Mikel Obi has disclosed that players played a significant role in the dismissal of managers, including Rafael Benitez, during their time at Chelsea.
The former Nigerian international shared this insight in an interview with TalkSports, where he revealed that the players were dissatisfied with Rafa Benitez’s coaching style and took action to have him removed.
In 2012, Chelsea hired Rafael Benítez as an interim manager shortly after dismissing Roberto Di Matteo, but the former Liverpool didn’t get the backing of the fans.
Despite the challenges, Benitez guided Chelsea to third-place finish and securing the Europa League, before being replaced the following season by Jose Mourinho.
“We made it clear that we didn’t want him. I think obviously Liverpool was a big rival for us, but coming into the club as well, I think the fans also didn’t like Rafa.
“I think there was something about Rafa and the fans that the fans didn’t take to him. Same as the players, we didn’t accept him as one of us.”
Mikel continued, “Then we had the thing with Terry where he got dropped and wasn’t playing as much as he wanted. Obviously, Terry always played and Rafa came in and was like ‘you’re not going to play every game’.
“Obviously Terry wanted an explanation, ‘why am I not played?’ and Benitez didn’t give him that.”
Mikel also revealed former Captain John Terry ran the dressing room along with Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Petr Cech and Ashley Cole.
“Terry got together by himself and decided yes, your time is gone!” Mikel replied.
“I think, obviously, one man that actually absolutely did run it was John Terry,” he continued. “Terry was the man. In a good way. On the pitch, Terry was the man.
“Sometimes, when the dressing room was not together, he was the guy that always brought us together. On the pitch, off the pitch, he was the leader.
“Like you’ve just said, there are too many players there with big egos. The likes of Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard, Peter Cech, Ashley Cole. You know, everyone has their opinion.
“But at the end of the day, Terry was the guy who made the decisions.”
He added, “We had the power. I think Terry, Frank, Didier – Didier was very opinionated, had a lot of voice in the dressing room – Petr Cech, these guys were the ones who ran the dressing room.
“When they feel like ‘ok, this manager is not giving the players what we want, we’re not playing as much as we want, or not enjoying ourselves in the way we want, we’ll come together and figure out a way of getting someone in that we want.” He concluded.
