Mikel John Obi

[Severinb 309]

Brilliant through ball to set up Nigeria's 5th:

Mate it was a great pass put they are playing against thaiti! If torres scores against thaiti will you be praising him? And mikel has not scored yet I want him to score! Haha

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Mate it was a great pass put they are playing against thaiti! If torres scores against thaiti will you be praising him? And mikel has not scored yet I want him to score! Haha

If Torres scores a "Van Busten" against Tahiti, yes I will praise him. Was excellent vision and execution of the pass regardless of the opposition.

[Manuf 1,448]

If Torres scores a "Van Busten" against Tahiti, yes I will praise him. Was excellent vision and execution of the pass regardless of the opposition.

DOESNT MATTER MATE MIKEL PLAYS GOOD ONLY AGAINST POOR OPPOSITION LET ME WRITE A WHOLE ARTICLE ABOUT HOW SHIT HE IS AND YOU'LL SEE

[CHOULO19 24,332]

DOESNT MATTER MATE MIKEL PLAYS GOOD ONLY AGAINST POOR OPPOSITION LET ME WRITE A WHOLE ARTICLE ABOUT HOW SHIT HE IS AND YOU'LL SEE

Plays good against poor opposition?! You are completely overrating him!

[mediator 2,026]

Come on, there is only one professional playing for Tahiti ? I'm sure he can be world class vs u17 side too

[Kostas 1,468]

I haven't changed my position on the two players in the slightest but if this is what the Kalou thread read to zolayes back in the day then I salute him for his patience. Painful to read.

[JDY 1,290]

I haven't changed my position on the two players in the slightest but if this is what the Kalou thread read to zolayes back in the day then I salute him for his patience. Painful to read.

What is/was your position?

[ANDRECHO 432]

Brilliant through ball to set up Nigeria's 5th:

Are you kidding me , only one professional player in TAHITI , my God ..

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Are you kidding me , only one professional player in TAHITI , my God ..

What does that has to do with anything? It was a brilliant pass regardless of the opposition, just like Oscar's pass was a few days ago.

Do try to cut down on all the hate, it's not good for you.

[ANDRECHO 432]

What does that has to do with anything? It was a brilliant pass regardless of the opposition, just like Oscar's pass was a few days ago.

Do try to cut down on all the hate, it's not good for you.

Come on , relax ... just an opinion , is a great pass ..

[klopfzeichen 78]

Mikel played really well today. I don't know what is the problem some people have with him, he's a player of great quality.

[robsblubot 3,212]

What does that has to do with anything? It was a brilliant pass regardless of the opposition, just like Oscar's pass was a few days ago.

Do try to cut down on all the hate, it's not good for you.

sorry, but I disagree. It wasn't the same pass as the entire defense was in line (a player is offside in the pic BTW). It was an easy pass to pick, and kudos to him for picking it. Come on, any midfielder picks one of these passes once in a while (did it myself many times), it's not that difficult. Oscar's one was far more difficult because how fast and dynamic the play was and because the opposition was not completely shit like Tahiti.

Let me emphasize that point: Mikel isn't shit (regardless how you rate him), but Tahiti's National Team is.

Now, how many assists does Mikel have in the PL? We know how many goals he's got... So, that's one player our opponent does not have to mark, because they know nothing is going to come from him. So, however good Mikel may be in defense (sometimes he is sometimes not so much IMO), the fact he is so poor attacking is always going to be an issue.

[laura90 556]

Mikel is talented guy, who can be very good at times, but seems to lack inner drive and motivation. Maybe he never found DM role appealing to be world beater in it or maybe he never had natural talent to be the best DM in the world. But he was ther when we played nice football too.

Under every manager he was starter and after a certain period of time Mikel used to found himself on the bench. That shows him as a player of immense potential but sometimes lazy and inconsistent. That is exactly why we have a divided opinion over him here. Some support him for his potential, others criticize him for the latter part.

My opinion on Mikel is that he would do well if the players around him were fast and skilfull on the pitch, which would compensate for his weaknesses and he would find extra space to operate in and we would (maybe) see forward movement and passes from him, however the trouble is that he doesnt have those players at here. We are so out of balance as a squad at present [in the central midfield, especially] that its not just Mikel, many players are finding it hard to acclimatize themselves.

The point isn't that we have bad players, but it is that we have players who do not complement each other in terms of their quality and technique. They are too similar. Ramirez, cannot deliver a forward ball either. He cannot go past players either. So is the case with Lampard. All three may be different in their qualities but are extremely similar in their weaknesses.

Which is why if you place them together, all three or even two of them on the pitch, we wont see anyone making any significant impact on the pitch, in the midfield area. We can see Lampard scoring goals [which is a strength of his], Ramirez with his energy and tackles [which is his strenght] and Mikel with his physical presence to break up play [a strength that not many possess] but none of the three mentioned can boss the midfield. They lose possession cheaply and fail to activate our attacking midfielders through their game and passing or quick movement of the ball. Which is why in my opinion singling out one is unfair. The problem isn't just Mikel, its the compatibility issue with the player playing by his side.

Mikel needs playmaker by his side, someone with pace on the ball and ability to go past players, and he would be much better. But if we tried Oscar as our central (playmaker) , we would need an excellent, completely reliable DM by his side.

[The Mak 4,459]

What does that has to do with anything? It was a brilliant pass regardless of the opposition, just like Oscar's pass was a few days ago.

Yeah, and I'm pretty sure there are good looking DMs in the Championship and League 1, but that doesn't make them fit enough to put on a Chelsea shirt. Heskey also bangs them in for fun in the A-league and Bebe looked stellar in the Homeless World Cup.

I think disregarding the level of opposition is a nonsensical argument.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Tahiti are a poor team but people need to stop downplaying the quality of the pass. Ramires for example doesn't have the vision nor technique to pull it off.

He's given much more freedom to attempt those type of plays for his country something he isn't afforded at Chelsea.

Pretty sad to see how much abuse some of our players get. Sturridge got a similar treatment during his time here and after his move to Liverpool most realised he actually wasn't shite after all.

[Blue Armour 4,162]

Tahiti are a poor team but people need to stop downplaying the quality of the pass. Ramires for example doesn't have the vision nor technique to pull it off.

He's given much more freedom to attempt those type of plays for his country something he isn't afforded at Chelsea.

Pretty sad to see how much abuse some of our players get. Sturridge got a similar treatment during his time here and after his move to Liverpool most realised he actually wasn't shite after all.

I agree with the rest of your post, but you're just stereotyping with Ramires there. The guy CAN do more than just run up and down the pitch.

[bleed_blue 136]

Mikel is talented guy, who can be very good at times, but seems to lack inner drive and motivation. Maybe he never found DM role appealing to be world beater in it or maybe he never had natural talent to be the best DM in the world. But he was ther when we played nice football too.

Under every manager he was starter and after a certain period of time Mikel used to found himself on the bench. That shows him as a player of immense potential but sometimes lazy and inconsistent. That is exactly why we have a divided opinion over him here. Some support him for his potential, others criticize him for the latter part.

My opinion on Mikel is that he would do well if the players around him were fast and skilfull on the pitch, which would compensate for his weaknesses and he would find extra space to operate in and we would (maybe) see forward movement and passes from him, however the trouble is that he doesnt have those players at here. We are so out of balance as a squad at present [in the central midfield, especially] that its not just Mikel, many players are finding it hard to acclimatize themselves.

The point isn't that we have bad players, but it is that we have players who do not complement each other in terms of their quality and technique. They are too similar. Ramirez, cannot deliver a forward ball either. He cannot go past players either. So is the case with Lampard. All three may be different in their qualities but are extremely similar in their weaknesses.

Which is why if you place them together, all three or even two of them on the pitch, we wont see anyone making any significant impact on the pitch, in the midfield area. We can see Lampard scoring goals [which is a strength of his], Ramirez with his energy and tackles [which is his strenght] and Mikel with his physical presence to break up play [a strength that not many possess] but none of the three mentioned can boss the midfield. They lose possession cheaply and fail to activate our attacking midfielders through their game and passing or quick movement of the ball. Which is why in my opinion singling out one is unfair. The problem isn't just Mikel, its the compatibility issue with the player playing by his side.

Mikel needs playmaker by his side, someone with pace on the ball and ability to go past players, and he would be much better. But if we tried Oscar as our central (playmaker) , we would need an excellent, completely reliable DM by his side.

That is a load of rubbish. Even if one were to believe this entire hype about Mikel that you are presenting in your post, you want us to change our team to something that will make Mikel look better?

Good. Lay the blame for Mikel's sloppy game and poor abilities on the other 10 men. I can see the logic behind that.

Also, " Mikel with his physical presence to break up play [a strength that not many possess]"

last PL season, Mikel: 3.9 tackles +interceptions per game

Ramires: 4.8 tackles + interceptions per game.

He is not even the best in the team to break up play. If you look around the league, here are some people who actually break up play and their numbers

Lucas Leiva: 7.2 t+i per game

Schneiderlin: 8 t+i per game

Steve Sidwell: 6.5 t+i per game

Sandro: 6.9 t+i per game

Cabaye: 5.2 t+i per game

Claudio yacob: 5.1 t+i per game

Marc Noble: 5.4 t+i per game

Mikel Arteta: 6.1 t+i per game

So I suggest you stop making up stuff to defend Mikel.

Tahiti are a poor team but people need to stop downplaying the quality of the pass. Ramires for example doesn't have the vision nor technique to pull it off.

He's given much more freedom to attempt those type of plays for his country something he isn't afforded at Chelsea.

Pretty sad to see how much abuse some of our players get. Sturridge got a similar treatment during his time here and after his move to Liverpool most realised he actually wasn't shite after all.

With that post you have shown how little you know about the game and our players.

Anybody who has seen Ramires play will know that he is mostly the one who will be making the run to take that pass. (Barca away goal)

One more thing, almost every professional footballer in that situation against Tahiti will have the vision and technique to pull off that through ball.

[Phil Driver 503]

Lets hope that pass puts the price up a bit ,because Jose knows the score on Mikel as did Benitez towards the end .