John Mikel Obi, the former Super Eagles and Chelsea midfielder, did not mince words as he shared his dismal experience under the coaching tenure of Sunday Oliseh, branding him as “the worst manager ever.”
Mikel expressed his sentiments on Episode 3 of his ObiOne podcast titled “Taking the Mikel: Sunday Oliseh, look away now!”
The AFCON 2013 winner revealed that Oliseh’s divisive approach began on the first day of the camp when he confronted team leaders. Mikel recounted the incident, stating, “He came straight at me and Vincent Enyeama, the goalkeeper, who also was very powerful back then. He said there was a lot of player power with us. Enyeama stood up and told him he couldn’t say that because we had been here for so many years. They started arguing, and literally, they were going to fight. He took Enyeama out of the team, and he came at us saying he was going to take us out of the team.”
This clash resulted in Enyeama’s abrupt departure from the camp, a decision that baffled Mikel.
Reflecting on Oliseh’s coaching style, Mikel criticized the coach’s lack of managerial acumen, claiming, “He had no clue of how a manager is. He was a fantastic guy in his playing days, but as a coach, he was very terrible. He had no clue of what he was doing. The players never understood anything he was doing, and he did not know what he was doing. He was just confused because he just came in and destroyed the team togetherness.”
Mikel further highlighted Oliseh’s bitterness and lack of respect towards others within the team. Notably, Oliseh’s tenure as Super Eagles manager lasted only eight months between 2015 and 2016.
Despite this brief stint, he recently served on the FIFA technical committee for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. Mikel’s candid revelations shed light on the tumultuous dynamics within the team during Oliseh’s coaching era.
