Mikel John Obi

[Jase 43,479]

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:34, The only place to be said:

Southampton away and West Ham away were utterly atrocious performances by Mikel. Diame dominated him in at Upton Park and Lambert had him in his pocket at St Marys.

Performance awful yes but was Mikel the only one that played poorly? No. The whole team did and that's why we lost those games. Mikel playing didn't just magically caused us to lose when other factors led to it as well.

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:34, The only place to be said:

I agree that bleeds blue was a little unfair in using those stats, but if you're going to just re-write history then you're not much better.

Not much better? Ha. At least I'm not just tossing some stats or facts forward and just look at the surface without even bother to look further into the issue...

[The only place to be 11,313]

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:41, BluesMaster said:

Performance awful yes but was Mikel the only one that played poorly? No. The whole team did and that's why we lost those games. Mikel playing didn't just magically caused us to lose when other factors led to it as well.

If you want to discuss the performances of other players then do it in their thread. You bought those performances up in reference to Mikel. He played poorly.

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:41, BluesMaster said:

Not much better? Ha. At least I'm not just tossing some stats or facts forward and just look at the surface without even bother to look further into the issue...

Looking further into the issue is pointing out that other people played poorly too?

Look, I'm just pointing out what Mikel's performances were like in those games.

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:44, SeB said:

Remind yourself Diamé's goal. Why was Diamé left alone in the zone 14 at the edge of the penalty spot? It's because Cole was left against two on the throw-in and that Mikel was there to cover him... our two-man midfield was an absolute farce (and I'm saying that for one year) that led to a constant 2v3 in midfield, so leaving us at the mercy of any good deep midfielder: Carrick to dictate play from deep position, or Diamé able to push forward.

So yeah, basically Mikel's fault. I already know you're going to answer your usual body language nonsense, based on games nobody did care about.

I'm not going to excuse the pivot - neither Lamps, Rami or Mikel covered themselves in glory last season. But Mikel was the only person I saw who shirked responsibility in games. Lamps never did that and Rami (who I criticised and then said I had been wrong about, because I have that ability) simply isn't as consistently technically proficient as one would like.

Mikel is simply someone I'm pretty fed up with. I don't like seeing him wear this club badge anymore and I long for the day he leaves, if he's going to persist with this current level of performance.

Fortunately we've got players like Chalobah, Ake and Loftus-Cheek coming through who I actually enjoy watching and consider proper Chelsea players. They look like they give a shit and I value body language and attitude in football - as someone who coaches kids I'm amazed you disregard this so quickly.

[Phil Driver 503]

The stats are only used as a back up to confirm what I see from him on the pitch and that is a series of poor performances ,he has no ability ,what is he good at? ,what the stats do not tell you is he is poor in the games we win as well ,for instance in the second half at White Hart Lane he was awful as well ,only for our magic men to turn it on .

He cant run ,he cant tackle,his passing is pedestrian,he doesnt read the game (picking up runners) ,he lacks stamina (fades in games),cant tackle (fouls a lot and is not hard,agressive),he is not inspirational,bad attitude (Europa League),shoooting ,heading ,marking on set plays he does nothing, ,have a look at Frank Lampards win /play stats and Ramires,Luiz when in the two midfield pair ,he makes everyone who he partners look bad .

[Jase 43,479]

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:54, The only place to be said:

If you want to discuss the performances of other players then do it in their thread. You bought those performances up in reference to Mikel. He played poorly.

Looking further into the issue is pointing out that other people played poorly too?

Look, I'm just pointing out what Mikel's performances were like in those games.

The point here is that bleedsblue threw out that comparison stats to highlight the supposed uselessness of Mikel when he plays and doesn't play without context. He tried to make it sound as if Mikel was a major factor in those difference when it isn't at all and there were other factors dictating them. Hence, why I brought up those factors which partly includes the team's performances that led to those defeats. Mikel didn't play well yes but to mainly him as an excuse for the difference in those winning percentages is nonsense.

[The only place to be 11,313]

  On 13/06/2013 at 20:03, Phil Driver said:

The stats are only used as a back up to confirm what I see from him on the pitch and that is a series of poor performances ,he has no ability ,what is he good at? ,what the stats do not tell you is he is poor in the games we win as well ,for instance in the second half at White Hart Lane he was awful as well ,only for our magic men to turn it on .

He cant run ,he cant tackle,his passing is pedestrian,he doesnt read the game (picking up runners) ,he lacks stamina (fades in games),cant tackle (fouls a lot and is not hard,agressive),he is not inspirational,bad attitude (Europa League),shoooting ,heading ,marking on set plays he does nothing, ,have a look at Frank Lampards win /play stats and Ramires,Luiz when in the two midfield pair ,he makes everyone who he partners look bad .

Annoyingly I don't think much of that is true. I think he's got a ton of ability and fantastic physical tools.

For me it's all mental. He was a 19 year old with attitude issues and sometimes people don't change from that. Stick him alongside good players and he'll look good but I don't think he's the type of person who will put teams on his back and make the person next to him look better (the usual argument against this is something to do with us winning the CL - luck had more to do with that).

It's why I don't think the fans have ever really taken to him. People like Maka, Wisey, Spackers etc. all gave their all and left everything on that pitch. They tried to realise their potential.

It's why I love Lukaku - he is all about football. Look at what he said about the Champions League, how he felt like he hadn't earned it himself.

Now look at Mikel

after what he said, after that performance against Rubin Kazan....just unbelievable.

[Amblève. 4,995]

  On 13/06/2013 at 19:44, SeB said:

Remind yourself Diamé's goal. Why was Diamé left alone in the zone 14 at the edge of the penalty spot? It's because Cole was left against two on the throw-in and that Mikel was there to cover him... our two-man midfield was an absolute farce (and I'm saying that for one year) that led to a constant 2v3 in midfield, so leaving us at the mercy of any good deep midfielder: Carrick to dictate play from deep position, or Diamé able to push forward.

So yeah, basically Mikel's fault. I already know you're going to answer your usual body language nonsense, based on games nobody did care about.

Don't even try to discuss with him mate. It's pointless. You'll only get to hear the same "Chalobah and Ake are better than Mikel, Mikel doesn't give a shit about Chelsea"-BS all over again. He's not even gonna try to react to the points you raise.

[Phil Driver 503]

Ah I missed another point out ,his left foot ,he has not got one ,it is for standing on ,he cant play off of it .

[Phil Driver 503]

  On 13/06/2013 at 20:10, The only place to be said:

Annoyingly I don't think much of that is true. I think he's got a ton of ability and fantastic physical tools.

Really ,take every point apart then and tell me what he does ,forget the stats . Being 6ft 3 ins and 14 stone does not make you a footballer.

[Phil Driver 503]

Fair enough ,another who knows little or nothing about the game ,forget his awful stats and stop trying to be clever ,you tell me what his attributes are?

What is he good at? and rolling slow passes behind full backs slowing our counter attacks down is not a plus .

[Leif 6,006]

When I see Mikel play I get the image in my head of a slightly retarded dog who's trying to impress his owner during a game of frisby but can't find the frisby disk right in front of him.

[Phil Driver 503]

Actually the only stat that is misleading is his pass completion oh so negative and slow and sideways/backwards,it stops us mounting quick counter atttacks which is how most goals are scored in football ,together with winning possesion as high up the pitch as possible ,Mikel does not do this .

[Phil Driver 503]

  On 13/06/2013 at 20:15, SeB said:

Sometimes players appear lazy and slow, just before you notice they're the ones that run the most or cover the most ground.

I will take issue with one of your points .

Are you saying Mikel covers a lot of ground?

Because he doesnt appear to be lazy and slow ,he is .

[nono 791]

There must be some statistics for how much distance Mikel covers ?

[OneMoSalah 8,837]

  On 13/06/2013 at 20:45, Phil Driver said:

I will take issue with one of your points .

Are you saying Mikel covers a lot of ground?

Because he doesnt appear to be lazy and slow ,he is .

Players who play in the double pivot are meant to mark a zone and shield the back 4, they don't necessarily need to cover a lot of ground but can still do an effective job. Its their positioning that is more important.

If Mikel is in a decent enough position to make a tackle it is better than him running 20m and not getting there in time isn't it?

[robsblubot 3,595]

  On 13/06/2013 at 22:46, RyanDavidson said:

Players who play in the double pivot are meant to mark a zone and shield the back 4, they don't necessarily need to cover a lot of ground but can still do an effective job. Its their positioning that is more important.

If Mikel is in a decent enough position to make a tackle it is better than him running 20m and not getting there in time isn't it?

You are right, but these types of players, who sit deep and do little else, are out of fashion these days. Even on this thread we have trouble finding another (top club) player who shares the same characteristics. All we find are players far more mobile and rounded than Mikel.

The stats posted here about the win ratio with and without Mikel are very telling: at the very least his style does not seem to fit the current system.

[Backstreet09 499]

If mikel could get a dollar for every time he passes the ball to Cech and fellow defenders, he'd be the richest man in the world #truestory

[bleed_blue 136]

There are some clueless idiots on this thread.

@Seb: your claims about Turnbull having more clean sheets are false so jog right ahead. Typical of all Mikel apologists to make up wrong stats to support him

@Bluesmaster: I think its better we do not talk about our performances vs Man City. Mikel was completely dominated in our midfield in all the 4 matches we played against them this season.

vs Athletico: If we concede 4 goals, fingers has to be raised at the DM who in the words of his apologists "provides a shield to the defense"

vs West Ham: I must have missed the part where Mikel was doing a very good job and not being embarrassed by Diame

vs Southampton: The lesser said about the DM the better

Are you trying to say that all misfortune strikes our team when Mikel plays and that is why we get relatively poor results?

Thats a warped little world you live in.

[bleed_blue 136]

  On 13/06/2013 at 22:46, RyanDavidson said:

Players who play in the double pivot are meant to mark a zone and shield the back 4, they don't necessarily need to cover a lot of ground but can still do an effective job. Its their positioning that is more important.

If Mikel is in a decent enough position to make a tackle it is better than him running 20m and not getting there in time isn't it?

With Mikel starting, we conceded 1.68 goals per game.

When he did not start, we conceded 0.89 goals per game.

Whatever the other midfielders don't do that Mikel does, it works.