John Obi Mikel exclusive: BlueCo must 'take responsibility' for failings, who Chelsea need to sign under Liam Rosenior, snubbing Sir Alex Ferguson's Man Utd & his January transfer to Google Pixel

After being appointed as Chelsea's new head coach last week, Rosenior name-checked several former players, such as Mikel's former team-mates Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Michael Essien, in reference to how fearsome the club used to be and how intimidating Stamford Bridge was as an away day. Rosenior may want to instil a similar sort of intimidation, but Mikel believes the difference in Chelsea's philosophies from the Roman Abramovich era to BlueCo's ownership has raised a barrier in that respect.

"First of all, we brought in players that had already been winners, players who want to win, international players and international captains," Mikel said. "It's a totally different thing right now, The direction the club is going is buying young, young talent and players with potential, which I can understand. But when you look back at our day, [Andriy] Shevchenko joined us when he was 29, Michael Ballack joined us from Bayern when he was 29, Deco came in the later part of his career. So these are the names that used to join us, we already had winners and players who had tasted what winning feels like."

Mikel comes from a Chelsea era where it didn't matter what the manager's philosophy was. Winning was the be-all and end-all. The problem facing this iteration of Chelsea is that while the club's leadership want to instil long-term visions, the fans still expect success immediately.

"The manager who has come in right now has to straight away find a way of winning, winning games and creating that winning atmosphere," Mikel added. "If he doesn't do that, the fans won't be happy and will quickly turn on him. He has to start winning games, it's a very difficult job for him.

"It's totally different from when you come from Strasbourg where there's no pressure. This is Chelsea Football Club. The pressure is from day one. You have to start winning.

"He has to straight away start winning. What you don't want to do in the Premier League is not win two or three games in a row because once you find yourself in that sticky patch, it's always difficult to get out of it. The Premier League is tough, it's brutal. He needs to start winning straight away, get the fans behind him because he needs the fans. The fans are the football club. If they're not happy with the players or manager, then things are not going to go away."

Rosenior swiftly became the favourite to take the Chelsea job after Enzo Maresca was surprisingly sacked on New Year's Day. The Italian led the team back into the Champions League and won the Conference League last season, while they were also triumphant at the summer's Club World Cup. Only a month prior to his exit, the Blues thrashed Barcelona and held Arsenal to a credible draw despite playing most of that match with 10 men.

"We have a very good squad, very good squad. I have to say that the sacking of Enzo Maresca, I'm not a fan of that, I think he's that coach who brought the best out of this squad," Mikel continued. "This very inexperienced squad he had, he was able to do that, to try and nurture and develop and help these young players. And in the midst of doing that he had to do titles, which he had done.

"To compete in the Premier League as well with such an inexperienced squad is very, very tough. I thought that Enzo Maresca was slowly but surely starting to turn the corner in the way we play, we had an identity, playing out from the back against big, big teams. We win the big games and we compete against the big squads. So I just thought he would be given a bit more time. On that part, I don't like that decision that the club made."

Mikel also called on the club's BlueCo ownership to be more transparent with the fans after the shock decision to remove Maresca from his post. "I just hope sometimes the owners can take responsibility when things are not going well on the pitch," he said. "They are chopping and changing managers. I hope they that one day they can come out and speak their mind, tell the fans what the objective is, what do they want to achieve? That's going to be vital going forward."

Mikel rates the Chelsea squad highly, but is steadfast in his belief they need more emotional support in the form of older heads to lean on. Robert Sanchez has been Chelsea's starting goalkeeper this season and is ironically one of the team's eldest players at 28, but the Nigerian would like to see him replaced as part of an overhaul at the back.

"I'd like to see us go out and get a goalkeeper," he said of his January transfer window hopes. "I think we need a top, top goalkeeper. Centre-back, I like Levi Colwill but I think he needs somebody around him and next to him to lead him as well. I think he can grow into a top, top defender but he needs somebody with experience.

"I think as well, in the striker department, we need an experienced striker that already knows how to score goals and win trophies. I don't think we need much, we just need a few players to come in and create that winning mentality, show these young players what it feels like and looks like to win the big ones, which are the Premier League and Champions League."

The January window is notoriously difficult to operate in, but Mikel insists that changing manager will only make life more difficult for a team without experience. "The January transfer window is always tough [at a time when a club has changed their manager] because obviously you want to have a full pre-season with a manager," he added. "That makes a difference because then the manager will have time as well to create his philosophy, the way he wants a team to play, and you can get a bit more understanding of how he wants you to play. You can have time to work on that at the training ground, which is pre-season. When a manager comes in straight away, you have no idea how he wants you to play, in the midst of trying to understand how the manager wants you to play. There's games coming thick and fast so you can't really do that. You have less time on the training pitch because the schedule is tough and crazy, there's games every two or three days.

"It's difficult. I'd rather have a manager come in the summer than in the midst of a season. This young squad will have to deal with that, they already had a manager who taught them for the past 18 months how to play. If you have an experienced player, he can quickly switch things and know how to play the way the new manager wants. But young players will take a lot more time. They're not experienced in terms of how to switch those things.

"I hope I don't see a struggle for the rest of the season. There's still a lot to play for. The games are coming thick and fast. We have the semi-final against Arsenal [in the Carabao Cup], then you have the Premier League and Champions League. Liam needs to find a way of getting this team to start winning straight away. He needs to play good football and win games. I hope he can be able to do that."

Mikel was speaking to GOAL as part of a new campaign for the Google Pixel 10, likening his switch to the smartphone to his decision to sign for Chelsea in 2006 despite a deal being agreed to join Manchester United one year prior. He held a five-hour meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson to discuss a move and was even unveiled as a Red Devils player in a Nike shirt, only for the decision to be reversed and the midfielder headed to Stamford Bridge instead.

"It's the transfer window, isn't it? It's time for us to look back at my transfer saga. I know we can look back at it now and have a little laugh, but it was time for me to make my decision," he said. "That is the message behind the campaign as well. Don't be scared to switch things up, don't be scared to go with your heart, to make your own decisions, to create your own lane. That is the message behind the transfer to Pixel and the campaign.

"Back then, [Chelsea] wasn't the biggest club in the world, we had to create that history. We had to create what we see today. It took us nearly 15 years or so to be able to create what the club is all about today - one of the biggest clubs in the world. It was a great time for me to make my decision, going with my heart and not just going with what is out there and what everybody would go for. It’s about going with my heart, how I feel, how do I create my own history with this Chelsea team that is just growing.

"Obviously Jose Mourinho just joined the football club back then. I look back at Manchester United that won everything, why go with the trusted and tested that is Manchester United? Or do I go with Chelsea, create my own bit of history with the club and create my own name as well, which is exactly what I did.

"The message behind this campaign translates to that. Always go with your heart, always go with the way you feel, always know there's going to be an option out there. You don't have to go with what everybody is going with. You can also go with something that you can feel with your heart and which you believe is the right thing to do. That just translates to this transfer to the Pixel campaign which is absolutely amazing."

So would Mikel say has no regrets over signing for Chelsea over United? "Oh, yeah, definitely! Right decision," was his response. "I won everything with the football club. I was so lucky to play with so many fantastic players and under so many fantastic managers... we won the Champions League, the Premier League, we won everything. We were very successful, I'm very happy to have created that path that the young players we see today are enjoying the fruits of our labour. It's something that when I look back, I'm very, very pleased and very happy with my decision."

Ozgur Kirazci, Senior Marketing Director for Google UK, added: "The January transfer window is a major moment in the football calendar for players and fans alike, so we're delighted to partner with John Obi Mikel, shine a light on his amazing story and consider the benefits of switching to something new. There has never been a better time for fans to make their own switch to the Google Pixel 10, which has Pixel's most powerful chip, an incredible camera, and Gemini built in to help supercharge productivity and creativity."

Fans can follow in John Obi Mikel’s footsteps and #TransfertoPixel this January by trading in their old phone — and claim up to an extra £300. For more details, visit Google Store: https://store.google.com/category/phones?hl=en-GB