Mikel John Obi

[CHOULO19 24,332]

A couple of things....

Long before Kojo and the like got involved I stood virtually alone about Mikel's flaws as the majority of this forum were pro Mikel, its obviously changed now but my point is back then when I gave a logical respectful argument regarding his weaknesses members kept coming back with stats about his pass completion etc, so I find it a little nauseating to say the least that the pro Mikel camp are now refusing to accept stats - don't get me wrong stats are misleading but you simply cannot have it both ways?

In my discussions I pointed out that Mikel was simply too slow in everything he does - speed of thought, pace, awareness, ball distribution, this is why he would never make a top class DM, Makelele 99.9% of the time was in the right place at the right time, winning possesion then his ball distribution was swift to start our attacks, it was then argued that Mikel didn't have the quality infront of him that Makelele had at his disposal - a little ott but fair'ish comment, now my second point would be that we now have an abundance of quality players in attacking positions that he can get his teeth into, taking his defensive duties to one side all I ask is that he starts finding these creative players with quick ball movement on a consistent basis, now do all the pro Mikel supporters believe he can do that?

I actually agree with most of that. I always said that Mikel's weakness is that he is slow. And I don't mean pace, but rather slow in his execution of things. But the speed at which he executes passes is not just down to him and often more due to the receivers. When Oscar and Schurrle play, for example, the make movements and drop deeper to pick the ball up from the pivot players, so naturally Mikel, or any other player in the pivot, can find them quickly with easy low-risk passes. But when Mata and Hazard play instead, they tend to mostly stand between two banks of defenders when the opposition defend with numbers. Mikel, being a holding midfielder, is then forced to keep the ball longer looking for a viable option, and then ends up giving it to the CB or full back because his job is to keep possession not to try near-impossible passes. This is why we did better last season against teams that attack us than against teams that want to defend only (except when we ourselves parked the bus like against Juve and the 3 City games) and that's because there would more spaces in their defense and the pivot players could find Mata and Hazard without them having to drop to receive the ball.

[Phil Driver 503]

" We could lose to any team we face now" on top of "I dont want to play in the Europa" untill we lift the cup" ,that will rally the team and lift spirits as he ever cosidered he is a major part of us now in the position we could lose to any team we face?

[English Freak 456]

Would like to see Ramires - Mikel as the midfield pairing for a consistent run of games because that's our best combo.


Lampard can start against the weaker teams and come off the bench when needed against stronger opposition.

[Jase 43,479]

" We could lose to any team we face now" on top of "I dont want to play in the Europa" untill we lift the cup" ,that will rally the team and lift spirits as he ever cosidered he is a major part of us now in the position we could lose to any team we face?

Talk about taking what he said out of context.

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2013/sep/19/chelsea-mikel-john-obi-basel

"It's a very bad result for us," the midfielder said. "We knew the kind of team we were playing against. We knew how good they are on the ball and what they can do when they have the ball. The manager spoke about how we had to put them under pressure from the first half, the first minute, and then they don't have a chance to win here. We didn't do that.

"It's very disappointing, especially for our fans, the way we lost the game. I am disappointed about it. Coming from another defeat at Everton, we wanted to use this game to put things right, but we didn't do that."

"We have to put things right in the next game and put ourselves in the position of qualifying from this group. I think with the calibre of players we have here we shouldn't be afraid of anyone. But if we play the way we did today we have a chance of losing to anyone we play. We go back to training and look at the things we have done wrong and try to put it right."

[GodZola 630]

I actually agree with most of that. I always said that Mikel's weakness is that he is slow. And I don't mean pace, but rather slow in his execution of things. But the speed at which he executes passes is not just down to him and often more due to the receivers. When Oscar and Schurrle play, for example, the make movements and drop deeper to pick the ball up from the pivot players, so naturally Mikel, or any other player in the pivot, can find them quickly with easy low-risk passes. But when Mata and Hazard play instead, they tend to mostly stand between two banks of defenders when the opposition defend with numbers. Mikel, being a holding midfielder, is then forced to keep the ball longer looking for a viable option, and then ends up giving it to the CB or full back because his job is to keep possession not to try near-impossible passes. This is why we did better last season against teams that attack us than against teams that want to defend only (except when we ourselves parked the bus like against Juve and the 3 City games) and that's because there would more spaces in their defense and the pivot players could find Mata and Hazard without them having to drop to receive the ball.

Movement is pivotal to whichever player has the ball, whether that is infront, behind or horizontally and thats why I touched on that when concurring with members before about the lack of quality that Mikel had around although I wasnt entirely convinced and made my point that we both agree that he is too slow in his distribution. For me and many will disagree I much prefer Luiz to be played in this position (just my opinion peeps and not for discussion in this thread) because he has vision, he can see that decisive pass, has 2 great feet, sure sometimes he is over zealous with his distribution but he tries - this is something that most believe Mikel has in his locker but for some reason or another doesn't let it out of the closet? If he has the talent then he must be encouraged to use it or take the bull by the horns and take responsibility which unfortunately he rarely shows.

Fact is we both agree we now have the personnel for Mikel to finally show us that he has the tools to perform, the experience, a world class manager that has today spoken about the need to change our style, all this will benefit Obi but by the same token he has to produce, there are no longer any hiding places. Think we all know its make or break time for him this season - mikel too, that should be enough to inspire him to the performances we expect at this club now, I await with interest what he brings to the table this season?

[cripji 16]

U've said it all.

[Clevemayer 764]

lets see if he starts today...

[lucio 5,418]

lol nice

[NishC300 1,865]

Mikel becomes the 9th African to score a PL goal for Chelsea (after Drogba, Kalou, Essien, Babayaro, Geremi, Weah, Ba & Moses.)

HE ACTUALLY SCORED! @CHOULO19, HE SCORED! YEAAAAAAA!

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Lampard is scared.

[Stats 6,988]

where does he stand if he is not in the team v Fulham?

:lol2: :lol2: :lol2:

[Clevemayer 764]

What a wanker he should never of started

[NishC300 1,865]

Mourinho the magician made Mikel score. Anyone doubt him?

[Milan 17,835]

He just scored his second for the club right? One in the league cup, now his first league one. So he is level with Claude Makelele

[Manuf 1,448]

well... fuck me, he scored.

[Amblève. 4,995]

It's been a long time coming, lol

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okBiRcBvRt8

[Jase 43,479]

John Obi Mikel. Scored Chelsea's Goal of the Season. Chelsea's Player of the Year.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

More goals in the league then Eto'o, Torres and Ba combined.

Number 9 anybody?