We could have beaten Arsenal — Mikel Obi tells Maresca what to improve

Super Eagles legend John Obi Mikel warned that Enzo Maresca needed to fix disciplinary problems in the squad after a Chelsea player was sent off for the sixth time this season. 

The latest culprit was Moisés Caicedo, who was shown a straight red in the first half of the 1–1 Stamford Bridge draw with Arsenal last weekend. Chelsea dominated the tie before the red card and were forced to adopt a more conservative approach after the sending off. 

The 2012 Champions League winner argued that his former club would have triumphed over Arsenal had Caicedo remained on the pitch. He said that Maresca needed to fix the problem or Chelsea would end up dropping more points than they should. 

“I think it was a good game; we played a good match. Going down to ten men with about an hour on the clock was brilliant,” Mikel said on the Obi One podcast.

“We started the game well and then went down to ten men. There's something we need to deal with. How many games have we finished this season with eleven men?

“That's four red cards this season; it's not good enough. I've spoken about it; the manager needs to talk with the players, because it's costing us games as well.

“If you look at that game, if we finished with eleven men, I think we could've won. Maybe not easily, but comfortably, we could've secured a win.

“Yes, we got a point, but we could've got three if we finished with a complete team. Whatever we have to do to finish with eleven players, the manager has to find a way. We start a game well, go down to ten men, and then we suffer and struggle.”

Chelsea’s disciplinary problems have become a recurring headache this season: six different Chelsea players have been sent off across competitions.

Robert Sánchez was sent off early at Manchester United (Chelsea lost that game); Trevoh Chalobah received a straight red in the 3–1 home defeat to Brighton; João Pedro picked up two yellows late in Chelsea’s 1–0 Champions League win over Benfica; Malo Gusto was dismissed for a second booking in the 3–0 win at Nottingham Forest; Liam Delap received two quick yellows in the 4–3 Carabao Cup win at Wolves, and most recently Moisés Caicedo’s straight red in the 1–1 draw with Arsenal.