The Premier League is back with a bang! As the season heats up, this week’s action shifts to Anfield for a blockbuster clash between Liverpool and Chelsea.
Arne Slot’s Reds, currently leading the table, will be eager to maintain their top spot against a resurgent Blues side. Chelsea, on the other hand, will be looking to make a statement and secure a crucial victory at one of the most intimidating stadiums in English football.
In this week’s Pulse newsletter, we have a special treat for you. Legendary South African sports broadcaster, Robert Marawa, provides his expert analysis of the Liverpool vs Chelsea showdown, while Liverpool right back Conor Bradley chats to us about his fondest memories of facing Chelsea.
Additionally, we sit down with former Chelsea star, Mikel John Obi, for an in-depth interview. The Nigerian legend discusses his Premier League transfer journey and opens up about his love for South Africa.
Liverpool right back Conor Bradley on his memories facing Chelsea:
“I’ve got two really good memories playing against Chelsea. Obviously, I scored my first goal against them, and then we also won the Cup at Wembley against them as well, so yeah two really good games, and two games I really enjoyed playing in.”
On his first goal in LFC’s’s 4-1 win against Chelsea:
“To be honest it was just one of those nights where everything just sort of goes your way, and with the goal and the two assists, it was just a perfect night and I couldn’t have dreamt of it going any better to be honest. It was a really proud night for me and my family.”
On captain Virgil van Dijk’s winner against Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final:
“I think I just went mental when Virgil scored. I think we all just ran out and everyone was hugging each other. It was wild, but such a special feeling winning my first trophy for the club, and something that will live with me forever.”
Premier League Pick of the week: Liverpool v Chelsea
Kick-off: 17:30
Venue: Anfield
Live on Showmax Premier League
“We are back with Premier League football, and it’s an exciting weekend for me, simply because my team Liverpool are back playing against Chelsea. I think what really makes this scenario stand out is the fact that Liverpool against all odds, against the life after Jurgen Klopp, have shown that Arne Slot has been able to manage this Liverpool side, managed the regularity as far as scoring goals is concerned, and managed their frequency in terms of how well they’ve been able to defend. This weekend they are up against a Chelsea side, under Enzo Maresca, who have shown that they are a far better side than in recent years. This is a very simple match where you got number one playing against number four. There are four points that separate these two sides. Slot has quickly brought about his game and has ensured that Liverpool lead this pack after just seven games.
“I’m also happy to see the back of the international break. I have been so unhappy with how the African teams have treated and not treated each other. But back to the game, Liverpool are hosting arguably one of the better sides in the Premier League this season as we welcome back club football. So Enzo Maresca. What has he done right? Just like Arne Slot, he’s equally turned Chelsea into a highly enterprising side. The Blues will however be without two suspended players in Wesley Fofana and Marc Cucurella. Both of these defenders have started every single Premier League game so far this season. So Enzo will have to make forced changes, not changed he would have wanted to make.
“Then you look at a guy like Nicolas Jackson. Although he has struck the right notes this season, it will be very difficult for Enzo to overlook what Christopher Nkunku has been able to do. Nkunku could see his name in starting 11, having already scored eight goals for both club and country. Can he take that form to Liverpool? He is no stranger to scoring against Liverpool at Anfield, and so can he once again do the job?
“If you have noticed my brief for this weekend’s game, I’ve focused on the away team, more than the home team and I’ve done that deliberately. Liverpool will bring what Liverpool has brought in the last seven games of this season. I do not expect too many changes or any surprises. For me, it’s about how Chelsea adjusts and how Liverpool manages a Chelsea team that comes at full tilt. It Is an exciting weekend of football to look forward to. I’m not going to guess who is going to win, I’ll leave that to you.”
Interview with Mikel John Obi:
Former Chelsea legend Mikel John Obi. Credit: Getty Images
You are a legend in the world of football. But let’s look back at where it all started. You grew up in Nigeria, a football-mad country. Tell us more about that?
As a kid growing up in Nigeria, we spent hours watching football on TV, and the Premier League was the league to watch. We used to watch the likes of Jay Jay Okocha, and Nwankwo Kanu, and they were our idols growing up. So for us, the Premier League was the ultimate league. You knew that if you wanted to be a professional footballer, the Premier League was the league you wanted to play in. So, for me to finally achieve it and play in the Premier League was absolutely amazing.
Who are some of your other football heroes? You’ve already mentioned two very big ones in Jay Jay and Nwankwo.
I say this every time; Jay Jay and Kanu were the two players we looked up to and idolised. But I will say that Patrick Viera was one of my idols growing up. Zinedine Zidane was another. I wanted to play like these guys. While I didn’t get to play against the likes of Zidane and Vieira, to finally play in the Premier League was a joy.
At what point did you know that you were star quality, that you were just a little bit better than the kids you were playing against?
I played football when I was about nine or 10. I used to play with the with the older kids, you know, kids at the age of 13, 14. And I remember people coming home and saying to my mom, oh, he’s going to be a superstar. And she was like, are you sure? But he needs to go to school. My mom just wanted me to play football and enjoy myself without pressure. I kind of knew, at the age of 10 or 11 that there’s something.
So how did you make it? Who set you on the path to professional football?
I just focused. I was like, you know what? I’m going to do this. I started training hard. I started working hard. I would go to school in the morning, come back and just go to training and for me, it was about just practising and trying to get better and again continue watching the Premier League and looking at seeing how I can improve, how I can get better.
How did you find out there was interest from a European club?
When I represented the national team at the age of 17, we had a tournament in Holland, and that was where I got spotted, especially by Manchester United and Chelsea. And that’s when the whole thing started, and I had a tournament there, and I played well. When I came back home I told my mom and dad, I think football is what I want to do.
You moved to Norway first, right?
Yeah. The club’s name was Lyn Oslo. it was a culture shock to go from Nigeria to Norway.
You were getting noticed during your time in Norway. Were you ready for the attention? How did you handle this as a teenager?
It was difficult, especially when the whole saga started with Chelsea and Manchester United. That was where the whole saga started. And I just couldn’t handle it because I was so young. I was about 17, something like that. I needed people to talk to. I needed my family there, but I was alone with my friends. I didn’t get the advice that I wish I got and so I wouldn’t have been in that situation if I had that advice. But that’s something you look back on and it makes you stronger. You grow as a person and you just have to deal with it.
I’m glad you called it a saga because your move to the Premier League is like straight out of a movie. It sounds like a great plot for a series.
The whole thing started first when I went to Manchester United for trials. This was ages ago. And so, I had about a two- or three-month trial with United, and they absolutely loved me. Sir Alex Ferguson absolutely loved me and wanted me to sign for the club. Then I went back home for the holidays with my family. And while I was at home, I got a phone call from Chelsea saying, we know United wants you, but we do too.
So Chelsea tried to pinch me from United. My agent called me and told me Chelsea were going to give me a better offer. So he urged me to go to Chelsea. Jose Mourinho was also really special. And Chelsea started winning trophies as well. So, I thought, why don’t I go to Chelsea and create my own history? And then I went to Chelsea. So United started calling me. They couldn’t find me. No one knew where I was. So, I went to Chelsea and I had trials with them.
Claudio Ranieri absolutely loved me. Chelsea sent me to Norway to play there for a while. And then while I was there, I turned 17. And I played for a club in Norway. So, Fergie sent an agent to Norway with a contract to try to sign me. I think it was about a £1 million salary. His agent said to me, the boss has been looking for you. We’ve all been looking for you. Where have you been? You need to sign the contract because we want you at United, blah blah blah blah blah. So, I looked at the contract. I was like, wow, this is a life-changing contract for me, and I didn’t have a contract with Chelsea back then as well because I was not 18 yet. It was a massive contract for me.
So I signed the pre-contract with United and then I did the press conference and everything with the shirt. And then Chelsea was like, hold on, what’s going on here? We sent you to Norway and you signed for United. And so they sent their agents.
There are pictures of you on the internet in a Manchester United shirt. You had a whole press conference just on your own?
Yeah. I didn’t get any professional advice. My agent wasn’t there, my family wasn’t there. And I was sent by Chelsea to Norway to develop as a player. So, my agent came into came to Norway, came to the club, and kidnapped me. Well, not kidnapped me, but kind of took me. He told me, ‘you’ve made a mistake here, but we’ll sort it out. The club is upset.’
So, he took me away from the apartment, took me to a hotel, booked a flight the next day and took me out of Norway. And there was this massive announcement in Norway on the radio stations: ‘If anybody knows where John Obi-Mikel is, please contact the police? Because he’s gone missing. He’s been kidnapped.’
It was a whole saga. Before you know it, I was in London the next day, and then Chelsea took me. Once I got to London, they got me an apartment. I was staying there and nobody knew where I was.
This is an unbelievable plot because it gets more complicated then. You then sign with Chelsea and the FA was involved somehow.
What happened is that I go to London and then obviously United went mad. Everybody went crazy, and reported me to FIFA. FIFA didn’t get involved in the beginning because they thought the FA was going to sort it out, but the FA couldn’t sort it out, so FIFA had to get involved.
I was out for about a year. I couldn’t play for either Chelsea or United. So I was at home as a kid. Every morning I was like, oh my God, what have I done? When am I going to play football again? The FA got involved and then FIFA got involved finally too. So, FIFA contacted Manchester United. They got Alex Ferguson to fly into London. We had a massive meeting in the FA office where it was just me and Fergie sitting in the office. He asked me what had happened. Said everybody at the club needs me. Roy Keane, and Paul Scholes are all wondering where I am. He said everybody needs me at the club and they want me to sign for United. I said, sorry, boss, I can’t because Chelsea have been looking after me and my family for a long time. It was a mistake. I shouldn’t have done it. You could see in his face. He went mad. He went red.
He was like, ‘What is it? Is it more money? You need more money? I’ll give you more money. What is it you need? I want you at the club.’ I was like, sorry, boss, I can’t play for you. I can’t come to United. The meeting lasted about an hour and then Fergie left. He went back to Manchester, and then a couple of weeks later, Fergie agreed to let me go. But Chelsea were told they need to pay a huge amount for me. So finally United got about £14 million. And then Lyn Oslo also got about £4 million.
How did you have the guts to say no to Sir Alex Ferguson?
He thought if he got me in the office, just me and him, he would be able to convince me to come to United. But then he saw that I was so adamant that I wanted to go to Chelsea and my agent as well was outside the office.
Before I went into the meeting, my agent said, whatever Fergie says, just say no. He will try to convince you. Just say no. So I was very adamant.
Earlier on you didn’t want to use the word kidnapped, because I think that’s happened to your family while you were playing.
It happened to my dad twice. Twice. It’s a tough situation to be in. I remember the first time it happened. I didn’t even know what I was thinking. You don’t know where to go. Left or right. You don’t know what to do. You just have these guys demanding so much. If you don’t pay, your dad is going to be killed. Your dad is going to be murdered. So, you have to pay. I’ve been on the phone talking to them, and it was so tough. Your family at home, your brothers, your sisters, your mom at home, everybody crying. And then finally, I had to obviously pay. And then my dad was released. And then the second time, it happened while I was representing my country at the World Cup. I was about to go into a game. It was a knockout stage game against Argentina. It was the biggest game of my life, really.
And then two hours before the game, I got a phone call telling me that my dad has been kidnapped again. Going into a game, the biggest game of your life, and then getting that news, I just didn’t know what to do.
You fought so hard to get to Chelsea. We’ve just heard about the saga, as you call it, and then your start at Chelsea was a little bit difficult, wasn’t it?
I wanted to play and I think I just tried too hard to force myself into the team. I think I should have helped myself a bit more and try to learn as a young player. But because I was so used to playing, I wanted to break into the team straight away. And that’s why I tried so hard, even in the game.
I remember I got a red card. I got sent off. I was late for meetings. I remember it was Barcelona who we were playing in the Champions League. I forget what the time was. I was at home and then I was about an hour late. And then Jose Mourinho sent me to the reserve team for about a month. For me, it was a learning curve.
Is Jose Mourinho as a manager the best manager you’ve worked with?
Tactically I would say he is the best. Pressure wise he’s the best. He knows how to get the best out of out of us. If you’re not performing well, he knows how to deal with you. He knew how to deal with each and every one of us. But then he was a crazy guy. Losing wasn’t an option for him. We had to win games. Winning, winning, winning.
But then once you come to a manager, man management, manager, obviously there’s no better than Carlo Ancelotti. Carlo was the guy who gave us the freedom to perform. There’s no pressure. And he knows how to put his arm around the place and get the best out of the players.
You went to Chelsea to make your own history. You then win the Premier League. What do you remember about that season when you finally had a chance to lift the trophy?
It was special. I think 2010 was the first time I won it with Carlo Ancelotti. So that was special. It was special to me because I think that was the season where I played a lot of games and was part of the group. I played a lot of games. I started the season really well.
You have mentioned in the past that you love South Africa. Why?
South Africa is somewhere I enjoy going. Also before I played in Norway, I played for Ajax Cape Town. So South Africa is somewhere I absolutely love.