• ‘Chelsea’s DNA gone’: Palmer ‘lost’, players want out & zero direction | What now? 🫣
    May 7 2026

    Chelsea is a club on its knees. Six successive league defeats, four on the bounce at Stamford Bridge and the worst run of results since 1993. Little wonder then, Blues legend John Obi Mikel is crestfallen.


    Resigned to Chelsea’s fate this season, Mikel calls out the club’s ills and demands a reset this summer as he fears the club are slipping into mediocrity and a finish outside the top half.


    So what is needed? Leaders? Check. A semblance of a plan? Check. Xavi Alonso…?! 👀


    Watch as an impassioned Mikel breaks down what needs to happen sooner rather than later.


    Mikel also gives his verdict on the Premier League title run in, begrudgingly gives Arsenal their flowers and laments the loss of Manchester City’s most important player.


    Oh, and José Mourinho back to Real Madrid? Mikel gives his view.


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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • ‘Chelsea’s DNA gone’: Palmer ‘lost’, players want out & zero direction | What now? 🫣
    May 5 2026

    Chelsea is a club on its knees. Six successive league defeats, four on the bounce at Stamford Bridge and the worst run of results since 1993. Little wonder then, Blues legend John Obi Mikel is crestfallen.


    Resigned to Chelsea’s fate this season, Mikel calls out the club’s ills and demands a reset this summer as he fears the club are slipping into mediocrity and a finish outside the top half.


    So what is needed? Leaders? Check. A semblance of a plan? Check. Xavi Alonso…?! 👀


    Watch as an impassioned Mikel breaks down what needs to happen sooner rather than later.


    Mikel also gives his verdict on the Premier League title run in, begrudgingly gives Arsenal their flowers and laments the loss of Manchester City’s most important player.


    Oh, and José Mourinho back to Real Madrid? Mikel gives his view.

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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • Chelsea in Crisis: FA Cup salvation, JT’s snub & why Filipe Luís should be boss
    Apr 27 2026

    There’s no shortage of talking points for John Obi Mikel and Chris McHardy to wade through after a tumultuous week that saw Chelsea sack boss Liam Rosenior AND reach the FA Cup Final.


    As always, Mikel doesn’t hold back as he applauds Chelsea’s win over Leeds AND picks through the wreckage of their’s shambolic 3-0 loss at Brighton, a result that ended Rosenior’s tenure after just 106 days.


    Who’s next in the Blues hot seat? Mikel and Chris discuss the leading candidates and John Terry’s latest snub by the club’s owners.


    Mikel also sets the record straight on “fake news” doing the rounds on social media, and pays tribute to his fellow Nigerian Michael Eneramo who passed away over the weekend.

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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Arteta’s worries & Rosenior’s woes: Obi Mikel reacts as Arsenal cede title control & Chelsea lose again
    Apr 20 2026

    John Obi Mikel and Chris McHardy discuss the weekend’s top stories as Manchester City wrestle control of the title race from Arsenal. It’s now just one win in six for the Gunners as they are edged out at the Etihad Stadium, and Obi Mikel isn’t happy with Mikel Arteta.


    Mikel also has his say on Gabriel’s headbutt on Erling Haaland and ponders whether Arsenal will not be more comfortable hunting rather than being hunted.


    Another defeat for Chelsea means it’s four on the bounce without so much as a goal scored, and just one win in eight. Little worried Mikel is worried and left questioning where on earth the club is headed.

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    1 hr and 9 mins
  • Chokers, Cherki & Chelsea: ‘I told you so’ as Obi Mikel talks Arsenal, Pep’s secret weapon & Delap
    Apr 13 2026

    John Obi Mikel and Chris McHardy walk back arguably the best weekend of the Premier League season so far as Arsenal hand the title initiative to City, Chelsea draw a blank (again) and Tottenham’s relegation troubles deepen.


    Mikel wants Arsenal to ditch the gimmicks and go back to basics, he identifies the REAL reason Man City are back in the title race and he sets the record straight on Liam Delap who he’s been accused of giving an easy ride this season.


    The guys also pick through the bones of another defeat for Tottenham that leaves them winless in 2026 and staring down the barrel of life in the Championship next season.

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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Obi Mikel wants Rosenior OUT on one condition, shock Spurs admission & blasts CAF decision-makers
    Apr 1 2026

    In this episode of Taking the Mikel, John Obi and Chris McHardy delve into Chelsea’s recent woes. From defeats on the pitch to key players speaking out on Enzo Maresca’s departure. What does it all mean for Liam Rosenior? Mikel doesn’t hold back on his assessment. Simply put: it’s Champions League or bust.


    The guys also discuss Roberto de Zerbi’s appointment as Tottenham’s new boss and why it spells trouble for the club’s underperforming stars. Mikel also makes an admission that might not go down too well with his fellow Chelsea fans.


    The guys also discuss Mohamed Salah’s next destination as he gears up to leave Liverpool, plus Mikel launches into an impassioned tirade over the “ludicrous” decision to strip Senegal of their African Cup of Nations title.

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    1 hr and 13 mins
  • Mariga & Wanyama Exclusive: Pochettino’s Special Talent, Fatherly José & Eto’o Africa’s GOAT
    Mar 19 2026

    John Obi Mikel and Chris McHardy are in Nairobi in this episode of the podcast to catch up with Kenyan trailblazers: brothers MacDonald Mariga and Victor Wanyama.


    First up, Mariga lifts the lid on working with José Mourinho, becoming the first player from Kenya to lift the UEFA Championd League and why a potential move to Manchester City was scuppered. He also gives his take on the current state of the Kenyan game and African football as a whole.


    Wanyama follows as he reflects on a career that took him to England via Celtic to play for Southampton and Tottenham under the leadership of Mauricio Pochettino. He also weighs in on the debate as to who is the greatest player in African football history.

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    59 mins
  • Salomon Kalou Exclusive: Abramovich’s Secret House, Drogba’s Ferrari & THAT Ballack Punch-Up
    Mar 5 2026

    John Obi Mikel and Salomon Kalou have had a brotherly bond since their days together at Chelsea. And that unique friendship is on display here as the two men reunite for a candid and, at times, hilarious jaunt down memory lane.


    Here, Kalou recounts the lengths José Mourinho went to scout him in person at Feyenoord, his first meeting with Roman Abramovich at a place where ‘everyone signed on the dotted line’ and why he wasn’t so keen on Didier Drogba’s expensive Ferrari!


    Mikel can’t resist teasing his friend over one of the more unique hairstyles we’ve seen in the Premier League, and why he always had to have a stocked fridge!


    Kalou also finally reveals what really happened between himself and Michael Ballack that led to their infamous training ground dust-up.


    Settle in for this one, as two Chelsea greats chew the fat about the glory days on the pitch, and the mad times off it.

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    1 hr and 29 mins