Mikel vs Blackburn: Vertical Passes from the "Horizontal Man"

[CareFreeChronic 238]

Chelsea beat Blackburn with a Frank Lampard header goal, assisted by Branislav Ivanovic who crossed the ball from the right. Both should be applauded for the goal but it was John Obi Mikel's vertical pass from midfield that set Ivanovic free on the right flank. A player who is known for his horizontal passes comes up with a vertical ball that started the attack. We will look at how this particular instance happened and what it means in the bigger picture as far as what Villas-Boas wants from his defensive midfielder.

http://carefreechronicles.blogspot.com/2011/11/mikel-vs-blackburn-vertical-passes-from.html

Cheers!

[Igi26 346]

Top, top work mate. Well done.

[zolayes 14,489]

excellent thanks

[Badboy 1,526]

We certainly noticed it in the away stand, it was magnificent and he has that in his locker.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Chelsea beat Blackburn with a Frank Lampard header goal, assisted by Branislav Ivanovic who crossed the ball from the right. Both should be applauded for the goal but it was John Obi Mikel's vertical pass from midfield that set Ivanovic free on the right flank. A player who is known for his horizontal passes comes up with a vertical ball that started the attack. We will look at how this particular instance happened and what it means in the bigger picture as far as what Villas-Boas wants from his defensive midfielder.

http://carefreechron...asses-from.html

Cheers!

Excellent work..as always. How can you do that in such a small amount of time? Amazing.

Thank you, and please keep it up.

[Kojo 4,676]

Excellent work.

John Obi Mikel should of been adapted to a creative player, more forward, he is gifted in passing, his passing is usually 90-100 percent accuracy, just perfect pin point accuracy. He's a good safe player, and you feel safe when watching him on the ball. But for me Mikel can only be our future DM if he loses the strength and goes for pace, players always outrun him in midfield, now he doesn't even bother tracking, the biggest example of this was in the Valencia game, he allowed play constantly by Valencia, if we had Essien or Romeu it wouldn't of happened. Mikel is just far too slow, his tackling is good, not perfect but it's still fit tackling. He just needs to have the pace to break up play, brilliant passer, but for who he is now he should of been a creative player in my opinion, his passing forward is something we miss out on, and i believe he used to be a creative player and had good vision but we adapted him to a DM. Not to sure though.

Anyway my best explanation of Mikel and i say it many times on here is... good on the ball, but bad off the ball

[robdog 2,084]

Chelsea beat Blackburn with a Frank Lampard header goal, assisted by Branislav Ivanovic who crossed the ball from the right. Both should be applauded for the goal but it was John Obi Mikel's vertical pass from midfield that set Ivanovic free on the right flank. A player who is known for his horizontal passes comes up with a vertical ball that started the attack. We will look at how this particular instance happened and what it means in the bigger picture as far as what Villas-Boas wants from his defensive midfielder.

http://carefreechron...asses-from.html

Cheers!

Thanks for that explanation. Obi Wan Mikel IMHO is a rock in the midfield & at times can be an excellent shield for our defense. I know there are many hatas out there on Mikel, but I appreciate his calming influence in our middle.

[gary gordon 1,777]

Fuck the Haters! Mikel is true blue in my opinion and always will be.. His cool head on the ball is something our centre backs need to take a look at. Alex and Terry especially...

[5354 204]

This is what we want to see more from Mikel. More of such SUCCESSFUL vertical forward passes.

You gotta credit Givet to be slow to recover... thats why the pass managed to get through to Ivanovic... usually it just gets cut off.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Good read.

Mikel is useful in the right situation, in games where you do need the boring 1-0 win, like at Blackburn. Other times he will be a hindrance to the pace of the squad & this is where Romeu would more efficient.

[blue out west 27]

Excellent work.

John Obi Mikel should of been adapted to a creative player, more forward, he is gifted in passing, his passing is usually 90-100 percent accuracy, just perfect pin point accuracy. He's a good safe player, and you feel safe when watching him on the ball. But for me Mikel can only be our future DM if he loses the strength and goes for pace, players always outrun him in midfield, now he doesn't even bother tracking, the biggest example of this was in the Valencia game, he allowed play constantly by Valencia, if we had Essien or Romeu it wouldn't of happened. Mikel is just far too slow, his tackling is good, not perfect but it's still fit tackling. He just needs to have the pace to break up play, brilliant passer, but for who he is now he should of been a creative player in my opinion, his passing forward is something we miss out on, and i believe he used to be a creative player and had good vision but we adapted him to a DM. Not to sure though.

Anyway my best explanation of Mikel and i say it many times on here is... good on the ball, but bad off the ball

Stuff like this completely mystifies me. Mikel is an attacking mid/centre mid who was converted to DM. Also, when he plays DM people should expect him to play the position, its not the DM role to make forward runs off the ball and be aggressive with movement. A DM is supposed to move into space left behind and cover for players going forward. Mikel is always the only mid that doesn't have the license to pretty much pass and move as he pleases or make runs into the box. Romeu would've gotten out of position vs Valencia as he doesn't have as good ability to read moves and wouldn't done as well under pressure. I like Romeu but he has a lot to grow, and Essien is more like Ramires than Mikel (box to box not DM).

If he passed forward more he wouldn't be a DM, he'd be a totally unnecessary deep lying playmaker. If Mikel wasn't primarily played in a holding position then it would put undue workload and make a waste of players like Lamps and Mata.

I think he's clearly the best DM we have and for good reason, maybe there's Xabi Alonso ahead of him in the world but he is pretty damn good at the position. Not to say that he couldn't be quality played further up the pitch, but we need him more back at DM.

[blue out west 27]

Good read.

Mikel is useful in the right situation, in games where you do need the boring 1-0 win, like at Blackburn. Other times he will be a hindrance to the pace of the squad & this is where Romeu would more efficient.

Romeu, the guy who coming on in just for stoppage time made more mistakes than Mikel did through 90. So sick and tired of the Mikel bashing. There is nothing Romeu does better, people are just on his nuts because he's from La Masia.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Romeu, the guy who coming on in just for stoppage time made more mistakes than Mikel did through 90. So sick and tired of the Mikel bashing. There is nothing Romeu does better, people are just on his nuts because he's from La Masia.

It's not bashing. Relax yourself.

Nothing to do with the fact he's from Barcelona. He could come from Nottingham Forest for all I care, but from what he's done when he's called upon, he deserves his place. I'm sick and tired of explaining Mikel & Romeu's differences. I'm not saying Mikel is shit ffs. I'm saying there's a different situation where Romeu is effective & where Mikel is.

[Owizzy 19]

Good analyses on Mikel guys, Right now that most of our players are performing below par, he is amongst the few who score reasonble marks alongside Chech and Ashley cole (I just wished Ashley could incorporate his right leg, Then he would be the best that position has)

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

Andre's been playing Mikel more like a playmaker than like an anchor man, and I'm glad about that because Mikel is one of the two best passers we have along with Mata.

Mikel is playing in the wrong position, though. With Andre insisting a high line, we need a midfield sweeper with decent pace like Romeu in the DM position. Mikel should move to the CM position where we can influence the game better.

[blue out west 27]

It's not bashing. Relax yourself.

Nothing to do with the fact he's from Barcelona. He could come from Nottingham Forest for all I care, but from what he's done when he's called upon, he deserves his place. I'm sick and tired of explaining Mikel & Romeu's differences. I'm not saying Mikel is shit ffs. I'm saying there's a different situation where Romeu is effective & where Mikel is.

Romeu isn't better in any way though, thats the thing. He has about the same amount of pace but is smaller and not as strong. Also a good passer of the ball and quite composed but those are Mikel's best qualities. I see Romeu as being a bit more of a natural defender than the converted attacking mid Mikel and for his age is the better tackler (and defender overall). The point is I don't see a situation where Romeu should be played instead of Mikel.

Andre's been playing Mikel more like a playmaker than like an anchor man, and I'm glad about that because Mikel is one of the two best passers we have along with Mata.

Mikel is playing in the wrong position, though. With Andre insisting a high line, we need a midfield sweeper with decent pace like Romeu in the DM position. Mikel should move to the CM position where we can influence the game better.

I think the reason why AVB plays the formation he does with defense and midfield is because we have such a good box to box in Ramires and a versatile centre/left mid in Lamps. WIth Mikel playing the centre space between and behind those 2, they can move freely and link with the fullbacks in attack. AVB is also having Mikel circulate the ball around to start attacking moves and retain possession if a more advanced player gets too much pressure. In possession it looks like he's playing a Pique type role with the 2 CBs behind and to the side w/ both fullbacks advancing, so it ends up with like a 2-1-4-3. I like that the way we're playing provides a lot of width and every game it seems are spacing is getting much better.

[Kojo 4,676]

Stuff like this completely mystifies me. Mikel is an attacking mid/centre mid who was converted to DM. Also, when he plays DM people should expect him to play the position, its not the DM role to make forward runs off the ball and be aggressive with movement. A DM is supposed to move into space left behind and cover for players going forward. Mikel is always the only mid that doesn't have the license to pretty much pass and move as he pleases or make runs into the box. Romeu would've gotten out of position vs Valencia as he doesn't have as good ability to read moves and wouldn't done as well under pressure. I like Romeu but he has a lot to grow, and Essien is more like Ramires than Mikel (box to box not DM).

If he passed forward more he wouldn't be a DM, he'd be a totally unnecessary deep lying playmaker. If Mikel wasn't primarily played in a holding position then it would put undue workload and make a waste of players like Lamps and Mata.

I think he's clearly the best DM we have and for good reason, maybe there's Xabi Alonso ahead of him in the world but he is pretty damn good at the position. Not to say that he couldn't be quality played further up the pitch, but we need him more back at DM.

You seriously think he's one of the best in his position?, well sorry but that mystifies me, Mikel rarely tracks players and hasnt got the pace to break up play, Romeu has, and how do you know that?, how do you know Romeu would of looked lost?, put your crystal ball away for a second. Obviously no one is invincible, somethings happen which cannot be controlled, it's basically just really good football, but Valencia were taking a dump in our half and Mikel couldn't do anything, Romeu could of at least done something and had the pace too, it would of at least kept some control in the team and confidence. Mikel in my opinion is too slow. I'm not talking about he should stick in DM, i think he's wasted there and could of been a better central midfield player, rather than being a defensive midfielder. His passing is something we are missing out on, but it's my opinion and fair enough if you think Mikel can do a better job than Romeu.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Logic 101:

Just because someone says that a player is better than another player, does not mean that he is implying that the latter is shit/no-good. It's like saying: "Getting a PHD is better than just graduating college." ; That does not, by any means, insinuate that college graduates are stupid.

My point is, no one is bashing Mikel. This thread is made to praise Mikel. However, I believe that the point that was being made is that Romeu has put in great performances every time he set foot on the pitch, and has showed he has the ability to play at a higher tempo (I don't mean he has more pace) than Mikel. So maybe he has a earned the right to a chance to prove himself at a higher level in the form of a couple of PL matches starting position.