🇳🇬 Mikel John Obi

[Blue Armour 4,439]

Kalou detractor and a fan of Mikel's play. One wasn't fit to be a starter for any PL club (and earned more than some) while the other used to be amongst our top 4 most technically astute players up until a few transfer windows when we started signing the likes of Mata. Up until last season he was (in my eyes) the easiest player to pick for our starting XI after the likes of Cech and A.Cole.

On a more relavant note, I see the tiring discussion regarding his value/talent absolutely redundant and only wonder whether Mou will be the first Chelsea manager to experiment with him since he did back in the day (apart from a brief attempt by AVB). Mikel's ability to hold the ball under any sort of pressure and lay it off perfectly for a speeding runner could be quite usefull further up the pitch.

Back when Carlo used his diamond formation, I used to think Mikel could serve as an option for the head of the diamond behind the 2 strikers, with his quick passing and ability to hold the ball...

But that was a LONG while ago...I don't think he's going to be changing his role, and I don't think we should go into the season being the first choice DM...Not unless we sign a quality CM to compliment him..

[Jase 43,479]

Speaking about long passes from Mikel, have a look at the 2nd goal here...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqffYs3XOg8

[Tomo 21,751]

One does wonder where Mikel would have been today had he signed for United...

Not great if Anderson is anything to go by.

[Tomo 21,751]

Rumours circulating that Galatasaray's bid would be around £13 million. Not bad considering that's around the rumoured figure for De Rossi.

So that would mean putting net spend into account De Rossi would effectively be a free transfer.

Fuck sake im starting to sound like a Liverpool fan :banghead:

[Tomo 21,751]

And Torres scored 22 goals this season, some great ones in the Europa League, but I can't find many people here who want him to be at the club.

Really? for some weird reason their still seems to be a fair few.

[Jase 43,479]

And Torres scored 22 goals this season, some great ones in the Europa League, but I can't find many people here who want him to be at the club.

Really? On Twitter, there seem to be quite a number of people that still thinks it's worth keeping Torres on the basis of "oh. Torres is improving. He's getting his confidence back." and all that.

And that is rather funny considering basically everyone here is against keeping him at the club.

[The only place to be 11,313]

So that would mean putting net spend into account De Rossi would effectively be a free transfer.

Fuck sake im starting to sound like a Liverpool fan :banghead:

A few years out of a solid pro like De Rossi before a few of the youngsters step up with no real transfer fee....I think even Mikel's staunchest supporters would see the sense in that.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

That was my point in my Mikel/Fellaini piece back in January, Mikel could be used further up.

Here's an intetesting read as well on that subject: That's Santapelota on "Busquets as an advanced midfielder" ?

http://santapelota.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/busquets-as-an-advanced-midfielder/

That's a very interesting point. Mikel definitely has what it takes to play with his back to goal, but if he is to played further up the pitch, can he, after laying the ball off to a fellow midfielder, then join the offense and attack the second/third ball and score on a regular basis? Unless you mean that he is still deployed in the pivot but only exchanges places with Oscar during the play?

If it is the latter, I think there will be plenty of gaps if we lose possession because Mikel is usually the one who covers and protects the back 4 when we lose the ball. We may have to play him next to another defensive midfielder for that work.

But again, very interesting proposal. Would love to see someone attempting to implement here or even at Barca with Busquetes.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The reason why he's never in dangerous positions or positions to score goals is because he indeed stays behind to cover.

But I think that's something we can work on with a fluid interchanging midfield with a player in every position whatever happens, if Mikel pushes forward then a midfielder ahead of him takes a few steps back. Oscar is clever enough to do that

So you think we can implement this while having our usual pivot of Mikel-Lampard/Ramires? Tbh, I've always wanted to see what a pivot of Mikel-Romeu would look like.

I think it would take a lot of work on the training ground to be implemented as well as some stability both in the team and in the results to allow the manager to make such experiments.

[The Mak 4,459]

Again, I'm not discussing his performance which is of course expected to be great because he is by far the best player on the pitch, I'm talking about that pass in particular. It was a great pass. It's not a big deal, it's just a pass and I was just making a remark that it was a great pass just like I made a comment that Oscar's was a great pass as well. It would have passed a regular remark just like the one about Oscar if some people didn't get butt-hurt every time someone gave Mikel a deserved compliment. So, I'm sorry Mikel made a great pass if it is going to hurt you so much.

'Not a big deal'? Says the guy who took the time to post:

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

It 'not being a big deal' is my argument! If it's not a big deal, why did you post it?! And I hope you didn't edit that image yourself; it would be an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that's 'not a big deal'.

I'm sorry you feel the need to glorify every small positive move made by Mikel; especially against a pub team while being up 5-1

[The Mak 4,459]

Really? for some weird reason their still seems to be a fair few.

Really? On Twitter, there seem to be quite a number of people that still thinks it's worth keeping Torres on the basis of "oh. Torres is improving. He's getting his confidence back." and all that.

And that is rather funny considering basically everyone here is against keeping him at the club.

Well, I say us as a select example of, what I like to assume, are educated fans (mostly )!

I've seen the crap some people say on twitter. More recently, the SSN article on Torres and meeting Mourinho. 80% all wanting Torres to stay, one of them said they hope he becomes a 'Chelsea Legend'....yeah. I mean, are these people blind or something? They must just keep watching his old Liverpool videos on youtube and hoping. That, or they fancy him. I just don't get it...

Anyway, back to Mikel!

[bleed_blue 136]

You guys do realise you only just proved my point. You had to go 3 seasons back to find that Ramires pass.

Almost the same thing you're criticizing Mikel for. Carry on though.

And you just had to wait for 7 years and for a match against Tahiti to make your statement?

[Clevemayer 764]

could this thread please get closed? there is no information what soever no debate whatsoever, just two sides,one hateing mikel and one loveing him, so there is no point in letting the same arguments over and over getting started despite the outcome and the conclusion being already made by the poster?

There is something you say in german: "You can tell me your opinion, as long as you don't try to change mine..."

[Johnny Kills 164]

You guys do realise you only just proved my point. You had to go 3 seasons back to find that Ramires pass.

Almost the same thing you're criticizing Mikel for. Carry on though.

Yes, because I went through every fucking game of the last 3 seasons before I found 1. How about I knew that was an example to disprove your bullshit because it's one of my favorite goals. Despite all of this, you clearly decided to gloss over the fact that you were wrong. Not only that, but you're comparing a pass that split Arsenal's defense to one that split....Tahiti's...defense. Someone also posted a pic of 1 that Ramires did this season. Carry on though.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

'Not a big deal'? Says the guy who took the time to post:

It 'not being a big deal' is my argument! If it's not a big deal, why did you post it?! And I hope you didn't edit that image yourself; it would be an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that's 'not a big deal'.

I'm sorry you feel the need to glorify every small positive move made by Mikel; especially against a pub team while being up 5-1

It literally took 5 seconds for me to copy the link to that image from twitter to here and write "This was a brilliant pass". You are the one making a big deal by going out of your way to try to discredit Mikel for that and for keeping this pointless discussion going on for so long. I did not use that pass to hype Mikel's ability nor will I ever because I'm always saying that Mikel's best attributes are not in single incident but rather in overall consistency during the 90 mins.

I made a casual remark that it was great pass just like I did the other day when Oscar made one, just like I would do if any of our players made either of those passes. Ironically, it would have remained a casual remark and would have been forgotten by now if some people didn't feel personally insulted when someone rightfully praises Mikel.

could this thread please get closed? there is no information what soever no debate whatsoever, just two sides,one hateing mikel and one loveing him, so there is no point in letting the same arguments over and over getting started despite the outcome and the conclusion being already made by the poster?

There is something you say in german: "You can tell me your opinion, as long as you don't try to change mine..."

I disagree, mate. Seb posted a very informative article on the previous page about the advantages of playing a physical DM further up the pitch which me and Kostas were debating with him.

[The Mak 4,459]

It literally took 5 seconds for me to copy the link to that image from twitter to here and write "This was a brilliant pass". You are the one making a big deal by going out of your way to try to discredit Mikel for that and for keeping this pointless discussion going on for so long. I did not use that pass to hype Mikel's ability nor will I ever because I'm always saying that Mikel's best attributes are not in single incident but rather in overall consistency during the 90 mins.

I made a casual remark that it was great pass just like I did the other day when Oscar made one, just like I would do if any of our players made either of those passes. Ironically, it would have remained a casual remark and would have been forgotten by now if some people didn't feel personally insulted when someone rightfully praises Mikel.

My point was about disregarding the level of opposition, not solely Mikel. But whatever. No point in continuing this.

[TrippingStep 336]

That was my point in my Mikel/Fellaini piece back in January, Mikel could be used further up.

Here's an intetesting read as well on that subject: That's Santapelota on "Busquets as an advanced midfielder" ?

http://santapelota.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/busquets-as-an-advanced-midfielder/

You should ask yourself why Mikel was put deeper in the pitch.

My explanation is because he's not that good with his back to goal, not that good to beat his opponent or make space for himself with little tricks and is not very quick.

When he plays deeper, he has often the play in front of him and unless we are overwhelmed has more time to pick his pass.

Fellaini is taller and is used as a targetman for lay-off play with his chest or using his height and frame in front of the defender. And he's a good header. I'm not a fan of Fellaini but Mikel could not be played like him.

We have Ramires Oscar, KDB ( with a little more time and tactical training) that could fit in a dynamic 2 in front of a defensive midfielder.

[magic weeds 446]

Mikel—"I'm very pleased with Galatasaray's offer. I have played at Chelsea for a long time and it's now time for me to leave." #CFC

Mikel—"I asked Drogba for advice & he told me that Istanbul is a fantastic city, that Gala is a huge club & that I have to make the move."

Mikel—"I'm still only 26 and it's great to receive an offer from a club [Gala] playing CL football and doing well in the competition."

[Special Juan 28,141]

He's off then hopefully, get in a better player and we will be in a better position altogether.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Mikel—"I asked Drogba for advice & he told me that Istanbul is a fantastic city, that Gala is a huge club & that I have to make the move."

Wow....Drogba still loves this club so much that he did this for us.

Didier....I love you.