Mikel John Obi

[The Skipper 20,609]

Bosingwa had a good final.

Bosingwa wasn't one of the key men though. Mikel was.

Everyone had a good final but only a few were truly excellent. Mikel was part of the excellent bracket.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Mikel had a brilliant CL final but he isn't consistent week in and week out. In fact apart from the CL final, the Barca games and maybe the Man City game I can't recall any other games where he was remotely good.

[Blue Armour 4,438]

I think opinions will always be divided on Mikel. Mikel is very good at what he does (ball retention, quick accurate passes) and is no doubt very good for the squad, but I can understand the sentiments of those who seek more from a DM.

However the fact is, quality DM's with all-round ability like an Edgar Davids or a fully-fit Michael Essien are a rare commodity.

[The Skipper 20,609]

I think opinions will always be divided on Mikel. Mikel is very good at what he does (ball retention, quick accurate passes) and is no doubt very good for the squad, but I can understand the sentiments of those who seek more from a DM.

However the fact is, quality DM's with all-round ability like an Edgar Davids or a fully-fit Michael Essien are a rare commodity.

Those two aren't even DM's though. They're better placed as the team's engine.

Essien's best position wasn't as a DM. It was when he was allowed to roam around the field as a B2B midfielder causing havoc.

Same with Davids. Davids only reincarnated himself later into a more deeper player as he lost his pace.

I wouldn't call Essien a true DM. He was good there as he has some attributes that complement it, but he was shackled as well. With Mikel that is not a problem as he naturally compliments the holding position.

[The Skipper 20,609]

Mikel had a brilliant CL final but he isn't consistent week in and week out.

That's the biggest part of his game Mikel can improve on - consistent world class performances. If he does that I'm sure the debate would be put to bed. He's only 25, so it's natural. He still has ages to rack up experience and become more consistent. Wouldn't be surprised if Mikel was still playing for CFC in 10 years due to the nature of his game.

[sleazyB 58]

Mikel is a good player, and bitch and complain all you want, but he will be an important piece of our squad for years to come. He just believe he needs a better partner in the pivot, someone who can do a little defense but mainly control the ball and the tempo of the game.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Imagine if we'd kept Ballack in 2010, him and Mikel in the double pivot would work 100 percent. FACT. Don't care how old Ballack would be, he has an amazing range of passing and is great at defending as well as attacking. Lampard is far too forward thinking for the double pivot.

[francozola 2,040]

Jury is still out for me. He did amazingly well last season but we were playing a different style of football than what we will presumably (and hopefully) be playing from now onwards.

Anyway like someone mentioned, this season will truly be sink or swim for him in my opinion

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Mikel had a bad run of games under AVB but has been a solid player for us for years. Is he an elite defensive midfielder? I don't think so, but he's very good and certainly good enough to start regular for Chelsea. Defensive midfield is one of the hardest positions to judge in football because they are more about being a link and covering other people than being proactive themselves. Mikel does what he needs to do which is make short, accurate passes and cover for defenders and he does it well.

[BLionheart 516]

Stats actually don't show that Mikel is that superior, hardly anyone uses stats to depict how good Mikel is. People use their own opinion. It's not a surprise that Mikel has continued to be a mainstay in midfield regardless of what manager we've had. Are you saying that all of these world class manager couldn't see that Mikel is shit? Exactly.

Well you need to browse through the pages and you will notice that anyone who remotely likes mikel uses stats to support their opinion ,

All the managers who used mikel , used due to lack / unavailability of a proper DM , Jose used him when Makelele and Essien were unavailable , Carlo preferred Essien and sometimes Belleti to Mikel , AVB would rather use Mierles there , Hiddink had Mikel sitting next to him once Essien was fit.

All the managers who relied on mikel , used him due to the fact that they ve been waiting for essien (who is always injured) to be fit .

Mikel is the metronome of the team, the link between defence and midfield. He isn't flashy, and that's why many people don't appreciate what he actually does for the team.

What kind of link would actually aim 90% of his passes back to the CBs and GK !! don't you think that's why Mata and Lamps has to drop so deep to get the ball forward, i bet terry and luiz has more forward passes than Mikel

Have you ever sat and considered to think that maybe the managers instruct Mikel to hold up play? To hold on to the ball whilst the team organises itself? To be the outlet of the team when there are no options in attack? There are so many misconceptions about Mikel.

Most of the fans are annoyed of him holding up play when there are outlets that will possibly lead to a great goal scoring opportunity , sometimes you need to hold up play but Mikel is irritating because he does that even in times where all you need to is play a long pass as quickly as possible or start a counter attack.

Bingo. That exactly explains the general misconception about Mikel. People expect him to be the classic, run-around-closing-down-like-a-headless-chicken ball winning DM. That's not his role. Surely by now people should know that Mikel is in the team as a shield to the back four, an outlet to the midfield and defence, someone who is essential in keeping the shape of the side and the third centreback.

Oh !! you mean busquets , Mikel is no Busquets , if we want someone who can do that then Romue is a much better fit .

What I mean about Mikel being the third centre back is that he allows the likes of Ashley Cole, Bosingwa (seasons he was here with us), Ivanovic etc. to bomb forward. Has no one noticed that when these bomb forward, Mikel drops back in between the two CB? It provides cover for the team, an extra body against a potential counter attacks, and again, an outlet to the team when we win the ball back in defence. Mikel is vital in keeping the team ticking. Again, it's not a coincidence he kept getting picked by every manager we've had.

Right. So, Bayern Munich in a CL final, renowned for their attacking football, had a player like Tiote or Parker in their XI right?

Although this is totally irrelevant but i know for a fact they didn't have a mikel and they usually use Gustavo who was suspended in the final.

Barcelona, Man City, Man Utd all have players like them two starting week in week out do they?

Barcelone is incomparable to any other team as their style of football is like no other , and between them and man-city they have De Jong and Mascherano , you can even include Yaya toure who was a superb DM during his days with Barca .

The fact is, many here think there's only one way to play the DM role. There's many different types, and many are confusing your TRADITIONAL ball winning DM with Mikel's role, which points more towards him being the holding man in our midfield. None in the CFC squad are better than Mikel at the holding role. Few are in the PL.

Yes . there are many different styles of DMs , the style that will best suit our game-play is the traditional ball winning DM , and btw if you wanna consider mikel a deep-lying playmaker then he is a pretty average one .

Mikel's strengths consists of good concentration, accurate passing, good anticipation, ball retention and composure. All which are essential attributes for the holding role.

You mean lack of concentration , accurate back-passing , No anticipation , great ball retention (had to be said) , great composure .. add to the fact that his other weaknesses of huge lack of mobility , lack of agressiveness , he needs almost 10 seconds to make a decision so no quickness of thought ...

Why haven't we been linked with a DM this season? Because there are no problems in that department. And our board and managerial staff clearly, and gladly see that.

No , it's actually because we had other priorities , i don't like Mikel but he isn't a shit DM as much as Malouda , Kalou , Bosingwa are shit in their positions , also btw we were linked numerous times with Tiote and M'ville .

If Mikel was suspended for that CL final, we would've lost. That's my honest opinion, and that's how highly I rate him.

Mikel has a superb game no one can take that away from him but he had loads of awful games , and as i said before he is more suited to the defensive football we were playing last year but for an attacking game-plan he will be useless .

Mikel is vital to our future style of play, not a ball winning DM who runs around closing down opposition players. That would cause us to lose our shape, become more suspect to a counter attack, and lose the safe haven of knowing there's always an option to pass back to if things don't work out in attack.

Totally disagree , you can't have too static midfielders such as Lamps and Mikel when you are planning on attack , it worked last year because we defended with 10 players and even drogba was doing a lot of nasty work in midfield so their lack of mobility wasn't exposed but any decent opposition would walk through lamps and mikel due to their lack of agressiveness and mobility

Sorry for the essay but it really grinds my gears when people speak about Mikel like he's some sort of irrelevant League 2 footballer.

Besides, we've already a player who can adapt to that ball winning midfielder role in our squad - Ramires.

I am one of Ramires's huge admirers but he will never be that player

I am sick of waiting for mikel to improve , his learning curve is so slow , he has been with us for 7 years and Ramires learned in 1 year more than him .

[Blue Armour 4,438]

Those two aren't even DM's though. They're better placed as the team's engine.

Essien's best position wasn't as a DM. It was when he was allowed to roam around the field as a B2B midfielder causing havoc.

Same with Davids. Davids only reincarnated himself later into a more deeper player as he lost his pace.

I wouldn't call Essien a true DM. He was good there as he has some attributes that complement it, but he was shackled as well. With Mikel that is not a problem as he naturally compliments the holding position.

Fact is they were both very good at their defensive work (David's marking ability for instance), and were equally good in their contributions further up the pitch.

I personally feel Mikel is fine, as long as you have someone else in midfield to take the game to the opposition. But it really helps if you have a DM with all round ability.

[zolayes 14,489]

I am sick of waiting for mikel to improve , his learning curve is so slow , he has been with us for 7 years and Ramires learned in 1 year more than him .

patience Maka has retired ,,,unless you want us to get Tiote

[Santiago. 1,500]

MIkel in the double Pivot along side Lampard or Oscar

Romeu in the 4 3 3 defensive role alongside Oscar and Ramires in the midfield.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

MIkel in the double Pivot along side Lampard or Oscar

Romeu in the 4 3 3 defensive role alongside Oscar and Ramires in the midfield.

agree whole-heartedly

and in 4141 romeu in cdm.

[Kojo 4,676]

I am sick of waiting for mikel to improve , his learning curve is so slow , he has been with us for 7 years and Ramires learned in 1 year more than him .

Woops my bad.

And I agree it's pointless waiting on someone who is shite. Akinfenwa would do a much better job there.