Mikel's tactical flaw

[Rambo 1,729]

Essien>>>>>Mikel.

Essien's not even half the player he was back in his prime.

[francozola 2,040]

Yeah i know put that in my edit at the bottom, didn't read the full post only the begining from the topic. So it seems it was bad from Mikel in the first place to be put in that position. But if you look at the first picture, forget about all the previous faults, Bertrand is the one who has to make the tackle. This is where quality comes in, he has to make a good tackle. That's why you need quality players, If Mikel helps out he's taking a huge gamble, hes further away and he's leaving space behind him, Bertrand is infront of him and has time to make a tackle, which he should of done.

But i know it wasn't his fault to be in there in the first place, well done to him for covering.

yep I saw your edit, you said you couldn't make out the number - hence my reply!

I know what you mean regarding the first picture, but still imo Bertrand should have been helped out by a midfielder coming from the other side, so that Diame would have lesser space to run into. Mikel is only further away because he hasn't bothered to move at all. He's actually moved further away from the ball/goal if you compare the first and second pictures

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Personally I think Mikel's defensive game could be better but he has been so consistent under RDM its been quite a shock so I shall not criticize him as much as I should for that goal!

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

You must really, really, REALLY hate Mikel.

[manco 38]

Personally I think Mikel's defensive game could be better but he has been so consistent under RDM its been quite a shock so I shall not criticize him as much as I should for that goal!

You must really, really, REALLY hate Mikel.

It's not for just for THAT goal. And it's not a matter of hate, but for the last few seasons he hasn't done much

to justify the Chelsea shirt, maybe a spot on the bench.

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

It's not for just for THAT goal. And it's not a matter of hate, but for the last few seasons he hasn't done much

to justify the Chelsea shirt, maybe a spot on the bench.

Personally him and Romeu should be the two holding players imo, he may not of justified himself much but he has done more than Essien recently and there isn't a chance we will see Essien back to his best at this rate...

[capriccioso 2,545]

Mikel is probably the best in his position at our club. I'll have none of this. Everyone makes positional mistakes, do you want me to bring up every time Torres has not been in a good position? Oh wait, its okay because he cost 50 million and that automatically makes him untouchable good.

[Clevemayer 764]

exactly this is an areal play and you can clearly see ppl talkint herfe have no clue of football they just start to throw around with some words they've heard from tv, like awareness and things like that, in fact the thing obi has been most gett'n credit for under mou and many others was his awareness of the game.t

he second picture postet is a complete joke, there are three DEFENDERS behind the ball, and Mikel is in the Middle of the mix, there are 2 against 4 players and in the very final moment, Mikel is a defensive MIDFIELDEr not a defender, he has to COVER, and iv there is Cahill or Terry or Bosingwar or anybody else in his natural position, mikel has to COVER and ONLY COVER HIS Area, and thats in and around the midfield circle...

If you search for "wrong positioning" of an player (hate this word, because if you ever played football by youre self you would know its always 50:50, whethter the position you're in is right or not).... you would find more than once oriol misplaceing a pass and Ess standing completely on the wrong place...

again IF there is a player in his natural DEFENSIVE POSITION to cover... it would be DISGUSTING if Mikel would stand near by him... this DON'T ever has to happen, only if the manager tells you to be next to an special player and marking him with two men...

it would have been a Mistake of Mikel to run there despite Cahill standing there... a MISTAKE in all tactical sences of areal play...

gosh... ppl are so pathetic...

[manco 38]

exactly this is an areal play and you can clearly see ppl talkint herfe have no clue of football they just start to throw around with some words they've heard from tv, like awareness and things like that, in fact the thing obi has been most gett'n credit for under mou and many others was his awareness of the game.t

he second picture postet is a complete joke, there are three DEFENDERS behind the ball, and Mikel is in the Middle of the mix, there are 2 against 4 players and in the very final moment, Mikel is a defensive MIDFIELDEr not a defender, he has to COVER, and iv there is Cahill or Terry or Bosingwar or anybody else in his natural position, mikel has to COVER and ONLY COVER HIS Area, and thats in and around the midfield circle...

If you search for "wrong positioning" of an player (hate this word, because if you ever played football by youre self you would know its always 50:50, whethter the position you're in is right or not).... you would find more than once oriol misplaceing a pass and Ess standing completely on the wrong place...

again IF there is a player in his natural DEFENSIVE POSITION to cover... it would be DISGUSTING if Mikel would stand near by him... this DON'T ever has to happen, only if the manager tells you to be next to an special player and marking him with two men...

it would have been a Mistake of Mikel to run there despite Cahill standing there... a MISTAKE in all tactical sences of areal play...

gosh... ppl are so pathetic...

What is clear is that you don't know much about real football or reading.

If Cahill or Luiz go forward the offside trap fails and we get easy goals in, as we did against Arsenal (5-3) or many games under AVB.

Besides, I said at the beginning that this is just an example, and there have been many similar mistakes before, so there's no use

focusing just on this event. And you don't know me and what knowledge I have of football so quit bitchin'

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Now you can see why SAF was really interested in him.Glad that we snatched him from them.lol

[Clevemayer 764]

What is clear is that you don't know much about real football or reading.

If Cahill or Luiz go forward the offside trap fails and we get easy goals in, as we did against Arsenal (5-3) or many games under AVB.

Besides, I said at the beginning that this is just an example, and there have been many similar mistakes before, so there's no use

focusing just on this event. And you don't know me and what knowledge I have of football so quit bitchin'

its nough when i see what you're talking about and I've played the beautyfull game for many years and I have hade some family members play'n in quite good leagues around germany, so I think I know what I'm talking about.

which offside trap?, if terry and the rest of the back for hold the line and cahill runs accross the striker, in my opinion the final line stays the same, because cahill doesn't run BEHIND them, he runs in front of them... this is nonsense.

If you play areal covering there is no reason to smash mikel for this scene in special and generally spoken it speaks volumes if you tell us this but Mou, Ancelotti, Grant and Guuss think his reading was more then well, at least so well that they played him quite often...

so maybe you're the greatest footballing brain on this planet not gett'n a deserved spot on the sideline, or you're just an amateur football fan like the rest of us with subpar understanding of the game but thinkin you could mastermind mou or AVB or anybody else...

[Kostas 1,468]

just an amateur football fan like the rest of us with subpar understanding of the game but thinkin you could mastermind mou or AVB or anybody else...

That's signature material!

[Clevemayer 764]

That's signature material!

you're free to use it

[Spike 12,049]

Now you can see why SAF was really interested in him.Glad that we snatched him from them.lol

Nah, he was Trequartista back then. José converted him from an Attacker to a Defender.

Fun Fact: At the Under-21 World Cup in 2005 Mikel in the second best player after Lionel Messi, winning the Silver Ball in the process.

Mikel is probably the second best CDM in England after Alex Song. Though to be fair Song doesn't do much defending.

[silkycuts 19]

mikel simply needs to emulate makalele (release the simple pass as soon as you get the ball). He is very talented on the ball, but hence lies the problem, the skills he has works well for an attacking midfielder or even a more central role. But for defensive midfielders such skills are useless, because any cockups would expose the whole defense... ala the Arsenal 3-5 game.

Just Imagine if Makalele would have tried to do a Pat Nevin each time he recieved the ball... we would never have won all those trophies.

I really believe if Mikel is promoted to the lampard role once lamps retires, we will see one the best midfielders in the world.

[Amblève. 4,995]

mikel simply needs to emulate makalele

"Simply" is definitively the wrong word in that conclusion.

[RamiCFC9 258]

I don't rate Mikel as CDM, his postioning is average, he isn't aggresive, rarely makes succesful tackles.

[Steve 10,227]

I don't rate Mikel as CDM, his postioning is average, he isn't aggresive, rarely makes succesful tackles.

You watching the same Mikel as I am?