Mikel John Obi

[rantdeville 195]

Was it just me, or was Mikel a solitary bright spot in a shaky midfield against WBA? Perfect performance? No. But watching him boss around and win tackles in the middle third was heartening, to say the least  keep it up.

[BluesChick 1,260]

Great news

[Guest justin_3d]

So with Meireles in the team, will Mikel be relegated to the bench?

[LDN Blue 7,903]

So with Meireles in the team, will Mikel be relegated to the bench?

I don't see how. He isn't a DM.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Oh ok.

So which place with Meireles take?

Lampard? Ramires?

Depends how AVB wants to go about it.

I haven't seen the game yet, so I don't know he played. Maybe he'll decide to play without a holding, which would be risky. So would leaving out Lampard though, so who knows..

[Madmax 9,219]

Nigeria have failed to qualify for ACoN, so Mikel will be around during Jan-Feb.

Off topic : What's with the mismatch in avas and posts?

[Kieran. 6,317]

Shocking! But good for us.

[termninja 5,290]

Nigeria have failed to qualify for ACoN, so Mikel will be around during Jan-Feb.

Off topic : What's with the mismatch in avas and posts?

Justin's deleted account. It messes up avatars. I deleted his post so everything is fine now.

[gary gordon 1,777]

This is good news! Wish Ivory Coast didn't... Can't see Essien being fit for it either..

[BlueLion. 21,491]

We'll still have Torres, Anelka and Lukaku... plenty of firepower with Sturridge, Mata and Malouda on the wings also.

[francozola 2,040]

Now I'd like to say that I'm really no good at tactical analysis, I never have been and don't claim to be a guru like Seb or CarefreeChronic so I will probably say some stupid things, dont jump on my back. Just tell me what I've said wrong

How much is Mikel to blame for our poor defensive form this season? And last season, too, during our "bad moment"?

This season with the high line, it's obvious that JT and Iva are not comfortable with it. Especially JT who is really slow and this tactic exposes that aspect of his game. Iva has never been a "superb" CB, even if that's actually his main position, he's more comfortable at RB. Alex has become a nonperson in our team now, he's probably off in January. Luiz is the only one who would thrive in this tactic if only he cuts out those silly silly fouls and realizes that he won't always and more importantly, doesn't always have to get to the ball.

How much is Mikel to blame? He has improved his attacking play this season - some of his passes against Arsenal in the first half were good. He was spreading it around decently.

To my eye though, he doesn't provide any confidence, stability, etc to the back line like what Maka used to do. And he's no monster either like what Mascherano (for lack of better example in my mind) used to be at Liverpool (haven't watched him at Barca).

The best comment I've read about Mikel is that he's good at a number of things, excellent at none. I think for us to become successful again, we need to get a better DM. ONe who can be world class. Romeu is promising, but he is young and we are judging him on carling cup and champions league games against weak opposition. He's a good passer of the ball and has made some great tackles/interceptions but we have yet to see if he can do it in the fast-paced Prem where players are much smarter, quicker, more physical than what he has faced. But I do think he should be given a chance to start every other week as Mikel hasn't exactly blown everyones minds with his performances

Opinions?

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Still pretty much same problems - slowing down our play, passing sideways and providing nothing offensively. He has definitely improved, no doubt about that, but another problem appeared this season. His lack of pace is causing troubles in terms of man-marking and pressing. So we could see 2 or 3 Arsenal players wide open and a lot of time for them to receive and distribute the ball.

Our new AVB crazy attacking style doesn't suite a classic holding midfielder like Obi IMO. Should give Oriol at least a chance against a stronger side.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Our new AVB crazy attacking style doesn't suite a classic holding midfielder like Obi IMO. Should give Oriol at least a chance against a stronger side.

Apparently.. He's too young.

[Clevemayer 764]

very nice article and I would loose my fun too if I had such fans, which cirticise me if I'm playing well and if not, and this despite me never been arrogant, always sign a new contract in an blink of an eye and LEAVING MAY NATIONALTEAM ALONE for the sake of my club to prevent an longtime Injury, but this is the same thing I think too about him... he somehow has lost fun at football and this is ver, very sad give his development in the last 3 years or so... AVB HAS to motivate him and bring back his smile while playing...

The irony is that, this time, it probably wasn't his fault. Mikel John Obi took a lot of the blame for Liverpool's opening goal against Chelsea on Sunday, but he was put in an almost impossible position by Petr Cech's goal-kick. Charlie Adam, anticipating superbly, was already on him by the time the ball reached him and, with both Chelsea center backs marked, and no other player in his field of vision, there were only two options: to attempt a highly risky backpass to Cech, or to try to turn and play the ball forward. Mikel went for the latter, was probably fouled and, when no free kick was given, lost possession to leave Liverpool with a three-on-two it exploited clinically.

Mikel was taken off at halftime and Chelsea was much improved in the second half (although that might in part have been because the intensity of Liverpool's pressing dropped). Even if the goal wasn't his fault, it was another poor performance from the 24-year-old. If -- and it is a big if -- Andre Villas-Boas, who has now lost all three games he has played against "big" sides, is allowed to continue his programme of reconstruction at Chelsea, it is hard to see how Mikel can have a future there. He looks slow and ponderous in possession, and it's not as though his defensive gifts are sufficient to counter-balance the way he slows Chelsea down.

His development is desperately sad, given how talented he was as an 18-year-old. I remember clearly the first time I saw him. The spat between Chelsea and Manchester United to secure his signature had given forewarning, but his substitute appearance for Nigeria against Zimbabwe in a Cup of Nations match in Port Said in 2006 would have taken the eye anyway.

Nigeria had been sluggish, struggling to break down a resolute Zimbabwe when, nine minutes into the second half, an 18-year-old Mikel came on for Wilson Oruma, taking up a position behind the two strikers. After three minutes he dropped a corner onto the head of Christian Obodo: 1-0. Four minutes later, cutting in from the left, he threw defender and goalkeeper with a feint to shoot, then casually slipped a right-foot finish just inside the post from 20 yards: 2-0. He smiled and raised an arm in cool acceptance of what he had just done. Against Tunisia in the quarterfinal he was even more impressive, playing from the start and showing great composure and vision to lay on chance after chance. Jay-Jay Okocha hailed him as the best 18-year-old he had ever seen, calling him "a natural talent of the type that rarely emerges now."

What was most remarkable was that he had played only six times for his club, the Norwegian side Lyn, the previous year because of the dispute between Chelsea and United. He should have been rusty, but he was, as Jose Mourinho put it, "pure gold." Daniel Amokachi, the former Everton striker who was Nigeria's assistant coach at the time, could barely contain his excitement. "He's very confident and comfortable on the ball," he said. "He's unique. He's his own style of footballer. He can play as the man in the hole, you can use him as a defensive midfielder and he can work easily on the left or the right."

Yet right from the start there was trouble. Mikel was born in Jos in northern Nigeria, the son of a civil servant who had been a footballer of some ability himself. An older brother had a career as a goalkeeper in the Nigerian first division. But it was John who was special, and at the age of 15 he made his debut for Plateau United in the Nigerian top-flight. By 2002 he was in the Nigeria Under-17 squad. The following year he impressed at the Meridien Cup, a youth tournament for European and African national sides, and was approached by scouts from Manchester United.

Chelsea saw him at the World Youth Cup in Finland that autumn, and asked him and three others for a trial. The other three went, but Mikel refused, explaining that his heart was already set on Manchester United, whom he fully expected to follow up their earlier interest. According to John Shittu, Mikel's then-advisor, they did not, at which Mikel became increasingly frustrated and disillusioned, especially as he heard from his Under-17 teammate Emanuel Sarki what a good time he was having at Chelsea (Sarki never played for the first team and is now with Waasland-Beveren in Belgium). Mikel, seeking to broaden his football education, moved on to Ajax Cape Town in South Africa. There he was funded by Shittu -- or at least, that's Shittu's story; others say it was Chelsea who were paying.

Mikel moved on to Europe, and the Norwegian club Lyn. Two months after his 18th birthday, sick of waiting for United, he sought a move to Chelsea. And that is where the legal problems set in. A player cannot sign a professional contract until he is 18; until he does that, he is effectively a free agent. Mikel and Shittu claimed he never signed professional terms at Lyn. Lyn had a contract, but Shittu insisted it was a forgery. As Shittu alleged racism and European exploitation of Africans -- and at one point claimed his client had been kidnapped -- Sir Alex Ferguson suggested that Mikel himself, if he were removed from his advisors, would still have preferred to join United.

After the Cup of Nations, Mikel returned to Lyn, still banned from playing club football until the dispute was resolved. He stayed until the following June, when Chelsea reached an agreement with Lyn and United. So he arrived at Stamford Bridge under great pressure and having gone almost a year without playing a league match. He was sent off on his first Premier League start, and didn't complete a league match until the following April.

From the start Mourinho played him at the back of midfield, but he's never looked entirely comfortable in the role which is, in fairness, usually occupied by older, more experienced players. He has, perhaps, tamed the wildness that saw him collect four red cards in his first two seasons, but there still seems an element of frustration in his play. On Sunday, his confidence looked shot, and it's no coincidence that he has been withdrawn in three of Chelsea's last five games.

Five years ago, Mikel looked like a world great in the making and, despite all the fuss that surrounded him, there was a casual acceptance of his talent that made it look as though he were enjoying himself. Perhaps, given the wrangling in which he was a pawn, he was simply glad to get on the pitch. Now he looks a man under a cloud, and football, with all its hangers on and attendant pressures, must take some of the blame for that. Somewhere in the last five years the fun has gone out of Mikel, and he is a poorer player for it.

Read more: http://sportsillustr...l#ixzz1eoRslec3

[francozola 2,040]

In hindsight, he should never have been converted to a DM.

[Clevemayer 764]

In hindsight, he should never have been converted to a DM.

not exactly... he should been given more freedom for sure and get jose out of his mind with his safety first approach... Mikel was looking sublime for large spells of the last three seasons and at the beginning of this season... I thought he had done his breakthrough in the last two seasons... but right now its like I don't see the same player with his confidence, ballcontroll and elegance while playing... Mikel just did look like a Giant on the pitch when he normally played, (Manure Fa-Final, two seasons ago against Manur Old Trafford, Arsenal at the Bridge and away the last 2 Seasons, Inter MIlan CL, CL-Semifinal against Barca away, where he fooled the whole barca Midfield)...

its just what would kill every footballer, its when you loose you're hunger and you're motivation, and this normally happens if your club or you're fans don't rate you...

but not covering Mikel, if any player plays bad for a period of more than 3 games, he has to proove himself again and fight for his place in the team, even Terry or Drogs, so why not MIkel? this is my opinion...

[Madmax 9,219]

not exactly... he should been given more freedom for sure and get jose out of his mind with his safety first approach... Mikel was looking sublime for large spells of the last three seasons and at the beginning of this season... I thought he had done his breakthrough in the last two seasons... but right now its like I don't see the same player with his confidence, ballcontroll and elegance while playing... Mikel just did look like a Giant on the pitch when he normally played, (Manure Fa-Final, two seasons ago against Manur Old Trafford, Arsenal at the Bridge and away the last 2 Seasons, Inter MIlan CL, CL-Semifinal against Barca away, where he fooled the whole barca Midfield)...

its just what would kill every footballer, its when you loose you're hunger and you're motivation, and this normally happens if your club or you're fans don't rate you...

but not covering Mikel, if any player plays bad for a period of more than 3 games, he has to proove himself again and fight for his place in the team, even Terry or Drogs, so why not MIkel? this is my opinion...

I think the situation with his dad's kidnapping messed up his mind. He showed amazing composure and commitment to play during the time, but surely that sort of thing is bound to unsettle you.

[Kostas 1,468]

A few goals, doesn't matter whether its deflected shots, tap-ins, penalties or lucky strikes is all it would take for the media and the most ignorant of our fans to rate him.