From Four Four Two
Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel
believes Jose Mourinho's win-at-all-cost
mentality is beginning to rub off on the
club's star players.
Mourinho's return to Stamford Bridge initially got
off to a stuttering start, but Chelsea have gained
fluency in recent weeks, winning four of their last
five Premier League games to leave them third in
the table, just two points off table-toppers
Arsenal.
Eden Hazard, Oscar and Willian have excelled as
a creative triumvirate in recent weeks, leaving
two-time Chelsea player of the year Juan Mata
scrapping for minutes.
Mourinho has previously claimed the Spaniard
needs to be able to work more for the team in
order to get a run in his XI, although Mikel
believes others have shown a greater aptitude for
it.
"He (Mourinho) always wants us to play in a
certain way and give 110 per cent," said Mikel.
"If you don't, you're out.
"You don't want to slack, you don't want to sit
down and think, 'You're the best, I don't want to
defend or I don't want to run'. If you don't do
those things, you don't play.
"That's the mentality he wants installed in this
team and slowly but surely the likes of Eden,
Oscar and Willian are beginning to do that.
"What the Premier League and Champions
League means to this club. If you don't play for
Chelsea, you don't know what these trophies
mean to us.
"It's not a team where if you come second, third
or fourth, it doesn't matter. No - every year you
have to win something and this is the pressure.
"Now they're here, they have to feel the pressure
and they are feeling it right now. That's why we
just want to keep doing well and now they're
starting to understand that we don't want to get
beaten."