Mikel John Obi

[Clevemayer 764]

He should have never started this game. With WHam only sitting back, we could just as well played with no holding midfielder + started Lamps and Luiz. The latter would have come in handy, cos he is so unpredictable. When lamps came on for Mikel the game changed immediately and we actually got chances.

He came on for azpilicueta the question is, was it necessary to put matic on the field? He did less then mikel. Lamps for mikel would've had The Same effect, or Lamps for rambo

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Had a good game just like most our players today. Kept the ball well despite Caroll trying to put pressure on him from behind. Recycled possession well and won most of the clearances, especially in the second half, before moving the ball forward again which is exactly why you need a defensive midfielder against teams that will park the bus.

Plus, we needed a physical presence in midfield today. So either him or Matic had to start, and judging by Nemanjas performance when he came on, I'd say he still hasn't found his feet and settled in too well so Jose made the right choice, IMO.

[zolayes 14,489]

Had a good game just like most our players today. Kept the ball well despite Caroll trying to put pressure on him from behind. Recycled possession well and won most of the clearances, especially in the second half, before moving the ball forward again which is exactly why you need a defensive midfielder against teams that will park the bus.

Plus, we needed a physical presence in midfield today. So either him or Matic had to start, and judging by Nemanjas performance when he came on, I'd say he still hasn't found his feet and settled in too well so Jose made the right choice, IMO.

you are quite incredible .....

[robsblubot 3,204]

you are quite incredible .....

yup... It's called the la la land.

No physical presence was needed in midfield. Oscar could've should've played there. You only need physical presence in tight spaces where players are pressurized and can lose possession. Not in the center of the pitch where there is no opposition.

Sometimes football is as simple and true as arithmetic: the number of players we committed to attacking wasn't enough. Yes, we might have scored anyway, but the odds of scoring goals would have been higher if we had more attacking players on the pitch, preferably in the starting lineup.

Or perhaps we needed more rounded players who do both as opposed to specialized players like Mikel.

[zolayes 14,489]

yup... It's called the la la land.

No physical presence was needed in midfield. Oscar could've should've played there. You only need physical presence in tight spaces where players are pressurized and can lose possession. Not in the center of the pitch where there is no opposition.

Sometimes football is as simple and true as arithmetic: the number of players we committed to attacking wasn't enough. Yes, we could have scored anyway, but the odds of scoring goals would have been higher if we had more attacking players on the pitch, preferably in the starting lineup.

Or perhaps we needed more rounded players who do both as opposed to specialized players like Mikel.

Mikel contributed NOTHING but dont worry Choulou will provide some stats to prove that without Mikel we would have been Hammered ...

[manpe 10,855]

Seriously needs to stop shooting.

[DDA 9,570]

Mikel contributed NOTHING but dont worry Choulou will provide some stats to prove that without Mikel we would have been Hammered ...

Haha .. quality post. Could reply to most of the Mikel thread using this as a template!

:-)

[Parky 739]

He really should be sold in summer. He has no place in our team anymore.

[Despiadado.Maleante 1,046]

GET OUUUTT!

[The only place to be 11,313]

Just wasn't needed last night....in fact with the acquisition of Matic, when is he ever needed? He's such a passenger, always has been. At least when Matic came on he tried to do something to help his team win.

What a novel idea huh?

[Ramzi 233]

I think he should have a new role with the team, against low tier teams he should never see the field until we secure a lead. However, I think he will play a crucial role against the better squads across all competitions. When we secure a lead we throw in Mikel with Matic and Ramires and it becomes virtually impossible for any team to score on us. IMO this is pretty huge advantage for us, not many teams have the potential combinations that we have in our midfield now.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

He played well and shrugged off many West Ham players but the truth was that we did not really require his protection in midfield. Sadly it took Jose a long time to understand that.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

yup... It's called the la la land.

No physical presence was needed in midfield. Oscar could've should've played there. You only need physical presence in tight spaces where players are pressurized and can lose possession. Not in the center of the pitch where there is no opposition.

Sometimes football is as simple and true as arithmetic: the number of players we committed to attacking wasn't enough. Yes, we might have scored anyway, but the odds of scoring goals would have been higher if we had more attacking players on the pitch, preferably in the starting lineup.

Or perhaps we needed more rounded players who do both as opposed to specialized players like Mikel.

Funny thing is that Jose obviously thought we needed physical presence and a defensive midfielder yesterday or he would have started Rami and Lamps instead. Even when subbed Mikel off he brought Matic on to do the exact same job because Matic can (theoretically) shoot from distance.

It's not really a foreign concept to play a defensive midfielder against teams that will defend deep to keep them pinned in. It's used by most top managers in the world. In fact, Italian managers used to bring on another defensive midfielder when they need a goal to win all the clearances and ensure that the opposite teams stays pinned in the final third like Mancini used to do at City.

But I guess we are all in la la land...

[TrippingStep 336]

Funny thing is that Jose obviously thought we needed physical presence and a defensive midfielder yesterday or he would have started Rami and Lamps instead. Even when subbed Mikel off he brought Matic on to do the exact same job because Matic can (theoretically) shoot from distance.

It's not really a foreign concept to play a defensive midfielder against teams that will defend deep to keep them pinned in. It's used by most top managers in the world. In fact, Italian managers used to bring on another defensive midfielder when they need a goal to win all the clearances and ensure that the opposite teams stays pinned in the final third like Mancini used to do at City.

But I guess we are all in la la land...

Mancini is not a great example. They were shit last year againt teams that were defending deep.

And I would agree with you if we would play a team that would be good at starting counter-attacks like Basel but it's not like West Ham had defenders and midfielders who are good at that.

And adding a defensive midfielder is to free up a fullback going full attack, covering for him. But we didn't use attacking fullbacks.

I still don't understand why we changed so much our line-up from the Stoke game.

william is doing a good job in midfield but in the final third, he's not been that great until now.

Azpi offering width on the right, Schurrle making run in the box.

5 different players from the stoke game and offering less in attack (Azpi because he's on the left) was way too much.

We needed more progressive passing from the pivot and width from the fullbacks in this game. It was the opposite with our line-up.

We needed quicker passing from the back and moving the ball from side to side before going for the openings.

[didierforever 7,349]

mikel's limitations were hopelessly exposed last night.

mikel played well but contributed nothing. he was not needed. lamps-rambo would have been a much better pivot for last night. as for matic, he was horrible. dont remember a single good first touch from him, so cant understand how people are critisizing mikel but praising matic.

but i expect him to start against city. perfect match for him.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Mancini is not a great example. They were shit last year againt teams that were defending deep.

And I would agree with you if we would play a team that would be good at starting counter-attacks like Basel but it's not like West Ham had defenders and midfielders who are good at that.

I still don't understand why we changed so much our line-up from the Stoke game.

william is doing a good job in midfield but in the final third, he's not been that great until now.

Azpi offering width on the right, Schurrle making run in the box.

5 different players from the stoke game and offering less in attack (Azpi because he's on the left) was way too much.

We needed more progressive passing from the pivot and width from the fullbacks in this game. It was the opposite with our line-up.

We needed quicker passing from the back and moving the ball from side to side before going for the openings.

He also did it in the season where they won the league. He would bring on Barry for an attacking midfielder and more often than not it would work out for them. Plus, I gave Mancini as an example because he did it here in the EPL. Lot's of Italian managers do it: Ancelotti at Milan, Lippi at Juve...etc. On any account, I'm not saying that we should have brought on another DM yesterday, I was just using this case to explain how a DM can be important in breaking defending teams. Not just by breaking up counters, but by winning clearances back, and offering an outlet when players get stuck by the touch line and just generally ensuring that his team keep possession and keep the pressure on the other team and keep them in the final third. Yesterday, Carrol was a huge disturbance with his physical presence and his constant dropping to press our midfielders from behind. Our CBs just couldn't follow him so deep especially with the fullbacks so high up the pitch. If we didn't have Mikel and then Matic on, he would have won most of the clearances and started a lot of attacks and then there's a good chance we would have conceded.

As for the changes from Stoke, I agree Willian lacks decisiveness in the final third, so do all our players in all honesty, but Schurrle isn't in great form at the moment and I think Willian provides much more especially that his movement off the ball is exactly what Jose wants, I think. Lampard is 35, there is always a case against him starting 2 games in 3-4 days, although, I thought he should have come on earlier for the invisible Ramires because his late runs could have made a difference and they actually did but unfortunately his finishing was off yesterday. Cech for Mark is an obvious one. Can't really argue against Iva at RB because I still can't wrap my head around it. As for not starting Matic, I can see why Jose did that because he's still trying to find his feet and fit in the team as was clear by his poor performance when he came on yesterday.

At the end of the day, the result had little to do with our CMs or fullbacks and a lot to do with the finishing of the front 4.

[TrippingStep 336]

He also did it in the season where they won the league. He would bring on Barry for an attacking midfielder and more often than not it would work out for them. Plus, I gave Mancini as an example because he did it here in the EPL. Lot's of Italian managers do it: Ancelotti at Milan, Lippi at Juve...etc. On any account, I'm not saying that we should have brought on another DM yesterday, I was just using this case to explain how a DM can be important in breaking defending teams. Not just by breaking up counters, but by winning clearances back, and offering an outlet when players get stuck by the touch line and just generally ensuring that his team keep possession and keep the pressure on the other team and keep them in the final third. Yesterday, Carrol was a huge disturbance with his physical presence and his constant dropping to press our midfielders from behind. Our CBs just couldn't follow him so deep especially with the fullbacks so high up the pitch. If we didn't have Mikel and then Matic on, he would have won most of the clearances and started a lot of attacks and then there's a good chance we would have conceded.

As for the changes from Stoke, I agree Willian lacks decisiveness in the final third, so do all our players in all honesty, but Schurrle isn't in great form at the moment and I think Willian provides much more especially that his movement off the ball is exactly what Jose wants, I think. Lampard is 35, there is always a case against him starting 2 games in 3-4 days, although, I thought he should have come on earlier for the invisible Ramires because his late runs could have made a difference and they actually did but unfortunately his finishing was off yesterday. Cech for Mark is an obvious one. Can't really argue against Iva at RB because I still can't wrap my head around it. As for not starting Matic, I can see why Jose did that because he's still trying to find his feet and fit in the team as was clear by his poor performance when he came on yesterday.

At the end of the day, the result had little to do with our CMs or fullbacks and a lot to do with the finishing of the front 4.

I agree but it would be good if the front 4 did not have to do so much every game. It must be exhausting mentally.

And I haver problems with the positioning of our players in the box, last year it was much better, covering better all the box area, now when we have crossing opportunities, it very difficulting for the one trying it as except when Lampard is making a run from deep, they are all attacking the same area with the defenders in line covering it.

How many chances with a simple back pass this year compared to last year.

[Belgiannutt 3,201]

At the end of the day, the result had little to do with our CMs or fullbacks and a lot to do with the finishing of the front 4.

You're kidding right ? It's no coincidence that when Mikel came off and Lampard and Matic went into the midfield that we started playing better.

It's not because Mikel played poor but neither him nor Ramires can move the ball quickly enough and both don't offer much going forward. Same applies to our fullbacks. Ivanovic is close to useless going forward and Azpilicueta on the right loses a lot of his quality.

Also what chances did our front four mess up by finishing poorly ? Most of the shots they took were from outside the 18 yard box. Our front four didn't get any proper support untill lampard and Matic came in.