‘His head just went’… John Obi Mikel thinks £47.5m Chelsea player is ‘miles off it’ after Liverpool display

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Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel believes that Raheem Sterling just isn’t offering enough right now.

Chelsea lost the Carabao Cup final on Sunday evening, falling at the hands of Liverpool.

This wasn’t a full-strength Liverpool side; they were hampered by injuries and ended the game with a host of kids in the side.

Chelsea should have seized the chance and really pushed to win the game, but a meek extra-time performance got what it deserved – nothing.

Virgil van Dijk’s header won it for Liverpool, leaving Gary Neville to coin the ‘blue billion-pound bottle jobs’ line which won’t go away any time soon.

John Obi Mikel on Raheem Sterling

A number of Chelsea players are coming in for real criticism now, especially those who have plenty of experience.

Raheem Sterling springs to mind as a player who needs to step up in the big moments.

Sterling won trophy after trophy at Manchester City and is the kind of player who would be relied on in the crunch situations.

Sterling offered little against Liverpool though and the stats don’t look good.

10 passes and 19 touches in 66 minutes is a poor contribution from a player of Sterling’s quality and experience at the highest level.

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has now offered his verdict on Sterling after Sunday’s defeat.

Mikel has told The Obi One Podcast that he thinks Sterling is ‘miles off it’ right now despite starting the season well.

Mikel believes that Sterling started the season well in an effort to get back into the England squad, but when the call-up didn’t come, ‘his head just went’.

That is just Mikel’s verdict, but he thinks that Sterling now looks ‘a shadow of himself’ and must figure out how to get his form back – whether it’s at Chelsea or elsewhere.

“I think he’s miles off it, to be honest,” said Mikel. “At this point, I think it’s not the player that we saw at Manchester City, or the player that we are accustomed to watching and enjoying, the way he played with a low centre of gravity, a player a bit like Eden Hazard, who can go past players easily, very fast, very quick, technically good on the ball.”

“Not to his defence, I think he actually started this season really well, I would probably say. What I’m saying is, I think he started the season really well, he was playing well, creating chances, he was taking people on, he became like the Raheem Sterling that we know before. But then I think he did all that because he wanted to get into the England team, but the first call-up that came, his name wasn’t there, he wasn’t called up. I think that took a knock to his confidence, and after that, he has just went, his head just went.”

“Since then, I haven’t seen the Raheem Sterling that started the season. He has been a shadow of himself but I still think he has a lot to offer. Is it at Chelsea or is it somewhere else? That will have to be decided at the end of the season but he’s definitely, definitely miles off it. I think he knows that. How does he get back to that level? Only he can decide,” he added.

Sterling joined Chelsea for £47.5million in 2022 and didn’t really play to the best of his ability last season.

An encouraging start to this season raised hopes of Sterling finally getting back on track, but he has lost that early momentum now.

Now unlikely to land a spot in England’s Euro 2024 squad, Sterling really needs a big end to the season – of the Blues may well attempt to move him on.