🇳🇬 Mikel John Obi

[The Skipper 20,609]

His defensive stats and ratings on Squawka are painfully terrible. He excels in nothing but possession. He is sitting on a rating of about 40-70 each game....that's awful for a CDM.

http://www.squawka.com/players/john-obi-mikel

Have you compared him to other CDMs in the PL to come to the conclusion that that's awful for a CDM?

[Spike 12,049]

Have you compared him to other CDMs in the PL to come to the conclusion that that's awful for a CDM?

Yeah, look at these players compared to Mikel.

http://www.squawka.com/players/maxime-gonalons

http://www.squawka.com/players/blaise-matuidi

http://www.squawka.com/players/morgan-schneiderlin

http://www.squawka.com/players/lars-bender

http://www.squawka.com/players/sven-bender

[The Skipper 20,609]

Yeah, look at these players compared to Mikel.

http://www.squawka.com/players/maxime-gonalons

http://www.squawka.com/players/blaise-matuidi

http://www.squawka.com/players/morgan-schneiderlin

http://www.squawka.com/players/lars-bender

http://www.squawka.com/players/sven-bender

Fair enough, decent examples. But everyone of those players bar maybe Schneiderlin (who's an excellent talent, would love if we signed him to give Mikel some competition which I feel he needs to be more consistent) and Sven Bender contribute a lot more to their respective teams attack so it's natural they'll get more performance points. Interesting website though, thanks for sharing.

[Spike 12,049]

Fair enough, decent examples. But everyone of those players bar maybe Schneiderlin (who's an excellent talent, would love if we signed him to give Mikel some competition which I feel he needs to be more consistent) and Sven Bender contribute a lot more to their respective teams attack so it's natural they'll get more performance points. Interesting website though, thanks for sharing.

Attack only gives points to overall and attack. I was just looking at defending. Mikel has an overall point score of 587 with 449 of those points coming from possession...only 57 go to defending.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Attack only gives points to overall and attack. I was just looking at defending. Mikel has an overall point score of 587 with 449 of those points coming from possession...only 57 go to defending.

Well in that case he isn't that bad, it's his consistency that's the problem - as the cumulative chart shows.

Take Matuidi for example, if you look at his cumulative performance chart and you'll note that defensively he consistently adds to his cumulative score simply because he's a very consistent player - also note that Matuidi has played a lot more matches than Mikel in the French league.:

Defensively, that's not the case with Mikel unfortunately:

However, what must be noted is that Mikel only played in 20/31 (majority of the missed matches were under Rafa) in the league and those stats only show his domestic performances which exclude some of his best performances e.g. that game against United in the FA Cup. Interestingly, the stats also show that he's more of a possession player but that's a bit misleading - some of the things Mikel does for the team when he plays, good or bad, aren't really quantifiable.

Not aimed at you Spike but there's no hiding that Mikel has been inconsistent this season and has under performed compared to the performances he was giving us at the end of last season (mind you he did have a good start to the season with Ramires in midfield) but that doesn't mean he's a useless player. Yes, he had a bad game, but most of the stick given out on here is extreme IMO. Mikel's excellent performance in the FA Cup quarter final at Old Trafford was one of the reasons why we even made it this far in the competition.

Yes, he's had a couple of bad games this season, probably 4 or 5, but that doesn't really justify to me that we should sell him. He can still do an excellent job when on form. I think in order to get his consistency levels up he needs better competition for his position.

[Spike 12,049]

@The Skipper, Very good points. But what bothers me the most you could only mention one game when he was magnificent and 4 or 5 when he wasn't.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I realy like him for some reason but he is fucking dm and should play so. I dont care if he isnt going forward or passes ahead but his passion ad energy is nowhere near player who is DM. He is just running around and tries to mark but when someone passes him, he just stands there.

If he can start fighting and running around with passion it would be great. For a dm I realy miss that never give up moto in him. He should be running into opponents, harrasing them, tackling them with brute power, protecting team mates etc. That is what DMs do. Look at Vidal or De Rossi. They would probably die to give victory their team.

I think that major problem in Mikel is motivation. In big games he rarely dissapoints, but in small ones it feels like he doesnt give a shit. That has to be changed (with Mou hopefuly) or he will have to leave...

[Backstreet09 499]

I'm starting to like him, mayne hez so badass. Came on for like 12 minutes, and didnt made an effort.

Mikelloteli

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hasn't had the best of months has he. Started the game better yesterday but just faded away.

Is anyone else worried that if we finish outside the top four Real Madrid or Barca might come in for him??

[Special Juan 28,141]

I'm not worried as I don't rate him as highly as some do on here, or elsewhere.

[lucio 5,418]

Hasn't had the best of months has he. Started the game better yesterday but just faded away.

Is anyone else worried that if we finish outside the top four Real Madrid or Barca might come in for him??

no because they generally buy good players

[The only place to be 11,313]

no because they generally buy good players

Have you seen his pass completion stats? If Barcelona ever hear about whoscored.com, we're fucked.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Thought he had a very good game yesterday, especially in the first half. And that goes the same for all the 5 men we had the middle yesterday. Shame that the Suarez BS eclipsed the game because there were some real positives to take from the match. I though it was one of our midfield's 'better' performances. Too bad our back four were just terrible and we were playing without a striker.

On topic, I thought John was his usual composed self on the ball and he did very well defensively with some interceptions and standing tackles. I loved how he hounded the ref into giving Suarez a yellow card for the hand ball Good leadership skills when our captain and vice captain were not on the pitch.

[Hutcho 8,443]

I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and he is just having a bad spell, but it isn't looking too good atm. He was better yesterday than in previous games, but he still wasn't up to a standard we would want. He just looks so uncomfortable on the ball and even worse just looks very lethargic when doing his primary job of DM.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Thought he had a very good game yesterday, especially in the first half. And that goes the same for all the 5 men we had the middle yesterday. Shame that the Suarez BS eclipsed the game because there were some real positives to take from the match. I though it was one of our midfield's 'better' performances. Too bad our back four were just terrible and we were playing without a striker.

On topic, I thought John was his usual composed self on the ball and he did very well defensively with some interceptions and standing tackles. I loved how he hounded the ref into giving Suarez a yellow card for the hand ball Good leadership skills when our captain and vice captain were not on the pitch.

Did you actually watch the whole 90 minutes? He was good in the first-half, but we completely lost control of the second-half.

Having read this thread and your contributions, I can't take you seriously on Mikel. You talk utter shit about him simply to wind people up and now you're saying he's got good leadership skills??

Are you trolling the Chelsea fans in this thread?

I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and he is just having a bad spell, but it isn't looking too good atm. He was better yesterday than in previous games, but he still wasn't up to a standard we would want. He just looks so uncomfortable on the ball and even worse just looks very lethargic when doing his primary job of DM.

I agree. When we start to get under pressure he's the first one to disappear when he should be one of the leaders in this team. 300 fucking appearances almost and he's still a fucking choker of the highest order.

His lack of character is reflected in the team now. When you look at how players like Luiz and Rami have stepped up this year despite having some rough patches, and then this cunt strolls around the pitch IF WE'RE FUCKING LUCKY barely putting any effort in. The only people I despise more than him are the people who constantly defend him whether he's had a good game or a bad game.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

He wasn't that bad yesterday but not great. I've stuck up for him in the past but hes been quite poor recently (before Liverpool game), very inconsistent too especially after that game we drew 2-2 at Old Trafford. If he'd play as well as he did against United, Arsenal and Spurs this season more often he'd be one hell of a player. I agree with whoever said he seems to be better in bigger games, hes been shit against smaller teams. Its been an odd year for him, started good, form got patchy, been poor for a bit, good game against United then very inconsistent since. Same with a lot of players actually.

I think we should get a player who compliments him in the pivot, a Alonso-esque player who can dictate play from deep and create but also help him getting stuck in to opposition midfielders. Lampard and Ramires aren't the greatest options for it but right now out of the two Rami is the best for it.

[Kojo 4,676]

Yeah I'll give him some credit, him and Ramires where actually pretty good yesterday.

To be honest no one even played that bad yesterday, like as individuals except for Torres, we where just bad as a team as whole, i just thought the tactics where completely wrong.

Suarez had so much space, but that's not because of the pivot, because the pivot had their hands full, but Mazacar was playing too high. They did come back and track back very well, but in the end it just wasn't enough to stop Liverpool, they came into the game with huge spirit where we didn't.

[Leif 6,006]

i just thought the tactics where completely wrong.

How were the tactics completely wrong if we controlled much of the first half, were comfortable enough for the second, and the only reason we didn't get the full 3 points was because the ref decided to let the game go on past full time which is when they scored using a player who should have been red carded earlier?

[The only place to be 11,313]

He wasn't that bad yesterday but not great. I've stuck up for him in the past but hes been quite poor recently (before Liverpool game), very inconsistent too especially after that game we drew 2-2 at Old Trafford. If he'd play as well as he did against United, Arsenal and Spurs this season more often he'd be one hell of a player. I agree with whoever said he seems to be better in bigger games, hes been shit against smaller teams. Its been an odd year for him, started good, form got patchy, been poor for a bit, good game against United then very inconsistent since.

The United match is overrated (assuming you mean the cup one at their gaff). Their midfield is fairly appalling and doesn't put pressure on other team's midfield. It's their weak link that has been exposed countless times.

ANY team and I can't put enough emphasis on the ANY part that puts pressure on our pivot, in particular Mikel has had success. He's our weak link - look at Southampton away or Steaua at home for recent examples. He's a passenger who looks good if other players carry him or opposition teams stand off him.

No-one who gives a shit about this club in even the slightest way, or has even the slightest knowledge about football can continually defend this guy and see him as a lynchpin in this team going forward on current form.

[Kojo 4,676]

How were the tactics completely wrong if we controlled much of the first half, were comfortable enough for the second, and the only reason we didn't get the full 3 points was because the ref decided to let the game go on past full time which is when they scored using a player who should have been red carded earlier?

Well like the discussion in the 'Suarez' thread, we can't blame Suarez for the match, I'm not saying you said that, but I'm bringing it up because we where simply not good enough from the start. First half i thought we where lucky to be ahead, then 2nd half Liverpool could've easily netted 3 against us, Gerrard one on one, Sturridge hitting the post, free kick right outside the box. But they really did have the upper hand, and none of our players played bad in general, we just didn't have the right approach from game.

It's hard to outplay liverpool in big games, as they are always big game players, but we really didn't play this one right at all. Yeah sure the referee fucked the game up, but you look at it overall Liverpool where the much better side.