starting berth in the Special One’s tactical plan – which worked very well last season but faltered spectacularly this term.
In five games under the regime of Mourinho this season, Mikel played only 177 minutes [including coming on for Cesc Fabregas in the 92nd minute against Arsenal] and starting only twice; at home against Liverpool, and he was replaced with scores tied at 1-1 and away at Everton, where he provided the assist for Chelsea’s goal, scored by Nemanja Matic. He was again taken off with the Blues chasing the game at 2-1.
In the 17 matches that Chelsea played before sacking Mourinho, the preferred midfield duo of Matic and Fabregas showed that there was an imbalance but Mourinho persisted with the two players and got sacked – appropriately if performances since his exit indicate.

Would things have been different for Mourinho if he'd turned to Mikel more regularly?

Mikel, now under Hiddink
Mikel has played in all three matches under Hiddink, a total of 225 minutes. Former Liverpool midfield enforcer, and now television analyst, Graeme Souness said after the Crystal Palace win, “I don't think I've ever seen John Obi Mikel play so well. He bossed that area.”
Hiddink also continued his lavish praise: “He played very well but also in the previous game.
"If the team is not willing to defend well, or hasn't got the right balance, then you'll concede a lot of goals. I think John Obi can be one of the key figures in bringing back that balance.
“On this podium very talented players can explore their qualities. He reads the game very well, he knows where the strength of the opponent is and knows how to combat that.
“He has very good sense, he doesn't do it in a brutal way, he's very elegant. Someone who can defend so smoothly is very beautiful.”

Reading those words, it's little surprise that Mikel is being known as the African Zidane!
We are talking about Mikel here – a player that divides Chelsea fans one way or another. That eulogy reads like Shakespearean poetry, and the plaudits did not stop there, the Chelsea fans who travelled to the Palace game at Selhurst Park were singing his name to the rafters by the end of the contest – the first time he has had such adulation since he joined the club in 2006!
What's changed? So, what has changed about Mikel’s game that he could shine so brightly against Palace?

Mikel's masterclass vs. Palace in numbers In sport as in life, there is one sure thing that makes an athlete perform to his/her optimum and that is confidence.
Hiddink has not changed anything about Mikel’s game – he will still pass back to the goalkeeper if he sees no way forward, he will still pass over 5m, and he will not run 5km during a match, but what he could do has been improved because his confidence is back – he feels that the new manager trusts him and be assured that Mikel will only get better this season.
“Since the new manager came in we have been working really hard and as I said before, the atmosphere has changed a bit," the player began.

John Obi Mikel's stats so far this season “The players seem more relaxed and as we are working hard in training, it is now starting to show in the matches that we play,” Mikel told Sky Sports after the Palace victory.
Mikel's renaissance is a reminder of how quickly—and dramatically—things can change in football. The Nigerian had appeared destined for the exit door at Stamford Bridge under Mourinho, with the amount of minutes spent watching football increasingly remarkably compared to the number of minutes actually playing it.