Mikel John Obi

[The Skipper 20,593]

Or Tahiti .

Come on... he played better against Spain and Uruguay who are both great national teams. He had great games. Don't know why it's so hard for you to at least give him a bit of recognition for that.

[Phil Driver 503]

I will if it gets the transfer fee up ,yes brilliant ,brilliant goal against Tahiti .

It will all unravel now and I will wish him all the best with his new club ,they will be getting a bargain .

[The Skipper 20,593]

I will if it gets the transfer fee up ,yes brilliant ,brilliant goal against Tahiti .

He scored against Uruguay.

[bluesman2610 1,347]

I will if it gets the transfer fee up ,yes brilliant ,brilliant goal against Tahiti .

It will all unravel now and I will wish him all the best with his new club ,they will be getting a bargain .

He scored vs Uruguay.. was beaten too it sorry in advance

[robsblubot 3,530]

Come on... he played better against Spain and Uruguay who are both great national teams. He had great games. Don't know why it's so hard for you to at least give him a bit of recognition for that.

He does play better for Nigeria, but I reckon Chelsea cannot afford to build a team around Mikel the same way Nigeria do, because Frankly Mikel is't good enough for that to happen. A medium club perhaps could go that route, perhaps a different, slower league too. BTW, he was a bit slow to take the shot and missed the opportunity in the first half.

A big caveat on Mikel's performance is how much time on the ball he was allowed by Spain; it's really strange they would allow Nigeria's arguably most influential player to receive a pass after pass with no pressure whatsoever. It's like Spain decided that closing down on Mikel was unnecessary and despite his fine game, it worked.

I have to confess I am NOT impressed with this Nigeria team. Yes, they have power, speed, but little technique as their incompetence in the final third showcases.

[Leif 6,006]

I'm not bashing him, good performance, but stop overlooking the fact that Spain didn't play a pressing game tonight. They completely sat back and also built up slowly for the majority of the game. Without the pressing of course Mikel could show off more mobility. He won't be given such time & space in most PL games.

Also low pass completion again. For every "UGH NICE THROUGH-BALL MIKEL!!!!" there's complete strays. He needs to work on this.

I like his hair now.

[OneMoSalah 8,785]

He does play better for Nigeria, but I reckon Chelsea cannot afford to build a team around Mikel the same way Nigeria do, because Frankly Mikel is't good enough for that to happen. A medium club perhaps could go that route, perhaps a different, slower league too. BTW, he was a bit slow to take the shot and missed the opportunity in the first half.

A big caveat on Mikel's performance is how much time on the ball he was allowed by Spain; it's really strange they would allow Nigeria's arguably most influential player to receive a pass after pass with no pressure whatsoever. It's like Spain decided that closing down on Mikel was unnecessary and despite his fine game, it worked.

I have to confess I am NOT impressed with this Nigeria team. Yes, they have power, speed, but little technique as their incompetence in the final third showcases.

Little technique? They are the one team that has given Spain a good game in this competition they were confident, getting on the ball and passing it around quite well. I wouldn't say they lack technique but just some of their decision making was awful, they are actually a good side Nigeria. They could have done a bit better in the second half maybe but hey who has played as well as they have in the first half against Spain in recent times?

[The Skipper 20,593]

He does play better for Nigeria, but I reckon Chelsea cannot afford to build a team around Mikel the same way Nigeria does, because Frankly Mikel is't good enough for that to happen. A medium club perhaps could go that route, perhaps a different, slower league too. BTW, he was a bit slow to take the shot and missed the opportunity in the first half.

A big caveat on Mikel's performance is how much space he was allowed by Spain; it's really strange they would allow Nigeria's arguably most influential player to receive a pass after pass with no pressure whatsoever. It's like Spain decided that closing down on Mikel was unnecessary and despite his fine game, it worked.

I have to confess I am NOT impressed with this Nigeria team. Yes, they have power, speed, but little technique as their incompetence in the final third showcases.

I agree that we can't build our team around him - that ship has sailed away a long, long time ago. Never said we should either, especially when we have talents like Oscar, Mata and Hazard to build around - what I do think though is that he needs to be given more offensive responsibility. He clearly has the passing range and intelligence to do so, even from deep. What would be interesting at CFC is if we do sign someone like Kondogbia we can easily play a midfield two of Mikel - Kondogbia, with Mikel allowed more freedom to express himself and link up effectively with the likes of Mata, Hazard, Oscar etc. in front of him.

At the start of last season I was hoping to see that in his game because I do think he's capable of doing so but he was once again used as the holding player in the pivot. Next season could be very interesting, would like to see what Mourinho does with him in all fairness.

And yes, I partially agree about the Nigerian team. They lack quality in the offensive third but we do have to remember they were missing their main men there in Emenike and Moses who are both very decent players.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Brilliant in the first half and gave up in the 2nd. Must have been frustrated with the shower of shit he's surrounded by.

Brilliant player.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

I remember last time he got abuse, that was after the Juventus game, he had deleted his twitter account. Then Robbie stepped up and said:

'I don't know why Mikel is underrated by the media or the fans. He is very rated by us in the group and it's a position where you're a bit of an unsung hero,' the Italian explained.

'You do the dirty work which is not recognised all the time because the goalscorers and more creative players get the recognition. But he is very important for our team, he breaks up the play, he is physically strong, he is getting better on the ball with his distribution and dictates the tempo of the team as well so we are very happy to have him in our team.'

[9jaGooner 15]

I just thought I'ld give an insight into the Mikel debate (as a Nigerian myself).

When Mikel burst into the scene back in 2005, we actually believed that we had a replacement for J.J Okocha (remember him? ). In fact, we believed we had a more disciplined player who knew when to pass and and when to dribble. In the Nigerian National team, Mikel has ALWAYS been our no.10 dictating play from the midfield.

Sadly Mourinho saw him more as a defensive player (that's the impression we have back home). However, the National team coach back then was coincidentally, Mikel's coach at U20 level and he played Mikel in the position we always believed he should play - NOT DM. Those watching Mikel at the confed cup may be surprised at his performance BUT he's always been this 'good' for the National team. He is a key player for us.

I've often seen/heard Chelsea fans slating him for his side passes but my belief is that at Chelsea, Mikel plays according to instructions. Why else would he consistently remain in the first team under the numerous number of coaches Chelsea has had?

Now I don't know if he'll retain his first team position if allowed to play in his preferred role, but I do believe that if he'd been played in that role for the past years, he would have developed into one of the best in Europe (my opinion).

I personally would like him to leave Chelsea to a team that can play him in his best position and guarantee him first team action. He's won everything with Chelsea and I think it's time for him to move on.

[Jase 43,479]

I'm not bashing him, good performance, but stop overlooking the fact that Spain didn't play a pressing game tonight. They completely sat back and also built up slowly for the majority of the game. Without the pressing of course Mikel could show off more mobility. He won't be given such time & space in most PL games.

Spain didn't play the pressing game? They completely sat back?! Now I'm not sure if you were watching the right game. They may not have pressed extremely heavily but they did put pressure around on the Nigeria players when they have the ball and didn't just completely sit back. When Mikel did get close down by Spain, he showed good strength and composure to turn the pressure around by doing something useful with it such as playing nice through balls, sweeping balls down the flanks (he even toyed with Xavi at one point!).

Also low pass completion again. For every "UGH NICE THROUGH-BALL MIKEL!!!!" there's complete strays. He needs to work on this.

Yes, not all of his passes were perfect but you say as if the even more accomplished ones don't have a few passes that go astray in matches. There was certainly more 'nice' through balls from him than complete stray ones.

[Muzchap 8,966]

Yup credit where it's due he looked great tonight!

Musa also looks cool - if he could be 'polished' - what a great little player

My only concern with Mikel is he doing an Adebayour? Trying to put himself in the shop window? He will never be used in the same role at Chelsea and looking at it now - I think we have damaged his career...

If he can find a role higher up the pitch at another team we should let him go

[robsblubot 3,530]

Little technique? They are the one team that has given Spain a good game in this competition they were confident, getting on the ball and passing it around quite well. I wouldn't say they lack technique but just some of their decision making was awful, they are actually a good side Nigeria. They could have done a bit better in the second half maybe but hey who has played as well as they have in the first half against Spain in recent times?

We obviously defined technique very differently.

I've seen countless times the smaller side giving the bigger (not as committed-already qualified) side a run for their money by employing power and speed (same as Nigeria did), until they tire (same again). Still, quality, technique, to me is in the final third where the passes MUST be 100% precise. Where the first touch must be perfect, so the player has the time to apply the finish. I see none of that in their players. Most of their players have very poor first touch, especially under pressure.

Their defense is as bad as Japan's.

I think Nigeria record speaks for itself: a win against Tahiti, being the only team that managed to concede against them. Lost to Uruguay, direct contenders, and don't think they deserved to win that game btw. Uruguay players have far better technique, first touch specially.

BTW, Mikel was never under any pressure when carrying the ball from deep position.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

If this guy would give a shit when he plays for us...that would be great.

Seriously we need to put him in proper role, you dont own Spain like that if you not good. But the attitude he has is still horrible though (only thing I hate about him).

[Magic Lamps 11,668]

If Mikel had the offensive abilites he allegedly has, why does almost never socre a goal or even create one. The required technical abilites you need for being an offensive midfielder differ from the ones required for DMs. If he always has had these, there is no way he only scored and assisted single figures in 7 years.

[Sheva. 5,373]

I have to confess I am NOT impressed with this Nigeria team. Yes, they have power, speed, but little technique as their incompetence in the final third showcases.

Nigeria had many injuries leading into the tournament. Onazi from Lazio is a starter and was very good at the ACN, but got injured less than a week before the game against Tahiti. Moses and Emenike are also starters but were also injured, so less experienced players were thrown in instead, which probably explains some of their weird play in the final third.

[Backstreet09 499]

If this guy would give a shit when he plays for us...that would be great.

Seriously we need to put him in proper role, you dont own Spain like that if you not good. But the attitude he has is still horrible though (only thing I hate about him).

OWN SPAIN LIKE THAT

OWN SPAIN

OWN