Mikel John Obi

[JDY 1,290]

The huge interception stat only shows how badly he understood his role. He is meant to be the destroyer/ball winner but is trying to play multiple roles (mostly due to Lampard)

If you want to know how the role should be played have a look at Vidal's stats from last night.

[Severinb 309]

@chelseafc: Abuse on social networks is abhorrent. Racist tweets towards Mikel are totally unacceptable. Police informed. #CFC supports strongest action

[Severinb 309]

@chelseafc: Abuse on social networks is abhorrent. Racist tweets towards Mikel are totally unacceptable. Police informed. #CFC supports strongest action

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

The huge interception stat only shows how badly he understood his role. He is meant to be the destroyer/ball winner but is trying to play multiple roles (mostly due to Lampard)

If you want to know how the role should be played have a look at Vidal's stats from last night.

No, you are absolutely wrong. MIkel is not meant to be anything like Vidal. Vidal is a box to box midfielder who is capable of attacking the opposition and scoring and playing in a system which allows him to go forward. If Mikel got into those sort of positions, it would be a nightmare for the shape of our squad. Mikel's job is to have positional sense, to win tackles, to slide in to cover for the back four, and to make simple, short passes to relieve pressure and to get the ball to more creative players. He generally does his job very well but had a terrible second half yesterday.

[Amblève. 4,995]

Racial abuse?! Fuck every single racist mofo out there for posting fucking racist bollocks towards Mikel on Twitter!

[Rambo 1,729]

Racial abuse?! Fuck every single racist mofo out there for posting fucking racist bollocks towards Mikel on Twitter!

It is what it is. Social media makes it even easier to be targeted. I'm glad Mikel deleted his account, he doesn't need any of that.

[Manuf 1,448]

Let's be real, he made horrible mistakes that led to the 2nd goal yesterday and made a horrible pass in that QPR match.

I still think he is the key player for us, love the way he turns players around and is safe to pass, if only he had a second defensive midfielder, like how Meireles played, he would blossomed.

[Rambo 1,729]

Let's be real, he made horrible mistakes that led to the 2nd goal yesterday and made a horrible pass in that QPR match.

I still think he is the key player for us, love the way he turns players around and is safe to pass, if only he had a second defensive midfielder, like how Meireles played, he would blossomed.

Yes it was atrocious but I'm glad there are people here who refrain from just throwing him under the bus and still acknowledges his worth.

[dumps 284]

Horrible nasty scummy people out there. And abuse from his own fans? What's is wrong with people? I hope anyone on here that contributed is banned.

No need for it. Disgusting.

And in reference to his recent performances: he hasn't been that bad at all. People are over reacting way to much. I see him as a key player. And he understands the tactics and has a lot of experience in that role. All players make a few mistakes...

[Amblève. 4,995]

It is what it is. Social media makes it even easier to be targeted. I'm glad Mikel deleted his account, he doesn't need any of that.

There's no place for racism in this world and yet some people still think they need to be the biggest idiots on earth. Absolutely disgusting. I'm glad Chelsea have informed the police and all that.

[Atwa 78]

Let's be real, he made horrible mistakes that led to the 2nd goal yesterday and made a horrible pass in that QPR match.

I still think he is the key player for us, love the way he turns players around and is safe to pass, if only he had a second defensive midfielder, like how Meireles played, he would blossomed.

It doesn't matter if he single-handedly loses a game for us. He still is wearing the blue shirt and should be supported at all times.

I am utterly disgusted by our own fans that say horrible things to him, forcing him to close his twitter account.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

ALWAYS LOSES THE BALL LIKE 3+ TIMES IN A GAME....

[Amblève. 4,995]

It doesn't matter if he single-handedly loses a game for us. He still is wearing the blue shirt and should be supported at all times.

I am utterly disgusted by our own fans that say horrible things to him, forcing him to close his twitter account.

Fans?! Since clicking on the tweet button those guys are no Chelsea fans anymore.

[OneMoSalah 8,776]

Heard what happened, absolutely terrible. I criticized him and Terry's part in the goal along with a few other players but I think racism is a step far too far. Disgraceful.

[JDY 1,290]

No, you are absolutely wrong. MIkel is not meant to be anything like Vidal. Vidal is a box to box midfielder who is capable of attacking the opposition and scoring and playing in a system which allows him to go forward. If Mikel got into those sort of positions, it would be a nightmare for the shape of our squad. Mikel's job is to have positional sense, to win tackles, to slide in to cover for the back four, and to make simple, short passes to relieve pressure and to get the ball to more creative players. He generally does his job very well but had a terrible second half yesterday.

Firstly, Vidal is more of a ball winner than a B2B midfielder. Marchisio is the one in the box to box role, Pirlo as the regista, and Vidal as the destroyer. Rewatch the game and you'll see how well he performed in the role. Mikel is meant to be our destroyer, hence why he's been getting around the pitch much much more than we've ever seen him in a Chelsea shirt (than previously in the anchor role). However he defended last night the way he's been used to for many years. Didn't you find it a coincidence that they had so much space in midfield? The extra man didn't help, but Mikel stood off them and played in the withdrawn role he's done over the years, instead of doing what the destroyer is meant to do, and get around the pitch shutting down the midfield, stopping their runs from deep.

Not only isn't he mobile enough to be great in this role, but he is often forced to do multiple jobs due to Lampard's suspect positioning at times. What you described in the latter part of your post isn't the job he is meant to be doing, that's the job he was previously doing for years.

[Naked Mole Rat 437]

ALWAYS LOSES THE BALL LIKE 3+ TIMES IN A GAME....

Nah.

[Spike 12,049]

Spike like Mikel.

[Steve 10,227]

He has made two horrible mistakes in the last two games. But this does not mean he's a bad player... He is often compared to Maka but lets be honest here there is not many players that could come close to the likes of Claude. Mikel does more for this team then anyone actually notices. He put his head down after Juve scored from his mistake the other night and he shouldn't of but he knows himself that he made a big mistake and apologised. But look at the countless amount of times that he has saved our ass. Without him we would be conceding a lot more goals and we would not of been in that final of the Champions League let alone winning it.

His shooting has gotten better over the last couple of seasons and even though he has not scored he has been extremely unlucky on several occasions. Everyone looks at Maka as a legend and I agree it is well deserved but not many players could compete with himself. He only scored two goals for us in his whole career so as you can see Mikel's role is not to score goals and that's what a lot of people fail to see.