Mikel John Obi

[Reddish-Blue 2,354]

Certain fans just don't seem to appreciate a good performance by Mikel.

Mikel has his flaws..but when he plays, we look more solid in midfield & Ramires gets alot more freedom.

[Phil Driver 503]

Any decent side would have killed us off in the first half when we stunk the place out and Mikel stunk the most,did that not show on the TV? The game would have been done against any decent opposition before Eto'o showed great anticipation,the slow sideways passing when we were 2-0 up and in control doesn't fool me.Although it does some.

[Clevemayer 764]

The only problems i had with him were, his slow tempo and ball distribution(even though he is highly talented for this)

The most important is the tempo, if he speeds up his passing the defence will be caught of guard and concede (see eto's second goal and arsenals goal vs dortmund: fast passing = more goals)

So i was happy to see that improve, and he was always available for a pass.

thats right, and like I said, I missed that with him and his aggressiveness, he showed some crisp and sharp passes yesterday, thats one dimension of his passing I like but he seldom shows it, the same goes with his long range passes, he plays them with pin point accuracy, even he played not so well against Tottenham, he made sum sublime long range passes 3 or 4 of them nearly led to an gol, with an in form Anelka or Drogs they would've gone in.

So maybe Mou still sees his talent and wants to fulfill what he started with him.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Certain fans just don't seem to appreciate a good performance by Mikel.

Mikel has his flaws..but when he plays, we look more solid in midfield & Ramires gets alot more freedom.

We didn't look solid in the first 15 minutes, and until their keeper gifted us a goal we didn't look like scoring either. After that (when Schalke went looking for a goal) Mikel looked good.

Whatever shit Phil gets, there are equally 'fervent' supporters of Mikel who seem to place greater emphasis on him than on the good of the club. They're 'Mikel supporters' to me, which explains their ease with shitting on people like Lampard with apparent glee.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

He's the first name on the team sheet for our next few games alongside Ramires.

[The only place to be 11,313]

He's the first name on the team sheet for our next few games alongside Ramires.

Do you see a problem with creativity from the pivot if West Brom adopt the same tactics as Schalke did?

Basically, did you watch the game last night or are we expecting Myhill to pull a Hildebrand?

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Do you see a problem with creativity from the pivot if West Brom adopt the same tactics as Schalke did?

Basically, did you watch the game last night or are we expecting Myhill to pull a Hildebrand?

I did watch the game and I see no problem at all, our midfield duo did what they had to do. They protected the back four and sprayed the ball to our forward line, Ramires was also bombing up and down at last.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Joy to watch. Oscar and Willian dropping deep into that hole between the pivot as Ramires and Mikel stretch the pitch to accommodate them. If he's able to set the tempo then he'll start. 0 doubts about that .

[Clevemayer 764]

We didn't look solid in the first 15 minutes, and until their keeper gifted us a goal we didn't look like scoring either. After that (when Schalke went looking for a goal) Mikel looked good.

Whatever shit Phil gets, there are equally 'fervent' supporters of Mikel who seem to place greater emphasis on him than on the good of the club. They're 'Mikel supporters' to me, which explains their ease with shitting on people like Lampard with apparent glee.

oh yeah, saying lampard is the biggest footballer this club ever whitnessed, but he is gett'n old and he should play to his physical ability is shitting on him with glee? C'mon. Yeah there are some Mikel-Fan-boys but just because for example I say Lamps is past it I'm shitting on him? OK lets get Zola back, because hes a legend, he should get a life long contract and play untill he is 175 years old.. Demands of footbal are not the same as 20 years ago, where players could play untill they're 40's

[The only place to be 11,313]

I did watch the game and I see no problem at all, our midfield duo did what they had to do. They protected the back four and sprayed the ball to our forward line, Ramires was also bombing up and down at last.

To me that doesn't sound like you watched the game. What we tended to do was play the ball around the back four and Mikel a lot, which is why Terry, Cahill and Mikel attempted so many passes. Rather than making the Schalke defence uncomfortable, they seemed happy to keep it tight up until the point Hildebrand made a fuck-up.

From that point on (when Schalke actually started looking for a goal and leaving gaps) Mikel and Ramires looked a lot better, but the problems before that goal are what I'm worried might crop up again with these two in the pivot.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

To me that doesn't sound like you watched the game. What we tended to do was play the ball around the back four and Mikel a lot, which is why Terry, Cahill and Mikel attempted so many passes. Rather than making the Schalke defence uncomfortable, they seemed happy to keep it tight up until the point Hildebrand made a fuck-up.

From that point on (when Schalke actually started looking for a goal and leaving gaps) Mikel and Ramires looked a lot better, but the problems before that goal are what I'm worried might crop up again with these two in the pivot.

To me it sounds like you will say anything to justify Lampard's inclusion in the first 11. Your reasoning is not even close to being objective.

It wasn't our best game by any means but we beat a tough German side in the CL 3 goals to 0. Mourinho saw what needed to be changed and now we've got a balanced side. End of.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Mikel on the Schalke game: http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3527746/title/mikel-putting-things-right

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Some of the things that been said are right - he does make us more balanced and we look more solid, and right now i prefer him next to Rami, but we would be so much better with someone like Mikel who can also play fast and make some key passes regulary. I dont think he'll ever change in that subject.

[Tomo 21,733]

It was ust like the first half v Spurs a better team would have killed us ,Mikel was dreadful live ,what was he like on TV have not seen it ,the MH were slating him for his errors they should have been 2-0 up,Eto'os goal was a massive relief and lets be honest Shalke are terrible we beat them 3-0 away.

Like Newcastle?

[Reddish-Blue 2,354]

To me that doesn't sound like you watched the game. What we tended to do was play the ball around the back four and Mikel a lot, which is why Terry, Cahill and Mikel attempted so many passes. Rather than making the Schalke defence uncomfortable, they seemed happy to keep it tight up until the point Hildebrand made a fuck-up.

From that point on (when Schalke actually started looking for a goal and leaving gaps) Mikel and Ramires looked a lot better, but the problems before that goal are what I'm worried might crop up again with these two in the pivot.

The only problem for Chelsea is that we don't have the right combination for the pivot.

Lampard - Rami is good for certain games and Mikel - Rami is good for certain games.

BOTH of our pivot pairings have weaknesses and until we bring in a new midfielder, Lampard/Mikel should be rotated based on the opposition.

[zolayes 14,489]

the first 50 minutes of the Schalke game was incredibly boring ,,but soooooo exciting compared to the 4000+ posts in this thread ,, it was bad enough

with the choulou but now we have the naughty boy who calls himself the Messiah ..

[robsblubot 3,529]

The only problem for Chelsea is that we don't have the right combination for the pivot.

Lampard - Rami is good for certain games and Mikel - Rami is good for certain games.

BOTH of our pivot pairings have weaknesses and until we bring in a new midfielder, Lampard/Mikel should be rotated based on the opposition.

Agreed, but I'd say Mikel should be a rotation option for Ramires - who plays way too much.

Lampard offers, or used to offer, a lot in attack an work rate, but not much defensively; and Mikel is completely ineffective in attack. We need a balanced player, prob with a bit of flair in distribution instead of another Ramires I think. If Luiz were 21 we could perhaps turn him into that player I believe.

[Blue Armour 4,310]

Like I said before, we will see quite a bit of rotation for the CM places.

One good game by Lampard, or one good game by Mikel is not going to guarantee a starting berth for a run of games. The only guarantee for the starting spot is Ramires when he is fit.