Mikel John Obi

[didierforever 7,349]

I did, he was fucking shite. Along with Ramires, Hazard and Willian.

can't say anytging other than ehat I said to choulo

[We Hate Scouse 10,286]

22 passes 21 successful is all well and good apart from the fact that he played a massive 4 balls to an attacking player, 0 of them a striker. He had 24 touches on the ball in all so literally all he was doing was distributing the ball back to the defenders when he received it.

We were constantly on the backfoot and he was constantly passing backwards - It was such negative and horrible football. It's impossible to play counter attacking football with him on the pitch.

He really is the fraction of the player that Matic is.

[Reddish-Blue 2,345]

They ll always be a couple of those guys dude. But overall he was good. Anyone who actually saw the match would have appreciated mikel's contribution in 2 aspects

1. Providing defensive stability

2. Retaining ball possession.

We were getting murdered out there before the goal and mikel helped us come from turkey with a very gavourable reault

DID YOU ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAME?

Mikel did nothing, other than a few backward passes.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

22 passes 21 successful is all well and good apart from the fact that he played a massive 4 balls to an attacking player, 0 of them a striker. He had 24 touches on the ball in all so literally all he was doing was distributing the ball back to the defenders when he received it.

We were constantly on the backfoot and he was constantly passing backwards - It was such negative and horrible football. It's impossible to play counter attacking football with him on the pitch.

He really is the fraction of the player that Matic is.

That was exactly what was needed from him and Jose would be very happy with him. We had practically nothing of the possession in the second half before he came on. What he was supposed to do is keep the ball and string a few passes together. The objective was not to counter attack, the objective was not to concede a second which we would most likely have had we continued to play like we did in the first 18 minutes of the second half. Reread my post to TOPTB and just let those numbers sink in:

In the first 18 minutes of the second half we completed just 32 of 48 attempted passes. Then in the next 20 minutes after Mikel came on, we completed 91 out of 108 attempted passes. I'm not saying that was all down to Mikel, but he played a big part in that transformation.

They were killing us at the start of the second half and we weren't able to keep possession for our life. It does not matter whether Mikel's passes were forward or backwards as long as we kept possession and killed their momentum. We would have most likely conceded a second had Mikel not came on.

[didierforever 7,349]

DID YOU ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAME?

Mikel did nothing, other than a few backward passes.

Those few back passes coupled with the fact that we broke gala's momentume plus we were able to actually keep the ball for morw than a sexond is what probably got us a draw insteaf of a loss.

I strongly suggest that u SHOULD WATCH THE Match AGAIN. When a coach takes off an attacking player like sxhurrle and replaces hin with someone like mikel, it means he wants to shut the shop. Jose wanted a draw abd mikel played a huge role in stemming the flow.

Add to all this that hazars and willian were having the worst matches of the seasob TOGETHER, it is simoly stulid of people to blame mikel that we could not attck or countet.

[BloodIsBlue 291]

Mikel taking that shot near the end of the game (that could of been a promising situation) was a microcosm of all our moaning.

[The only place to be 11,313]

In the first 18 minutes of the second half we completed just 32 of 48 attempted passes. Then in the next 20 minutes after Mikel came on, we completed 91 out of 108 attempted passes. I'm not saying that was all down to Mikel, but he played a big part in that transformation.

They were killing us at the start of the second half and we weren't able to keep possession for our life. It does not matter whether Mikel's passes were forward or backwards as long as we kept possession and killed their momentum. We would have most likely conceded a second had Mikel not came on.

Just looking on squawkas stats and the percentages go from 73% to 81% after Mikel's introduction. That's marginal and I'll say again that you have to look beyond the stats and at the actual match itself. Yes we may have completed more passes but Mikel tends to put players into poor positions with his passes. I cited an example with Azpi and it's always the same with him. Rather than relieve pressure by opening up the play and looking upfield, he tends to move the play backwards towards his own goal which allows oppositions to press on us.

Those few back passes coupled with the fact that we broke gala's momentume plus we were able to actually keep the ball for morw than a sexond is what probably got us a draw insteaf of a loss.

Keep the ball for how many phases though? Does Mikel advance the play and turn Galatasaray or does his slow play actually allow them to advance upfield and apply pressure to us so that they can regain possession in advanced areas?

[didierforever 7,349]

Just looking on squawkas stats and the percentages go from 73% to 81% after Mikel's introduction. That's marginal and I'll say again that you have to look beyond the stats and at the actual match itself. Yes we may have completed more passes but Mikel tends to put players into poor positions with his passes. I cited an example with Azpi and it's always the same with him. Rather than relieve pressure by opening up the play and looking upfield, he tends to move the play backwards towards his own goal which allows oppositions to press on us.

Keep the ball for how many phases though? Does Mikel advance the play and turn Galatasaray or does his slow play actually allow them to advance upfield and apply pressure to us so that they can regain possession in advanced areas?

so tell me how many moves had we made in the sexond half without mikel? How were we playing? How many times did mikel lose the ball cos of this incessant pressing of gala? U might not like mikel but to ridicule him for yesterday is childish to say the least. He played well. He did the job that he was brought on to do. It was not as if jose removed a defender and put in a midfielder so that we go for an extra goal.

[The only place to be 11,313]

so tell me how many moves had we made in the sexond half without mikel? How were we playing? How many times did mikel lose the ball cos of this incessant pressing of gala? U might not like mikel but to ridicule him for yesterday is childish to say the least. He played well. He did the job that he was brought on to do. It was not as if jose removed a defender and put in a midfielder so that we go for an extra goal.

Mikel didn't lose the ball once....he lets other players do that. What he does is he shields the ball, moves towards his goal and compresses the space between the opposition players who are pressing him and the player he's passing to. If you watch the match there's a moment where he does that to Azpi, so Azpi has to clear it.

And no I don't like Mikel but I have no problem with a player like him being introduced to slow things down and ease the pressure off of us. I'd just prefer it was someone better.

Before he came on they had 4 chances, after 3 chances.

Before he came on they completed 85% of their passes, after 86%.

After he comes on, we actually play more in our third of the pitch.

Very little changes with his introduction.

[didierforever 7,349]

Mikel didn't lose the ball once....he lets other players do that. What he does is he shields the ball, moves towards his goal and compresses the space between the opposition players who are pressing him and the player he's passing to. If you watch the match there's a moment where he does that to Azpi, so Azpi has to clear it.

And no I don't like Mikel but I have no problem with a player like him being introduced to slow things down and ease the pressure off of us. I'd just prefer it was someone better.

Before he came on they had 4 chances, after 3 chances.

Before he came on they completed 85% of their passes, after 86%.

After he comes on, we actually play more in our third of the pitch.

Very little changes with his introduction.

Hahahqhqhq. And then people blamr choulo for using stats as per his requirwments.

We should completely leavr out how over run we were in mid, how pathetic we were in possession. How likely we were to concede below or how unlikely it seemed that wewould concede after.

Plus are u sayong that mikel on the field plays to Iimprove his stats??? He was under preasure, shielded the ball and gave an out for the team. Instaed that has become a negative for people saying he did to improve his stat or whatecer your argument is.

Our prejudices always cause us to voew things differently and this is the prime example of it. Had this been matic, I am sure people would have lauded him for his touresque physicality

[We Hate Scouse 10,286]

Hahahqhqhq. And then people blamr choulo for using stats as per his requirwments.

We should completely leavr out how over run we were in mid, how pathetic we were in possession. How likely we were to concede below or how unlikely it seemed that wewould concede after.

Plus are u sayong that mikel on the field plays to Iimprove his stats??? He was under preasure, shielded the ball and gave an out for the team. Instaed that has become a negative for people saying he did to improve his stat or whatecer your argument is.

Our prejudices always cause us to voew things differently and this is the prime example of it. Had this been matic, I am sure people would have lauded him for his touresque physicality

He was under pressure and put us even more under pressure as a team by playing the ball backwards and inviting them to attack us even more.

Had this been Matic the stats would've told a different story. 0 tackles & 0 interceptions by Mikel - He offered nothing defensively. He was atrocious, all he done was pass the ball backwards and lose Galatasaray a ball with that god awful shot.

[Strike 7,217]

once Mancini changed the tactics, a midfielder had to come on. you can berate him all you want but can't deny we were getting battered at the start of the 2nd half and after he came on it got better.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Some obvious haters here.

Maybe he passed back to Azpi so he had to clear. How many times did others pass back to Cech so he could launch it?

Like him or not but he was a good sub and def helped control possession. Mou took off Schurrle for him so it should he clear that he just wanted to control some possession and get out with the draw. If you don't think we had more possession since his introduction then you clearly didn't watch the match and I don't need stats to prove that, just watch the last 25 mins. Not saying more possession means good possession but he was put on help keep possession and maintain the result and he did his job. Did he earn himself a start? No. But he doesn't deserve hate for yesterday's cameo.

[Special Juan 27,422]

Some obvious haters here.

Hate is a strong word, and wrong word to use. I find it very hard to believe any Chelsea fan hates any Chelsea player and think the wording here is used to easy and frequent when it suits people. All people are doing is pointing what issues they have with him and whether people agree with each other or not hate isn't the point here.

[didierforever 7,349]

once Mancini changed the tactics, a midfielder had to come on. you can berate him all you want but can't deny we were getting battered at the start of the 2nd half and after he came on it got better.

Dint u get the memo dude? Its hip to bash mikel. Forget the fact that he completely changed the complexion of thw game, but how the bloody hell could he five a backpass. The worse thing is people saying he invited preasure as if our defence was on a knife's edge. One individual incident of the azpi clearance has bexome thw pivotal point of the 30mins that mikel was on the pitch ( not even considering that it was a fairly regulation clearance).

And the even worse thing is these are the same guys whi woukd get on thwir high horse if u have written something right after a city loss ( in a very emotional state) against say someone like salah.

But bashing mikel, god forbid if anyone says otherwise.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I don't hate Mikel. I quite like him. But after 8 years of trying to defend him, I've given up and realised he is moreorless useless in any game unless your opponents don't press high up the pitch, which means he can sit back, let the full-backs and midfielders bomb forward and he'll act as a third centre back. The thing is Matic does that twice as well and constitutes an attacking threat. Mikel has been consigned to the "spare parts" bin.

[The only place to be 11,313]

And the even worse thing is these are the same guys whi woukd get on thwir high horse if u have written something right after a city loss ( in a very emotional state) against say someone like salah.

Salah has barely played for us, is new to the system, new to the club, new to the league and new to the country.

Mikel is one of our more experienced players, and EVERY fan knows what he gives us at this point in time.

It's the same old shit though. If you don't like the way a player plays football then you must be a hater, or you must be scapegoating him or it's just the 'hip' thing to do. That is quite frankly bollocks. I've seen people give him credit for good performances (like Everton away) but they're so far and few between that he simply doesn't get that much praise. Throw in the fact that we've bought a genuinely good midfielder in Matic who is completely different from Mikel in every way and he's going to look poor in comparison.

The fact is that there's a few people on here, on Twitter and elsewhere who have long defended Mikel. They've said he's misunderstood, that what he does is beyond us mere mortals comprehension, that he's unfairly singled out, that he's actually the best DM in Europe (except for Busquets obviously), that he's key to what we do, that he's going to be here forever....and they've had to eat their words because Matic has come in and done a much better job in his first few games. He's been proactive, he's been hard-working, he's been driving the team forward, he's been passing through the lines, he's been taking players on and he's even shown a nice eye for a chance.

It's hilarious.

[didierforever 7,349]

Salah has barely played for us, is new to the system, new to the club, new to the league and new to the country.

Mikel is one of our more experienced players, and EVERY fan knows what he gives us at this point in time.

It's the same old shit though. If you don't like the way a player plays football then you must be a hater, or you must be scapegoating him or it's just the 'hip' thing to do. That is quite frankly bollocks. I've seen people give him credit for good performances (like Everton away) but they're so far and few between that he simply doesn't get that much praise. Throw in the fact that we've bought a genuinely good midfielder in Matic who is completely different from Mikel in every way and he's going to look poor in comparison.

The fact is that there's a few people on here, on Twitter and elsewhere who have long defended Mikel. They've said he's misunderstood, that what he does is beyond us mere mortals comprehension, that he's unfairly singled out, that he's actually the best DM in Europe (except for Busquets obviously), that he's key to what we do, that he's going to be here forever....and they've had to eat their words because Matic has come in and done a much better job in his first few games. He's been proactive, he's been hard-working, he's been driving the team forward, he's been passing through the lines, he's been taking players on and he's even shown a nice eye for a chance.

It's hilarious.

What is hilarious is the fact that people are bashing mikel for a completely good performance.

We bought matic who is better than mikel in evry respect (agreed and don't think I or anyone here would say differently) but does that mean mikel should be critisized for a good performance too??? As for the other things u wrote above (mere mortal stuff and all) and the fact that he is being said as the best DM can merely be a fabrication of your imagination cos I don't thunk any1 here has said so. Atleast I havr not. I have critisized him for poor performances and given him his due for good ones like yesterday.

Ps- as for salah, I specifically said that in a emotional moment just after the gane, exagerrations can be made. Hence accepting a mistake even though playing him as a striker ahead of torres n schurrle in a match as importabt as city away while making a sub at HT ehich was a mega- critical point was a massive mistake too though not of Salah.