Mikel considers Chelsea slump

Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel has been discussing the reasons why the Blues have found themselves struggling in the Premiership of late. Chelsea drew 1-1 with Birmingham at the weekend.

Arsenal leapfrogged Chelsea to top of the league this weekend, and Mikel believes that league rivals now understand better ways to defeat the Blues.

"Other teams are trying to find a way to play against us," said Mikel.

"Before, we could find a ball in behind for our strikers and we have the players in our team who can search for the strikers whenever they make a run.

"Teams are now trying to run with our strikers or stay goal-side, which makes it difficult for the rest of us to find those balls in behind all the time.

"So we can keep doing it and they will keep reading our passes or we can look for a way to change some things, leave that for a little bit and go back to it if the space starts to open up in games again."