Mikel John Obi

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

What, Kalou and Bosingwa are no longer Chelsea players? Malouda never even gets a game? Sturridge and Torres played a part in the goals? Hmm ... who shall we point the finger at? Step up, John Mikel Obi. We have our man.

Yeah, it's going to be Lampard and Mikel as the popular scapegoats.

[TrippingStep 336]

Kalou , Bosingwa and Malouda were usually bashed and criticized by fans , they simply deserved it ..

Mikel now is our most bashed and criticized player , and rightly so , replace mikel with someone like a prime essien or tiote and 50% of our problems are gone , he regularly gives position away , incapable of making the simplest of forward passes , no pace , no drive , no mobility and his positioning is really questionable at times.

Ivanovic is certainly at fault , but IMO it's mikel who has cost us the game and will continue to do so , Romeu over him everyday of the week .

50% of the problem is an overstatement for me.

Ivanovic is not a natural right back, Terry is past his prime and is slower and slower. Mikel and Lampard playing deep in midfield is not good.

I remember Gerrad Lampard in the midfield playing for England in the world cup 2006, it was awful. Good players but they were not used to play in that system.

The team lacks mobility in the back and in the deeper positions in midfield.

[RamiCFC9 258]

For all the fellas saying we are making Mikel the new "scapegoat", DID YOU ACTUALLY SAW HIM PLAY. WTF He was like 10 times worst then every other player on the pitch.There was like 20 minutes period of time (early second half) when he didn't touch the ball even once, which for DM is fuking JOKE.Football forums are so fuking pointless really and prime example is this thread.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

He deserves the benefit of the doubt. Should be given more chances.

[Beigl 1,387]

He´s very underrated by Chelsea Fans but he has one of the best passing accuracy and tackling qoute in the BPL.

[BLionheart 516]

What, Kalou and Bosingwa are no longer Chelsea players? Malouda never even gets a game? Sturridge and Torres played a part in the goals? Hmm ... who shall we point the finger at? Step up, John Mikel Obi. We have our man.

He has exclusively owned those rights to be our worst man , as soon as he is out we are a lot better.

[BLionheart 516]

50% of the problem is an overstatement for me.

Ivanovic is not a natural right back, Terry is past his prime and is slower and slower. Mikel and Lampard playing deep in midfield is not good.

I remember Gerrad Lampard in the midfield playing for England in the world cup 2006, it was awful. Good players but they were not used to play in that system.

The team lacks mobility in the back and in the deeper positions in midfield.

The team doesn't lack mobility in the back , only JT is not mobile enough and he can be covered by Luiz , Iva and Cole who are all very mobile for defenders , the problem is in deeper positions in midfield as you said.

The combination of a double pivot is always a (ball winner,defense protector) and a (ball distributor,deep play-maker) , that's Mikel and Lamps but unfortunately Mikel doesn't win any balls and doesn't add any help to the defense , that's not lampard's fault ....

Mikel can't make the simplest of passes under-pressure , and can't retain possession when pressed by opponents , i don't think that's Lampard's fault ......

Lampard is not a very good deep lying playmaker but he is average , Mikel on the other hand is average he is well below that !!!

[Madmax 9,219]

He has exclusively owned those rights to be our worst man , as soon as he is out we are a lot better.

Nuh-uh. Too simplistic, that's all I'm gonna say.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He has exclusively owned those rights to be our worst man , as soon as he is out we are a lot better.

Completely wrong. Actually Mikel returned to the team when AVB left, and it is needless to say that the team has become much better since. I am in no way attributing the success to Mikel's presence, just saying that your claim is wrong.

Regarding yesterday, wasn't Mikel's best game by far, but the criticism is way over the top. First we were out numbered in midfield and thanks to Lampard's bad performance Mikel was left alone against 3 mancity midfielders. He lost the ball quite a few times, that's a fact, but I don't think he, or any other DM, could have done much better.

[Peace. 4,352]

Completely wrong. Actually Mikel returned to the team when AVB left, and it is needless to say that the team has become much better since. I am no way attributing the success to Mikel's presence, just saying that your claim wrong.

This statement is wrong. It isn't because Mikel has returned to the team that we were better once André Villas-Boas has been sacked. We were shit under the portuguesh because a bunch of players, with Lampard at their helm, wanted badly to sack him. Once he wasn't here anymore, they didn't have any reason to keep playing passionless and effortlessly. That's how the truth is.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

This statement is wrong. It isn't because Mikel has returned to the team that we were better once André Villas-Boas has been sacked. We were shit under the portuguesh because a bunch of players, with Lampard at their helm, wanted badly to sack him. Once he wasn't here anymore, they didn't have any reason to keep playing passionless and effortlessly. That's how the truth is.

I did not say he caused our success!

Completely wrong. Actually Mikel returned to the team when AVB left, and it is needless to say that the team has become much better since. I am no way attributing the success to Mikel's presence, just saying that your claim wrong.

.

[Peace. 4,352]

I did not say he caused our success!

Bro, I didn't put words in your mouth. We cannot compare our team under AVB and under RDM. Because, under the portuguesh, the players were playing with the aim the get their manager to get sacked ; under RDM, the players played to redeem themselves towards the fan, to prove they were right to sack their coach, and to win the CL. So, whether the team looks better with Mikel or without him, we cannot work it out regarding what happened in the few months following the departure of AVB.

I might have misspoken in my previous post !

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Bro, I didn't put words in your mouth. We cannot compare our team under AVB and under RDM. Because, under the portuguesh, the players were playing with the aim the get their manager to get sacked ; under RDM, the players played to redeem themselves towards the fan, to prove they were right to sack their coach, and to win the CL. So, whether the team looks better with Mikel or without him, we cannot work it out regarding what happened in the few months following the departure of AVB.

I might have misspoken in my previous post !

No worries mate. I completely agree with every word in that post. I'm afraid that the effort that our 'old guard' put in last season to prove AVB at fault is misleading to a lot of fans. I have actually spoken to a few of our supporters who actually believe that we are the best team in Europe It was mental strength, imho, and sheer will that won us the CL and FA cup last year, not talent unfortunately.

Anyway, my badly worded point in the first post was that the system, and manager, has changed since Mikel was last out of the team, so we cannot say if the team is better or worse without Mikel since he is not the only variable.

[Kojo 4,676]

I've seent it! Ok maybe mikel isnt a world class DM. But he is far and away our biggest problem. If we bought tiote, our transition and build up play would still be what is holding us back. So you better get off it, because we won't be seeing another DM this window.

And you have the nerve to say I'm a troll?.

[Joker10 946]

To Mikel critics, i would like to see a lists of DMs that you guys prefer over Mikel.