Mikel John Obi

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

He is not that bad anymore dude. Not amazing but he has definitely improved the last 2 seasons.

We are Chelsea, Champions Of Europe. We need amaizing Players.

Wtf? Not sure if serious or sarcastic.

Amost as bad as Benitez being appointed new manager.

[Kezza 1,965]

For free? sure. But we need someone Better if we want to dominate the mid...

Okay, he goes and we bring someone in. We are still slim in the mid field. Lampard is injured, what if (insert new midfielder here) or Rami got injured, we only have Romeu or we would have to bring Oscar back to Mikels postion. Letting Mereiles go was dumb.

[Billy. 2,739]

one of the better players in the team this season deserves the contract

[DDA 9,570]

Mikel is slightly above average with the ball.. and very below average without it. That is Mikel in a nut shell and that is simply not good enough for the Champions of Europe.

[coolhead23 1,146]

Oh damn! Another 5 years! ... Would this mean he would get back to his normal self because target achieved (extended contract)

[AndersonBLUE 819]

We are Chelsea, Champions Of Europe. We need amaizing Players.

Well yeah sure but Mikel would be an excellent squad member to be used on a rotational basis if we were to sign an 'amazing' player in his role. Mikel has improved, his positioning is great but needs to learn to pass the ball off quicker in possession and to aid in assists and attacking moves as he can be quite static. Doesn't mean we should just sell him.

[Clevemayer 764]

We are Chelsea, Champions Of Europe. We need amaizing Players.

riht, and we need amazing fans... we clearly don't have... though...

good Luck Mickey, hope you keep it up, and you're prime will just start to hit the ground, you will be there in 2 years. so still time to improve a lot... you have the ability to be an outstanding DM...

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Wtf? Not sure if serious or sarcastic.

Amost as bad as Benitez being appointed new manager.

I've been in this debate a million times and I;m not going into again. All I have to say is that thankfully that the club and all the top managers we've had don't share your view on him.

[Jype 6,398]

Mikel to celebrate his new contract today with a few goals?

edit: I'll take that back. The Fat Spanish Waiter has dropped him for today's match.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Good news. He's improved in the past couple seasons and even started changing the minds of some who never rated him.

Kojo where are you?

Lmao.

[Kieran. 6,317]

:yay: :yay:

[Amblève. 4,995]

Lmao.

We need some more of these lol

[Jase 43,479]

Brilliant news! And bet the haters won't like it...

[Milan 17,835]

He is destined to score tonight!

[OneMoSalah 8,614]

Woo! Mikel deserves his new contract. Our most consistent player this season by far.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

He is destined to score tonight!

Except he's on the bench

[Blue Armour 4,164]

So you pretend it has been the case this season ? I mean on a regular basis ?

Our main issue has been the attackers' movements this season. In my opinion, everything resulted from it. Defensively and attacking.

The player "in the hole" never dropped to ask the ball in front of the double pivot, whereas that was their role. You can't keep the ball, progress and create chances without triangles. The single double pivot can't carry the ball forward with 1-2 until reaching the rooted attackers 20 yards upper than them.

Don't you ever noticed that our best attacking sequences this season came from situations where the AM dropped and did organize the play ? I've a couple of charts in my recent articles if you're still not convinced.

• Hazard behaves as a support striker, stays in the last third, waits for the ball to get on the half turn and face the play (situation where's he's probably one of the best in the world, and I don't use to say that easily). But then he's not available enough, whereas dropping, asking and orientating the play would have massively helped us
  
• Mata's issue is different, but same impact eventually. He's uneasy to keep the ball under pressure, reason why he doesn't play regulary for Spain and is behind Silva. He asks the ball but gets away with it, releases it before being closed down. Thus, he increases the tempo of the play "by default", he doesn't organize things as much as he should.
  
• Oscar did hold that role well because he dropped wisely to organize the play like an old fashioned number 10, oxygenate the play, feed the flanks, provide support. But he hasn't the sufficient volume of play (in terms of touches/passes per given time) because he's still young.
  

Mata and Hazard are enthusiastic but I have been disappointed by their tactical sense, especially Hazard. For Mata, that's more of a statement of powerlessness due to his bad ball retention skills. But I really though Hazard was far better in terms of use of the space, attacking positioning...

Oscar is brilliant tactically for just 20 years old, but at the moment he's the limits of his young age, sadly.

For Mikel you seem to think him not having behaved as a box to box is a clear issue. One of the two players of the double pivot's role is never to behave as a box to box but to feed the line just above them.

Ramires got in shooting positions but only when Oscar or Mata dropped and did hold his role momentaneously.

This season it really seemed that the team was cut in two parts: the 4 attackers, the 4 defenders and Mikel/Ramires in between. There was no link between the DP and the 3-line because the AM didn't drop enough to ask the ball. And because there wasn't that link, the DP was forced to push forward to create that link ; leaving the defenders over-exposed.

We can't blame either Luiz, either Mikel for our defensive woes. They've been actors of those woes but that was the consequence of 'Macazar's attitude both with and without the ball.

No I did not. Did you even see my post at the top of this page? I've been talking about his defensive work-rate and his passing, both of which have been poor in recent games this has caused problems in defense and in attack (WHEN we're on the backfoot).

Its possibly true that our attackers are not finding good positions with consistency these days, forcing Mikel to wait before making a pass..But it ruins our attacking tempo, when midfielders like Mata have to build-up play from the centre, as it removes one body from the front..

A lot of successful attacking sequences have come when the attackers drop deep? Hardly surprising, as that's what happens most of the time. But right now those attackers are both short of form and energy during games, and it could help them a lot if they didn't have to build their attack from the centre every time.

I knew Mikel was not in the same vein of Lampard and Essien several seasons ago, and I have NO problem with that. I do not expect him to burst forward at every opportunity, but I do expect him to be more than just a bystander in our buildup play.

And lastly you're saying that our CM's pushed forward and this resulted in cheap goals during counterattacks? What about Diame's goal playing against West Ham? What about Vidal's goal playing against Juve? Take a GOOD look at Mikel's positioning in those games, and tell me if he was far up front.

I know very well it was because of Mikel's contribution that we went far in last season's CL, but if you're saying he's putting in the same work rate that he put in during the CL final, then there's nothing more to discuss.

[Milan 17,835]

Except he's on the bench

Damn you Rafa!