Mikel's tactical flaw

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

No offense or disrespect for anyone , but showing your support for Chelsea isn't by defending the likes of Mikel when criticized but its by criticizing them .

Are you high?

[BlueLyon 9,359]

If Mikel would play for Newcastle right now, I bet everyone would want him to be here, like you want Tiote. Since RDM came, Mikel started play and results got better. And to add that Danny lost his form. But yet we made better results. Weird isnt it? And you want to sell him or criticise? If he would play more regulary, he would be now fantastic. One of top DMs in world. Yes, he is still young, at 25, he has long career. Tiote was mostly unknown until age of 25, when Nufc came back to PL (last year). And now he is great. Why dont you see potential in Mikel, but want anyone else, I dont get it. Be happy we actualy have him. It always that, whatever you dont have, will always be better and you will want it. Essien can also return, if he at least gets his fitness back and power/agression.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Fucking hell, Seb, what a post

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Don't tell me what is my job as a fan.Mikel would never walk in any good team besides us ..If u just look at our last games against every decent team we've played its quite obvious we got totally dominated in midfield (City,Barca,Arse,Spuds even the scum), if there is a very very weak spot in our team its central midfield.We are consantly getting overran against any half decent team we play.And as "midfielder who can dictate the tempo" - Mikel is failing so hard in the big games.And this isn't just my opinion its facts.And facts are ;

1.Mikel cannot break up play or win the ball.

2.He cannot dictate tempo in big games.

3.He is mediocre.

Our weekest part is midield?!

If our attackers would be at leas decent, they would try to attack. Instead they just lose ball everytime and pressure is on defence. Most of time, opponent attacks us, because we have shit wingers and strikers. Apart from Mata. And then what do you expect from Mikel? To defend all 90 minutes because our attackers cant do shit in attack?

Imagine Busquets instead of Mikel. He would get ripped apart every time. You are blind man.

Take example: Mikel gets ball, passes to Kalou/Malouda/Torres/Danny who loses it right away, because he is shit. And then Mikel has to run back and try to stop counter attack because our great wingers and strikers cant keep ball. And that repeats 100 times in one game against better opponent. Sure Mikel will eventualy make mistake, he would be under pressure whole game. Better players around you make you better you know? Just look at Cahill, he evolved much since he joined better squad from Bolton. If we get proper attack, Mikel will be world class!

Besides, you know that Mikel played huge role in 2009/10 season, when we won double? Essien was injured lot that time and Mikel played fantasticaly. Better than Tiote, Mvila, Song nowdays.

Ramires, Cech, Mata, Mikel, Cole, Terry, Iva, Cahill, Luiz should not be sold. They are great players to build around.

Two months ago, I wanted Mikel to go, but after his great performances, I eat my words. I guess

some of you missed last two months...

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I can't stop laughing at the thread's title

Mikel is the team's best tackler, he wins everything in the air and has a huge tactical awareness in terms of covering by example. Plus, he's undoubtely the most skillfull midfielder we have at the moment. By skillfull I mean the way to keep the ball under control, the ball protection. That and his near 100% success in his passing game (considering the genuine crap he receives most of the time in an over exposed zone) makes him very solid when it comes to contains a high pressing.

I don't understand how so much people can't understand the fact that it's impossible to have 2 offensive full backs (even if under AVB they started from the back instead of sitting upfront like under Carlo, the result on the team balance is significantly the same) without balance provided by a Mikel-like kind of player. A team balance depends of covering relations between the players and the lines of players.

Villas Boas was too ambitious and striped Mikel from his options, I start to think that how horrible the team was in transition phasis was not enough to show how important Mikel is. But anyway, it's like the cruisade against "pure goalscorers" like Gomez, Falcao or Huntelaar: people will never be happy with their playing style even with as much goals than games played because it's the mass mediatic formatting that wants that.

Of course like everyone, he makes mistakes. But considering the zone he plays in, and the crap passes he receives to provide a quality pass (not the most ambitious, but it's his role*), considering his consistency and strength to regain the ball ; I think the criticism he receives is harsh.

*: Two different points:

• Sergio Busquets is a dick, but an excellent player. His only difference is that his role is a bit wider that Mikel's because he launches attacks and orientates the play from the deep. It's due to the instructions he receives (watch again Lampard's goal at Blackburn if you think Mikel can't play vertically) and the oiled animation making every player moving and providing everytime 3 solutions to the holder of the ball.
  
• Romeu showed good things under no pressing like against Foolham in the league cup. But in terms of his passing then, there was several problems: he wanted to build the game from the back: it creates some waste in his passing game and then, new situations to cope with. With Mikel's reliability, we don't often face counter attacks from our own distribution phasis**. Plus, Romeu got upfront sometimes with the ball whereas being the holding man. It created then an inbalance.
  

**: It's like at Swansea City, Allen and Sigurdsson are that great this season because there is a 100% man behind him allowing them only to focus on a pertinent run without keeping an eye on their own opposite man in midfield. At Chelsea, Mikel allows Lampard to score 27 goals in one season in 2010 by example.

At Anfield the other evening, our midfield had no density: even Spearing-Henderson seemed more reliable. Romeu and Essien were awful tactically, they were anywhere thet didn't had to be. Suarez leaving his upfront positions aspirated (I don't know if you say that in english lol) the two center backs who were pretty often too high, with at least one of the two in the middle of the field. It's exactly the same when you play PES or FIFA and when you have to defend, you choose your CB to press the adverse midfield holding the ball. The "shift" of marking leaves one striker alone and quite everytime you conceide a goal.

And something very interesting, arguably a point to talk about: we qualified to the Champions League final thanks to an excellent pair featuring Lampard and Mikel, very disciplined defensively. And in a quite funny manner, with our 2 poorest tactical midfields, we conceide 4 goals against a team who hasn't even score 1 goal every 5 games at home. I can't imagine Mikel being totally innocent in that process

Expected nothing less from you here SeB. Excellent post, you should convert it into an article for the site. I'm sure we'd get tons of hits from most fans when Mikel is in a headline.

[RamiCFC9 258]

We can talk all year is Mikel shi te or not actually .But what matter is : iam pretty sure RA won't settle down with players like Mikel.RA has many bad football habbits but at least he wants and craves for the best (just like me), he won't settle for mediocricity and iam happy about this fact.

[SeB 1,281]

Yes, let's sign Yann M'Villa !

[Strike 6,956]

Yes, let's sign Yann M'Villa !

yeah. I heard he's lookin to move into Londons luxurious jails

[SeB 1,281]

Anyway I liked him 2 years ago when I did think that because he was just 19 he had a huge potential to fulfill. At the end of the day he has the same weaknesses and scattering on his 3rd season. And he is unable to show how he can play, he's not a DM, he's not a CM, not mix of the 2. He's just one thing: overrated

[BlueLyon 9,359]

We can talk all year is Mikel shi te or not actually .But what matter is : iam pretty sure RA won't settle down with players like Mikel.RA has many bad football habbits but at least he wants and craves for the best (just like me), he won't settle for mediocricity and iam happy about this fact.

You dont get it that once we will have better attack, there will be more space in midfield for Mikel to play. And he will become better with better players. He has been along Mata, Iva, Ramires, Drogba last 2 months our best player. You say he is bad, then you would sell Mata, Drogba, Ramires and Iva too? Because as you say, they are all bad, since they all performed equaly good.

Just like Mata, Mikel will be better with better players around. And I can easily say he is better than Tiote or Mvila.

[DYC. 7,542]

People who say he's poor, I don't see it. People who say he's great, I don't see that either. He's solid imo.

[GodZola 630]

People who say he's poor, I don't see it. People who say he's great, I don't see that either. He's solid imo.

Sums it up almost perfectly, goes to show you don't have to write an essay to get adulation on here - one sentence was enough....

Not going to go over old ground - got the tee shirt, will just add a couple of pointers.

Mikel without question deserves his place in the team at present, he has finally found some consistency in his game (albeit a couple of months) something he has been devoid of, I hope he continues this form into the whole of next season. Some members on here are hypocrites as they were slating him for large parts of this season because he had a very poor spell under AVB but now he shows some progress & is finally starting to show his potential they won't have a word said against him.....its forbidden!!!

What I have noticed is that he plays so much better when he has Frank playing with him, seems that they have a great understanding, also think Mata has helped him too because his movement helps all the midfielders as he is not just giving them an outlet he also takes others opponents out of the way thus giving options to move the ball to our other attackers, such a clever intelligent player is Mata, very underated player in PL terms.

Won't go overboard with praise as this has been a short spell but Mikel has made a stride forward in improvement, let's hope its the start of things to come.

[SeB 1,281]

I'm not his biggest fan on earth. But Mikel's bashing is pretty funny considering no one else than Makelele played for the club some years ago... Some may remember Makélélé was criticized at Madrid and that his importance was underlined only when he left. I dont pretend to say Mikel is as good as Makélélé but at the end of the day it's the same process. Though for me, Mikel's absences (due to managers choices or injuries) did siufficiently highlight his importance.

But we can't forget to take under consideration that we didn't achieved any success without Mikel since 2008

[manpe 10,855]

Seb, I read somewhere you're studying to be a scout? Is this true? I thought it was just to emphasize your excellent football knowledge but now I think you actually might have some kind of footballing education.

[SeB 1,281]

Mikel without question deserves his place in the team at present, he has finally found some consistency in his game (albeit a couple of months) something he has been devoid of, [...] he had a very poor spell under AVB but now he shows some progress

Mikel was injured then his father got abducted. You may recognize it's not the best context to be judged, especially because I think Mikel has proven enough his consistency since he's a regular starter.

Plus I don't know if you noticed that during the preseason Villas Boas changed the instructions which were given to Mikel in the past. He asked him to continue his runs and to be available higher on the pitch. He asked him to be a target on free kicks and corners (not a bad idea at all), he had a disallowed goal against Kitchee.

The problem wasn't to try to enlarge Mikel's palette but rather questionning the relevance of the timing. Villas Boas wanted to try different animations, with different kind of playmakers (Zhirkov as a b2b against Portsmouth, Benayoun number 10 against Kitchee). I think his main mistake was to change also Mikel's role, which gave different roles to everybody whereas it would have been more relevant to maintain something known.

[SeB 1,281]

Seb, I read somewhere you're studying to be a scout? Is this true? I thought it was just to emphasize your excellent football knowledge but now I think you actually might have some kind of footballing education.

I'm just a youth coach, it's enough for the moment lol

[GodZola 630]

Mikel was injured then his father got abducted. You may recognize it's not the best context to be judged, especially because I think Mikel has proven enough his consistency since he's a regular starter.

Plus I don't know if you noticed that during the preseason Villas Boas changed the instructions which were given to Mikel in the past. He asked him to continue his runs and to be available higher on the pitch. He asked him to be a target on free kicks and corners (not a bad idea at all), he had a disallowed goal against Kitchee.

The problem wasn't to try to enlarge Mikel's palette but rather questionning the relevance of the timing. Villas Boas wanted to try different animations, with different kind of playmakers (Zhirkov as a b2b against Portsmouth, Benayoun number 10 against Kitchee). I think his main mistake was to change also Mikel's role, which gave different roles to everybody whereas it would have been more relevant to maintain something known.

Umm, his poor form lasted sometime after his father got abducted, Birmingham at home in the FA cup was a prime example, he was atrocious & halled off at half time & rightly so, I was there that game & I can tell you large parts of the crowd wanted him off long before then!

As for AVB's instructions, well he wanted all our players (not just Mikel) to start moving the ball vertically instead of horizontally which I agreed with 100%, he also wanted the same as Ancelotti had kept stating in that he wanted the ball moved quicker, unfortunately AVB's ideals didn't work for this team & players like Mikel would of been sold if he had kept his Job, unfortunately AVB's man-management skills let him down. Good players adapt to a different way of playing what their used too, Mikel was struggling along with others, AVB was trying to change our philosophy & for the better imho, he just tried to do it all to quickly instead of a gradual change.

As I stated before, I've never been convinced by him but credit where & when it is due, for me he is playing the best I have ever seen him in a Chelsea shirt, I think he has raised his game due to competition amongst the squad - exactly the reaction you would want as a manager.

[Kostas 1,468]

Mikel's early season form had more to do with our tactics than his own game. When you have your fullback occupying winger positions and your center backs being so far apart that they're likely to be mistaken for fullbacks you're left with a defensive midfielder who is extremely isolated and has so much ground to cover that even if he wasn't as imobile as he is he would struggle to cover the majority of areas 11 and 14 by his own.

Alas once AVB noticed our wingers weren't doing their job (no Sturridge and Mata scoring and assisting is not enough) he switched to a more concervative backline positioning which coincided with Mikel being out of form and Romeu being in.