John Obi Mikel admits he once squared up to former Chelsea teammate

Former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has revealed that he once had a serious bust-up with Florent Malouda in training.

Florent Malouda was the latest guest on John Obi Mikel’s podcast The Obi One Podcast and the two players discussed the incident.

They were both hugely successful during their time at Chelsea, winning multiple honours, including the Premier League title.

However, it looks like there were moments when not everything was rosy.

Mikel was discussing one clash with Malouda that he has described as “crazy” on The Obi One Podcast.

The Chelsea legend said: “Me and him had a crazy one once in training. We squared up to each other and then we had to get people to pull us away from each other. I think we were playing rondo, we were playing rondo and then it happened.

“But it was just back then obviously competition, everybody’s competing against each other. We want to be on the pitch, he wants to play, I want to play. In training, we give our all because that is where we determine who plays on the weekend.

“So Flo wants to play, I want to play, competition, and it happens, it happens. And then we squared up with each other, few blows here and there!”

Honestly, that kind of competitiveness Mikel and Malouda showed in training is probably one reason why Chelsea were so successful in their day.

Everyone wanted to play and everyone wanted to win. Is it something that this current Chelsea team are lacking? Maybe, maybe not.

Whatever the case, for this Chelsea side, their biggest problem right now is goals. In their last couple of games, they have definitely improved in that area.

Mauricio Pochettino‘s men put four past Tottenham Hotspur and another four past Manchester City, which is no mean feat.

Cole Palmer scored the Blues’ last goal before the international break and the club remain confident that he has a big future ahead of him.

Before the win against Tottenham and the draw with City, though, they were struggling to find the back of the net. Chelsea lost 2-0 to Brentford prior to their victory in north London, while first-choice striker Nicolas Jackson had scored just two goals in nine Premier League appearances.

His record now looks much better following his last two outings and needs to stay that way, especially if Chelsea opt against bringing a new centre-forward to Stamford Bridge when the transfer window opens again in January.