Mikel John Obi

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Since 2nd February, we have won all our PL games that Mikel did not start (Wigan, west brom, west ham, fulham and Swansea) while with him we have won 1, drawn 1 and lost 2 in the same period.

And our win ratio with Cech in the team is worse than it is with Turnbull this season, shall we drop him too?

And we haven't lost a single game Ross Turnbull have played in this season. Let's get rid of Cech

Haha, I just said the same thing!

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Lol - yeah true...

Still doesn't mean Mikel isn't shit

Luiz >> Mikel - said it months ago - Luiz best position right now is DM... Got slated but hey, everybody else can now see it.

I also had high hopes for Mikel for a period of 3-4 games he was bursting forward and passing so well... Then he just slipped back into lazy mode... He reminds me of Adabeyour (sp?) - when he wants to play = amazing, but rest of time = frustratingly average....

Good squad player tho!

My point is that it doesn't make him shit, because Mikel, being a key player in our team, is usually rested against weaker teams so it is only natural that we have a higher win percentage when he does not start.

I could not disagree more about Luiz. Here is why: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13527-04-david-luiz/?p=658954

[Muzchap 8,966]

My point is that it doesn't make him shit, because Mikel, being a key player in our team, is usually rested against weaker teams so it is only natural that we have a higher win percentage when he does not start.

I could not disagree more about Luiz. Here is why: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13527-04-david-luiz/?p=658954

Ok on Luiz in midfield - he's the best option we have at the moment - either:

Luiz + Mikel or Luiz + Ramires

Are to me the best DM pairing.

If in the summer we sign a World Class DM I would be happy for Luiz to play CB as a ball playing defender - he would give so much more options - as others have said hard to press and he could be the transition from Defence to Attack that we lack.

I get Mikel is rested in some games, also injured - but he really does need to sharpen up! Against City he just let Toure walk past him, he's (for whatever reason) lost his desire, hunger... Under RDM he looked a much better player, under RB he's returned to the player he was... No energy or desire. Please go back and check my posts on him under RdM - I was amazed it was like we had signed a new player! Now, he's back to under-performing and annoying me every minute of every game

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Ok on Luiz in midfield - he's the best option we have at the moment - either:

Luiz + Mikel or Luiz + Ramires

Are to me the best DM pairing.

If in the summer we sign a World Class DM I would be happy for Luiz to play CB as a ball playing defender - he would give so much more options - as others have said hard to press and he could be the transition from Defence to Attack that we lack.

I get Mikel is rested in some games, also injured - but he really does need to sharpen up! Against City he just let Toure walk past him, he's (for whatever reason) lost his desire, hunger... Under RDM he looked a much better player, under RB he's returned to the player he was... No energy or desire. Please go back and check my posts on him under RdM - I was amazed it was like we had signed a new player! Now, he's back to under-performing and annoying me every minute of every game

Again, disagree about Luiz. He should be nowhere near midfield for the reasons I stated in that post (I do hope you read it). He's too sloppy, too aggressive and too adventurous to play at DM. Anyway, I don't want to discuss Luiz here as this is not his thread. If you want a discussion about Luiz in midfield, read the post who's link I put above and we can discuss him there

As for Mikel, he had a few very good games after the AFCON (the replay against united comes to mind) but then he had a few bad ones last month especially that game in the EL but the City game was not one of the those bad games. He was very good in that game, and you can't judge the whole performance of player based on a single incident, especially a DM. He was back to himself against Liverpool and had an excellent game but then picked up that knock which saw him miss the last two games. So hopefully against united he continues with the good form he showed against Liverpool.

As for the goal you mentioned, I can't understand how people put the blame on Mikel. He did the right thing in showing Toure down the outside and not putting in a challenge because he would have given away an easy penalty. Yes, he was slow to react (which has always been his biggest weakness) afterwards to chase Toure and block the shot, but Azpi who let in the easy cross to Toure in the first place, and Cahill who should have double on him and closed down the shot but instead stood looking at Toure from 3 meters away from him, share the blame. You can't single out Mikel.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Again, disagree about Luiz. He should be nowhere near midfield for the reasons I stated in that post (I do hope you read it). He's too sloppy, too aggressive and too adventurous to play at DM. Anyway, I don't want to discuss Luiz here as this is not his thread. If you want a discussion about Luiz in midfield, read the post who's link I put above and we can discuss him there

As for Mikel, he had a few very good games after the AFCON (the replay against united comes to mind) but then he had a few bad ones last month especially that game in the EL but the City game was not one of the those bad games. He was very good in that game, and you can't judge the whole performance of player based on a single incident, especially a DM. He was back to himself against Liverpool and had an excellent game but then picked up that knock which saw him miss the last two games. So hopefully against united he continues with the good form he showed against Liverpool.

As for the goal you mentioned, I can't understand how people put the blame on Mikel. He did the right thing in showing Toure down the outside and not putting in a challenge because he would have given away an easy penalty. Yes, he was slow to react (which has always been his biggest weakness) afterwards to chase Toure and block the shot, but Azpi who let in the easy cross to Toure in the first place, and Cahill who should have double on him and closed down the shot but instead stood looking at Toure from 3 meters away from him, share the blame. You can't single out Mikel.

Hmm think it will be hard for us to find common ground here

Ok on Luiz

On Mikel - it's not just 1 incident, that's the one that rankles most. He is definitely playing below the standard required. Maybe it was AFCON, as Moses has looked poor since returning too!

Guess we will find out tomorrow

[bleed_blue 136]

And we haven't lost a single game Ross Turnbull have played in this season. Let's get rid of Cech

Turnbull started vs QPR on 2nd Jan and vs Reading on 30th Jan. We lost the QPR game and drew the Reading game. At least check the facts before you start mocking other people.

And our win ratio with Cech in the team is worse than it is with Turnbull this season, shall we drop him too?

Haha, I just said the same thing!

same as my reply to choulo19, also

Pathetic really.

[Joe Cool 388]

Again, disagree about Luiz. He should be nowhere near midfield for the reasons I stated in that post (I do hope you read it). He's too sloppy, too aggressive and too adventurous to play at DM. Anyway, I don't want to discuss Iuiz here ais not his thread. If you want a discussion about Luiz in midfield, read the post who's link I put above and we can discuss him there

As for Mikel, he had a few very good games after the AFCON (the replay against united comes to mind) but then he had a few bad ones last month especially that game in the EL but the City game was not one of the those bad games. He was very good in that game, and you can't judge the whole performance of player based on a single incident, especially a DM. He was back to himself against Liverpool and had an excellent game but then picked up that knock which saw him miss the last two games. So hopefully against united he continues with the good form he showed against Liverpool.

As for the goal you mentioned, I can't understand how people put the blame on Mikel. He did the right thing in showing Toure down the outside and not putting in a challenge because he would have given away an easy penalty. Yes, he was slow to react (which has always been his biggest weakness) afterwards to chase Toure and block the shot, but Azpi who let in the easy cross to Toure in the first place, and Cahill who should have double on him and closed down the shot but instead stood looking at Toure from 3 meters away from him, share the blame. You can't single out Mikel.

Were you and I watching the same game? Nearly every long ball from City's half somehow made it straight to Tevez/Aguero/whomever with loads of space because Mikel was caught out of position repeatedly and staying way too high up the pitch (something we also saw in the Southampton game). Then not to mention the fact that he never seemed arsed to get back once they did have the ball in such a dangerous position. As I posted earlier, you compare his positional sense and discipline (or lack thereof) to Makelele, who was also quicker and quite a bit better on the ball, and you'll realize that Mikel simply is not good enough. Add his shitty fucking attitude to all this, which makes him definitely not good enough.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Were you and I watching the same game?

The trick is to not actually watch games involving Mikel. That's just madness.

What you want to do is wait for the match to be over and then look at his stats for the game. Marvel at his pass completion stats and ignore things like heart, performance and effort.

I could maybe forgive his poor performances if he didn't show such disdain and lack of effort whilst wearing our shirt. People pay hard-earned money every week to see the team play and to have cunts like him put in the bare minimum really does irritate supporters.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Were you and I watching the same game? Nearly every long ball from City's half somehow made it straight to Tevez/Aguero/whomever with loads of space because Mikel was caught out of position repeatedly and staying way too high up the pitch (something we also saw in the Southampton game). Then not to mention the fact that he never seemed arsed to get back once they did have the ball in such a dangerous position. As I posted earlier, you compare his positional sense and discipline (or lack thereof) to Makelele, who was also quicker and quite a bit better on the ball, and you'll realize that Mikel simply is not good enough. Add his shitty fucking attitude to all this, which makes him definitely not good enough.

Of course Mikel is no where near Makalele, who is? Carrcik aside, name one better DM in the league (and do NOT say Toure, he is not a DM).

[Phil Driver 503]

Tiote,Sandro,Lucas,Arteta off the top of my head ,probably more .

[Manuf 1,448]

Tiote,Sandro,Lucas,Arteta off the top of my head ,probably more .

[DDA 9,570]

Sell Mikel this summer and use the money to install a new vending machine and state of the art sound system with a ps4 rigged up for the players lounge. That's money better spent imo.

[Joe Cool 388]

Of course Mikel is no where near Makalele, who is? Carrcik aside, name one better DM in the league (and do NOT say Toure, he is not a DM).

Tiote,Sandro,Lucas,Arteta off the top of my head ,probably more .

[CHOULO19 24,332]

You have to be kidding. Those players don't even come close! I won't derail this thread with a comparison with each of those players, so here, just read this instead: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13977-john-mikel-obi-the-keystone/

WARNING: That link is NOT safe if you have stats-o-phobia!

[Joe Cool 388]

Of course Mikel is no where near Makalele, who is? Carrcik aside, name one better DM in the league (and do NOT say Toure, he is not a DM).

Okay, he's not as good as Makelele and probably never will be. Fine. But that does not excuse the shambolic displays that we've seen from him over and over again. I hate to beat a dead horse with a stick because I've repeatedly explained why he does not deserve a spot on the team, so I'm just going to leave it at: A. He's shit and B. his "commitment" is appalling.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Okay, he's not as good as Makelele and probably never will be. Fine. But that does not excuse the shambolic displays that we've seen from him over and over again. I hate to beat a dead horse with a stick because I've repeatedly explained why he does not deserve a spot on the team, so I'm just going to leave it at: A. He's shit and B. his "commitment" is appalling.

Well I completely disagree and it seems that our managers for the past 4-5 seasons agree with me because, like it or not, Mikel has been an integral part of the Chelsea team and was vital to all of our success in that period and will likely be for a few more seasons to come as well.

[Leif 6,006]

Let's make things interesting.

Who here believes Mikel is better than Schneiderlin?

If you say you do believe that, I have to question whether you're just sticking to your guns and putting Mikel and your opinion before the club and reality.

This should also lead to a beheading.

(Just to add my opinion to the mix - We're talking about defensive-midfielders as in the position, not the role, otherwise there wouldn't even be a Mikel-Luiz comparison constantly going on. So Yaya Toure is actually someone who can be compared as he starts in the exact same position as Mikel, as do Wilshere, Arteta, Ramires, Guzman, Sandro, Garcia and so-on, all of whom perform leaps and bounds ahead of Mikel. If we're talking which 'role' they perform and not just their position, we can't compare Mikel with anyone, because no one else in the league just stands there like a branch, only moving when the wind sways them a bit.)

Toure, Tiote, Diame, Luiz, Ramires - They all play in the same position as Mikel and run more, do more, give more and try harder. They are the players who hassle the opposition and press them into making a mistake. They also have quite lanky legs so win the ball back with ease.

Luiz, Wilshere, Arteta, Dembele - They all play in the same position as Mikel and act as playmakers yet still get in tackles and cover decent ground.

Sandro, Lucas, Garcia, Schneiderlin - They all play in the same position as Mikel and act as proper defensive midfielders; Covering ground, tackling, laying off simple passes forward for the attacking players to make use out of, protecting the back four, running back after making mistakes to try and make amends.

So... where does Mikel excel?

It's just sad. Makelele to Mikel is like going from C. Ronaldo to Quaresma. Sure, they play the same position and look a bit similar, but they are so far away from eachother in terms of quality.

Now that's just comparing skill-level (if you could call that a comparison... which admittedly, it probably wasn't.)

Will we even get started on attitude? Even Torres has a better attitude than him. Don't ask for an example; I have too many and my fingers will bleed typing them out.

[Rmpr 8,977]

You have to be kidding. Those players don't even come close! I won't derail this thread with a comparison with each of those players, so here, just read this instead: http://forum.talkchelsea.net/topic/13977-john-mikel-obi-the-keystone/

WARNING: That link is NOT safe if you have stats-o-phobia!

SeB is a funny guy, some of the things he says are absolutely genius and incredibly intelligent. While others are super deluded, like Torres's movement, Ramires' passing and Mikel as the keystone!

Mikel is not good enough to be Chelsea's first choice DM...