Mikel John Obi

[CHOULO19 24,332]

wins more tackles and passes it forward much quicker.

but he does not shield the ball, or make clearances as well as mikel.

He attempts more tackles and take A LOT more risks which aren't always good things for a DM, imo. He's more dynamic than Mikel, yes, but that is about it. Mikel is still miles better and much more reliable. You'd be crazy if you'd rather Romeu comes on and not Mikel in a CL semifinal or title decider at the Ettihad.

[happy_juan 64]

Has been leeching off the club for a long time now.

and no one is going to buy him.

He should thank his stars for his personal relationship with Emanalo.

[Beepu 1,714]

He's not my favourite player, but I don't think he is as bad and useless as some people make him out to be here. He is still a solid squad player for a team aspiring for trophies and he brings some form of experience to a fairly young team. Him staying is not the end of the world, but I do think in the near future he should make way for the younger players like Chalobah and Loftus Cheek.

If someone who's never heard of Mikel came and read this thread, they would think that he is more useless than Torres.

[Kieran. 6,317]

The lack of respect for this player is unbelievable.

[Madmax 9,219]

Has been leeching off the club for a long time now.

and no one is going to buy him.

He should thank his stars for his personal relationship with Emanalo.

Ah yes, he's sticking around 'because Emenalo' ... as opposed to the collective regard of managers with 6 Champions League titles between them.

[The only place to be 11,313]

The lack of respect for this player is unbelievable.

Exactly.

Can't other teams see what a great player he is and stump up £5 million for one of the best DMs in Europe?

Ah yes, he's sticking around 'because Emenalo' ... as opposed to the collective regard of managers with 6 Champions League titles between them.

Who were all sacked by us.

Mourinho has actually replaced him and relegated him to second-choice status hence the fact he's only featured for 90 minutes THREE times since Matic was signed.

The simple fact is that the people who used to defend him have had their arguments shot to bits by the revelatory performances of Matic who has shown precisely what a quality DM should do.

But apparently that defensive midfield role is something that is so nuanced we can't appreciate it....despite Matic and Makelele being well-loved by ALL Chelsea fans and Mikel being loathed, derided and mocked by the majority.

[Madmax 9,219]

Who were all sacked by us.

We regretted atleast one of those.

Do you think that was a silly point? If you did, the point served it's purpose; it was meant to illustrate that stupid reasons ("He's here because Emenalo") can be found by both sides.

Mourinho has actually replaced him and relegated him to second-choice status hence the fact he's only featured for 90 minutes THREE times since Matic was signed.

The simple fact is that the people who used to defend him have had their arguments shot to bits by the revelatory performances of Matic who has shown precisely what a quality DM should do.

But apparently that defensive midfield role is something that is so nuanced we can't appreciate it....despite Matic and Makelele being well-loved by ALL Chelsea fans and Mikel being loathed, derided and mocked by the majority.

All correct; I don't want Mikel here either. I just have an issue with people dragging Emenalo into this. Plenty legit reasons around for discarding him without needing to resort to this conspiracy bs.

[The only place to be 11,313]

We regretted atleast one of those.

Do you think that was a silly point? If you did, the point served it's purpose; it was meant to illustrate that stupid reasons ("He's here because Emenalo") can be found by both sides.

All correct; I don't want Mikel here either. I just have an issue with people dragging Emenalo into this. Plenty legit reasons around for discarding him without needing to resort to this conspiracy bs.

Emenalo re-signing him made sense because you'd have thought he would still have transfer value (or value to us as a squad member)...unfortunately that doesn't seem quite true.

[Madmax 9,219]

Emenalo re-signing him made sense because you'd have thought he would still have transfer value (or value to us as a squad member)...unfortunately that doesn't seem quite true.

Maybe the club, in recognition of his long service, decided to let him hang around till he gets his British passport. Wages aren't too bad (~70k) so that shouldn't be a problem, you'd think.

[Stats 6,980]

Part of the reason why Mikel is more difficult to sell is because he does not currently have a British passport. Once he gets his British passport in October he will be more of an attractive option for other clubs. So he could move to the Serie A without having an effect on rules of non-EU players but right now it will have an impact on such teams if he were to move. So people who think he can't be sold because he does not offer anything need to use their brain a little and think why. Once he gets his British passport he will have quite a few teams after him.

I like him as a squad player anyway so I am happy to see him here for the upcoming season. A reliable player who does what is asked of him.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Mikel is waiting to get his British passport, then he'll move for a decent fee IMO.

Still would rather have him as a squad player over Romeu, who I do think is slightly overhyped on here.

[stroey 2,525]

Mikel is waiting to get his British passport, then he'll move for a decent fee IMO.

Still would rather have him as a squad player over Romeu, who I do think is slightly overhyped on here.

Exactly, Mikel is really underrated here. He's one of the best pure CDMs in the world. If you have a 4-3-3 midfield with Mikel als the holding midfielder, he's at his best.

[bababoom 4,478]

Exactly, Mikel is really underrated here. He's one of the best pure CDMs in the world. If you have a 4-3-3 midfield with Mikel als the holding midfielder, he's at his best.

I can go as far as to say he's a decent CDM, but one of the best? fucking hell mate, not even close.

[bababoom 4,478]

Mikel is waiting to get his British passport, then he'll move for a decent fee IMO.

Still would rather have him as a squad player over Romeu, who I do think is slightly overhyped on here.

He may be over hyped but i personally think his aggressive playing style would suit our high pressing. His passing is also very underrated.

Mikel is a decent defensive midfielder, he's reliable so in theory he'll be a good squad player, but for me I just think Romeu has the potential to fight for first team football.

[The Skipper 20,593]

He may be over hyped but i personally think his aggressive playing style would suit our high pressing. His passing is also very underrated.

Mikel is a decent defensive midfielder, he's reliable so in theory he'll be a good squad player, but for me I just think Romeu has the potential to fight for first team football.

I agree that he does have the scope to improve, hence why I said in the Romeu thread that it's better for him to go out on loan and get regular playing time rather than being a squad player like Mikel, who as of right now is a better squad player to have because of his experience and reliability.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Exactly, Mikel is really underrated here. He's one of the best pure CDMs in the world. If you have a 4-3-3 midfield with Mikel als the holding midfielder, he's at his best.

I wouldn't say one of the best but in a 3 man midfield as the anchor man, Mikel is certainly a good player there.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Exactly, Mikel is really underrated here. He's one of the best pure CDMs in the world. If you have a 4-3-3 midfield with Mikel als the holding midfielder, he's at his best.

The thing is how many 'pure cdms' are the actually playing at the moment? Most aren't as limited as Mikel, so in that sense he's one of the best of a small pool of mediocre players.

Teams simply don't use players like Mikel anymore.

[didierforever 7,349]

Emenalo re-signing him made sense because you'd have thought he would still have transfer value (or value to us as a squad member)...unfortunately that doesn't seem quite true.

I don't think jose wanted to sell him. If we had wanted to sell him, he would have been sold. I mean we sold ba, pva, lukaku, luiz for some excellent deals. Kakuta fetched as much as he could and I am sure bertrand would have been sold if we needed him to be.

Finding a club for mikel would have been no issue. But jose seems to rate him as out 2nd DM ahead of romeu, nat. So that should settle it.