Mikel John Obi

[Backstreet09 499]

That is completely besides the point which is how the team performs with or without Mikel. And just for the record, you never take off your holding midfielder when chasing a game because you need possession first to score. In fact, some old Italian managers used to bring on another holding midfielder when chasing a game to ensure that they have all the possession and keep the pressure on the other team.

I think Romeu can be that player if he regains his AVB form.

Yes I do think he good enough and keeps getting better. What exactly is note worthy in your opinion? If only goals and assists are noteworthy then why watch games? Just look up the score afterwards..

You call getting owned by rodwell is good enough ? All he does is passing back and sideways #reallyorgasmic . He wouldn't even make the current Spurs team lol and are you even serious ? No body here expects an assist or a goal from him . That would be so end of the world stuff (:

[Kojo 4,676]

City were pressing very high in the first half, the fact that he made 27/31 passes in that half more than any other player on the field is remarkable. He was bound to lose the ball eventually with the pressure. Cech was forced to make a save on that because Luiz lost the header to Rodwell which he really should be winning. Luiz kept losing easy headers throughout the game.

Yes, he could have done better, but so could Iva who allowed Silva to control a cross into the box and turn with no pressure and find Toure. Cahill should have done better in closing down the shot and letting Toure take the shot with right instead of his left.

I think the way we got battered after he went off is testimony to how well he was playing.

You're making excuses again.

[Kojo 4,676]

can people tell me what mikel actually adds to the squad?

I'm confused as he appears to add nothing to me...

he is horrible in air ..... never passes more than 20 yards ..... cant shoot to save his life .... is as slow as a dead snail...he may be good for team like west ham or stoke not a title challenging team like ours....

pls sell this guy and buy some real dms like vidal or de rossi

That's the bottom line mate, he is fucking useless.

His strengths are his passing and his strength, but check this, when we needed that good passer for Juventus, Mikel fucked up for us and cost us a goal and they ended up scoring an equaliser. When we needed someone to mark Cartlon Cole against West Ham because they where hoofing it too him in midfield, Mikel couldn't win one fucking header, he was useless once again.

What is the point in this player? he has nothing to offer just nothing, the only passes he makes are back to the defence, he's like what 26 now? if not then he's coming up 26, he's not exactly young. Really do need to get rid, i can't believe people are still making excuses for him, when he has done nothing.

The funny thing is, when our team has a good game and wins, Mikel gets all the credit and praise, when he's actually done very little.

[Clevemayer 764]

@Kojo

OK so then buy Tiote whom has won against...

Norwich, Wigan, QPR, Swans and most notably Tottenham...

So he played 16 games and won 5 out of it and did loose against such big guns like Southhampton, Stoke Fullham... Wow I'm very convinced

Oh no let't get back Essien whom has literally no knees that would be te best

listen nobody is makeing excuses but you can say the same thing about you... everytime the team looses.... oh no not only then everytime you come over here and have a go on Mikel.., There are enough Reasons and even at the Phone-In after the match they all agreed that you can only pass if you have players running in and arround and we don't have...

@AFCON he was one of the best if not the best player, he was picked by every manager he has 250 cups... how many do you have?

If he was THAT useless he would've been sold on the first day

I make no excuses for him he was bad yesterday no doubt about that but like I've said why don't you have a go at Ramires who Isn't able to stop the ball and is running in to players?

what about Luiz that headless Chicken he has become?

what about ash who was anonymous?

whats with lamps?

whats with Oscar?

you mention one player and slate him for playing no pass into... where?

He played most accurate passes in ACON and more than one've been killerpasses so plz guys, why can he play somewhere else but not for us?

How many mistakes did Chech make what cost us a game?

how many did luiz?

how often was Lamps at fault for leaving the Midfield in recent years outnumbered?

It's not down to ONE player get real, the whole team is SHIT at the moment despite one and thats the Juan and only...

I agree we need to change the midfield... maybe Capouet or someone who will HELP this team, and I mentioned it earlyer Mulumbu seems a decent lad... he is happy enough to get a tackle in and run his socks of... this doesn't mean Mikel has to leave he is more then good enoug if you accept Luiz, Ramires and Lamps there than Mikel is head and shoulders above them all...

[Backstreet09 499]

@Clevemayer are you on drugs ? Tiote was playing with a shit team lol Mikel has Cech , Terry , Brana and Cole . Not mentioning the three amigos lol they never track back haha


TIOTE > MIKEL

Edited February 25, 2013 by Backstreet09

[Clevemayer 764]

@Clevemayer are you on drugs ? Tiote was playing with a shit team lol Mikel has Cech , Terry , Brana and Cole . Not mentioning the three amigos lol they never track back haha

TIOTE > MIKEL

OH yeah with tiote its about the team and with Mikel its about.... him?

get Serious its ALWAYS about the team you act like a morron... nicethat you can mention the team as a whole when its about... well when its about a player you like and not Mikel...

ot of them all you named

Terry is Injured and whe have Cahill and Luiz... so what?

and Ash and Chech I accept but does it help Cabaye and Tiote if they're both very good players if the rest is shit?... ah I think I know the answer... NO...

Brana is not like brana anymore get real... dont know what it is with him

sorry don't use excuses ... because that argument of the team being shit is not allowed for mikel it hasn't to be allowed for anybody else... this is you're fault not mine... you've startet argueing like that...

[AndersonBLUE 819]

Mikel is the very definition of average. He has gotten better over the years but he is nothing special.

[Clevemayer 764]

Mikel is the very definition of average. He has gotten better over the years but he is nothing special.

This is an opinion i can live with but and youre welcome but just calling a Player Shit and Not Worth a place on a biased opinion makes me feel sick because you can clearly See where it comes from

[DH1988 1,348]

Sometimes he is a beast and sometimes he's the same as a kitten, his effort is just alarming at times in regards to tracking players.

Although not just him I might add.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

The old 'people don't understand Mikel's role' stuff. It's patronising bullshit when you realise that every Chelsea fan loved Claude Makelele.

And what does that prove except the double standards that our fans have when it comes to players? The same double standards used to slate Luiz for a mistake and fail to see all of Cahill's and the same double standards that was used to abuse Kalou and make excuses for Torres.

Excuse me for saying you do not understand the holding midfielder role but you did name attacking and box-to-box midfielders as alternatives.

Mikel's problem is that he's an average DM and that's not a bad thing in itself. But when a sportsman is average then 50% of people will say he's underrated and the other 50% will say he's overrated. He doesn't make the team worse but he doesn't make it better. He's a shirt-filler who has been lucky to have played in some good teams, but he'll never stand out on his own merits. Now it didn't have to be that way. He was a stand-out player as a more creative midfielder but was converted to a DM by Jose. I hate that. I hate trying to make a more offensive-minded player into a defensive-force because they require different things. It's why I favour Chalobah as a DM (to go back to that point). His first instinct will always be to defend. It's why I don't think the most urgent thing we face is replacing Mikel. He can be in the team, but that team has to be much better because he won't elevate a single player's performance. He'll occasionally fuck-up but most of the time the other players will cover for him. And when all else fails, there will be fans like you to tell supporters they're too stupid to understand just how good Mikel is.

Not sure what you mean by "he won't elevate a single player's performance" but Mikel unlike Ramires and Luiz allows his partner in the pivot more freedom as well as the fullbacks and even Luiz when he plays at the back. The bit about him being average sounds very convincing but practically equates to nothing since you fail to provide a frame of reference or state what exactly about him is average. Which brings me back to my original question that no one is yet to answer convincingly:

Who do you think currently in the league is better than Mikel and how (meaning in what areas)? What do you think a holding midfielder for a trophy-seeking team should have that Mikel does not?

[Kojo 4,676]

And what does that prove except the double standards that our fans have when it comes to players? The same double standards used to slate Luiz for a mistake and fail to see all of Cahill's and the same double standards that was used to abuse Kalou and make excuses for Torres.

Excuse me for saying you do not understand the holding midfielder role but you did name attacking and box-to-box midfielders as alternatives.

Not sure what you mean by "he won't elevate a single player's performance" but Mikel unlike Ramires and Luiz allows his partner in the pivot more freedom as well as the fullbacks and even Luiz when he plays at the back. The bit about him being average sounds very convincing but practically equates to nothing since you fail to provide a frame of reference or state what exactly about him is average. Which brings me back to my original question that no one is yet to answer convincingly:

Mikels role isn't needed, i think we need a proper defensive midfielder, like Lucas was for Liverpool last season. Like Sandro is now for Spurs, it's a shame really because them two players are currently injured, but fantastic players regardless. Then a CM, but I'm looking forward to De Bruyne, that's if he comes back next season, he might stay two years, but anyway like a Mikel Arteta sort of player for Arsenal.

What fucking use is Mikel exactly? what's the point in finding some use for him when it's very unlikely when we could simply just get new players. And so we should anyway, he's never flourished, when Essien went, he never flourishes, he's never actually got that fucking top on and proved he deserves to wear it. He doesn't put consistent performances in, he has a few moments then fucks up, what sort of lame excuse of a player is this?.

Time to actually get some guns, rather than sticking with players like that, he's not good enough and the sooner you accept it the better.

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Fine, I'll bite. Who do you think currently in the league is better than Mikel and how (meaning in what areas)? What do you think a holding midfielder for a trophy-seeking team should have that Mikel does not?

Carrick,sandro,barry are all better then mikel.Mikel does not mark players that are making runs into the box he reads the game slow he simply does not dominate that midfield area the way a world class holding midfielder would.When was the last time you heard that mikel completely marked xyz out of the game.Like i said i still like mikel a lot he has a lot of qualities but he just is not world class.He is the type of player i would want in my squad but just not as a starter.

[Kojo 4,676]

Carrick,sandro,barry are all better then mikel.Mikel does not mark players that are making runs into the box he reads the game slow he simply does not dominate that midfield area the way a world class holding midfielder would.When was the last time you heard that mikel completely marked xyz out of the game.Like i said i still like mikel a lot he has a lot of qualities but he just is not world class.He is the type of player i would want in my squad but just not as a starter.

Arteta Wilshere make a good double pivot, and are much more inferior to Mikel passing wise and defensively.

I don't rate Fellaini as most do, but i would rather have him than Mikel, as he is better, Carrick as you mentioned incredibly underrated player, his passing range is fantastic. I'm glad he's actually been getting mentioned by pundits now, Barry is an excellent player when it comes to covering, technically he's not great, got a good passing range but that's about it, he is prone to mistakes however.

Sandro for me is the best DM in the league at the moment, he is more box to box but he is fantastic, a great passer of the ball also. Mikel wouldn't get into any top 7 team in the league, just wouldn't happen. Nevermind a top 4 team, and that's why we are slipping out of top 4, because we lack the quality and have to put up with these average players.

[Clevemayer 764]

Lol were slipping because mikel Said so fuck Yeah he die so whilst playn at ACON hahahahajajaha can't stop

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Arteta Wilshere make a good double pivot, and are much more inferior to Mikel passing wise and defensively.

I don't rate Fellaini as most do, but i would rather have him than Mikel, as he is better, Carrick as you mentioned incredibly underrated player, his passing range is fantastic. I'm glad he's actually been getting mentioned by pundits now, Barry is an excellent player when it comes to covering, technically he's not great, got a good passing range but that's about it, he is prone to mistakes however.

Sandro for me is the best DM in the league at the moment, he is more box to box but he is fantastic, a great passer of the ball also. Mikel wouldn't get into any top 7 team in the league, just wouldn't happen. Nevermind a top 4 team, and that's why we are slipping out of top 4, because we lack the quality and have to put up with these average players.

Wilshere-arteta is a good pivot but none of them are pure holding midfielders thats why i didnt mention them.Another cdm i really like is claudio yacob who has been brilliant for west brom and imo is one of the main reason of their highly successful season.