Mikel John Obi

[The Mak 4,459]

Look at Mikel against Juventus - that to me is his defining moment. He gives the ball away sloppily when we're in transition (which I'm sure you will understand the severity of considering your obvious tactical nous). Then he has two choices. One is to pressure the person on the ball to win it back and the other is to move back into his position now that we are defending and pick up Vucinic.

Mikel does neither.

Instead he stands still for about 5 seconds (might be a little either side because I can't quite remember).

Luiz picks up his marking job creating a space in the defence for Quagliarella to run into, Terry makes a second mistake by jumping out of defence and Juve score the equaliser.

Now it might be unfair in some people's eyes for me to blame our CL exit on that one mistake but top level sport is so tight nowadays that trophies are won and lost on individual plays. You can't fall asleep for one second because you will be punished, and that's what happened here.

I'm glad he got a new contract because I think he can do a job for us against some of the weaker teams, and maybe in a different role that requires less responsibility. But right now he's playing in arguably the most demanding, important position on the pitch and I simply do not think he has the mentality to play it.

And here's an interesting point someone else raised - what other top team could you imagine him playing at, week in and week out?

Thank you.

The only way I see Mikel's new contract as being good is on the terms of him being an experienced body, for weaker teams, or to bring off the bench to sure up/slow down a game. However, if he was made promises of him being our "main man" in that position, then I'll be very sad indeed. We as a club can do better than Mikel.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I really didn't got the fuss about the so called Mikel mistake vs Juve.

Double pivot is about protecting the center of the field, the most important thing is to protect your goal (to position yourself between the ball and your goal, here, to prevent a shot). That's a two man midfield, not a 3 man.

4-3-3 features one anchor man between the center backs, a second midfielder who balances the other side than the ball's. The upper midfielder can be used to pressing purposes, as Ramires has been used to with Villas Boas last season. Because in that situation this is a "defensive 4-2-3-1" considering the presser is the upper angle of the triangle. He can be covered by two other midfielders, that allows that upper midfielder to come closer to the holder of the ball knowing if he's dribbled there's still protection behind him.

Chelsea was in 4-2-3-1 in that situation. That's about zonal marking in front of the back four: to come out and close down when a player is stricly in front of the box (or to cover the channel to prevent 2vs1 on the channel but that's not the case here).

That just shows that Mikel can't do everything (similar situation than the goal we conceded vs AC Milan, I did the full analysis of the goal), the defensive role of the double pivot is to position themselves in order to prevent the passes through the center of the field. The instructions are to force the opponents to play toward a channel (because you block the center of the field).

Why ? Because a player 20 yards from goal centrally has options 360° around him, a player close to the touchline has just 180° and becomes a bit more predictable.

On that we can also notice Hazard's weak effort to defend, he seemed a bee on Asamoah's ass, couldn't have been more useless. There's no point to blame him on that very situation, still that's an illustration of a recurrent failure this season until recently.

Mikel can't know what happens in his back, both Marchisio and Vucinic uses brilliantly a worked and worked again pattern. All game long Vucinic dropped and Marchisio compensated and did hold the focal point upfront. On that situation they did the opposite. Because it happened close to the goal, Terry and Luiz couldn't swap their markings.

The combined movements are oiled and executed quickly enough to put both center backs out of position at the same time whereas the clueless full backs were rooted and thus, let Vucinic onside.

On the pass in itself, Mikel intercepted after a Juve fast break after Chelsea did fast break as well. We can argue that Hazard was knackered having done twice the length of the pitch. Lack of communication from both, Hazard seems to wait the ball onto his feet (why he's jogging) in a very GabrielObertanesque way* whereas Mikel wants to break again (impossible, I though the donkey only passed backwards).

Pass is about two players. And at grassroots level everyone shall have learnt that the run triggers the pass and not the opposite.

*: If so, he would have take on the Juve block 30 yards away from goal or just have ran 70 yards with the ball, that wasn't very intelligent

On the other clubs stuff: Football is at a turning point at the moment, especially about the role given to the midfielders, the generalization of the 4-2-3-1, the increasing expectations of the full backs' attacking contribution (what I tried to highlight in my piece on Mikel).

The defensive balance is a bit harder to find in 4-2-3-1 than 4-3-3. But at the same time you need to inbalance the opponent to score goals, and 4-2-3-1 is less predictable than 4-3-3 on most playing applications.

On Mikel, I still think that kind of tactically sound midfielder is a must have for every club.

Most people tends to think that Mikel being rooted here illustrates his poor tactical understanding. Have you seen kids play? They're all attracted by the ball. Tactical understanding is about understanding the game and not being attracted by the ball.

Tactics are made to prevent goals as much as you can, the best as you can. Attacking is about inbalancing, you can't obviously recover the ball everytime, you'll obviously face someone better than you at one point. That's why defensive stuff such as zonal marking, covering are used for.

You've to accept that on some situations, the opponent expoits the situation better than you can defend. There's no good defending (in the absolute). That's all about the "less worse" option because perfection just doesn't exists in football.

One of Ramires' issues this season in 4-2-3-1 is his tendency to come out and press as if he was played in 4-3-3. That was my concern about his use in the double pivot.

Clever footballers like Michael Carrick understand that, waits as much as they can, release the ball just before being closed down and pass simply in between Mikel and Ramires.

I actually don't disagree with most of that.

What you haven't addressed at all is why Mikel just stands there having made a mistake. That's the attitude issue I've referred to. It's also cropped up in moments where he's been lazy or simply unaware and been caught in possession (Liverpool last season highlights this perfectly).

It's nice that you're going into great depth about the roles of players but I'd wager most people here have a decent understanding of what his job is.

But essentially my problem ties in with your comment There's no good defending . I agree. the only bad defending is when you don't fucking try which is what the fuss is all about when it comes to that Juve goal.

[The only place to be 11,313]

That's not about attitude, that's about positioning. If you rush to the ball you'll miss the ball, commit a foul, create a massive gap... composure is the key.

The point on this situation is that there's no way for Mikel to defend better than that, he does what he's asked for. defensive instructions such as positioning are made to be respected on every situation

That's up to Terry to trigger the offside trap

So you're saying he was in the right position when he lost the ball, and when Pirlo picked it up which is why he stood still for about 5 seconds?

Sorry, but I disagree. That's entirely about attitude. The loose pass was awful to, which was why he apologised for it.

In regards his positioning, he probably should've been a metre or two deeper in order to cover Vucinic. Luiz shouldn't have come jumping out of defence too but the whole problem stems from the team transitioning from defence to attack and then Mikel losing the ball. In that type of broken play you'll get these types of gaps.

Ultimately Mikel should've never given the ball away in that position.

[Kojo 4,676]

Hang on a sec, this goes to Alex and the others saying hes underappreciated and all this, how the hell is he?, everyone on this forum overrates Mikel and some say he's the best DM in the league. And i can only think of me henrique, Mak and Redish Blue, and perhaps a few others who have posted then and now who actually think Mikel isn't good enough, but still that only comes down to about 6 or 7 against the rest of the forum.

So please tell me how the fuck is he underappreciated when there's only a few of us who think he's not good enough.

[Kojo 4,676]

I don't think it's clueless at all. The main criticism I have of Mikel is his attitude. In the position he is in, he can't let his head drop or disappear in big moments. He can't get lazy and lethargic on the ball and he can't be sloppy. Whilst he's good most of the time (and he deserves credit for this) I think he can revert to type in key moments.

Fellaini on the other hand is a guy who has stepped up for Everton this season and looked for the ball in high pressure situations. He's tidy on the ball and moves it on quickly, he's fantastic in the air (like Mikel) and has a tremendous physical presence.

But it's the aggression that he has that I really like. Look at Mikel against Juventus - that to me is his defining moment. He gives the ball away sloppily when we're in transition (which I'm sure you will understand the severity of considering your obvious tactical nous). Then he has two choices. One is to pressure the person on the ball to win it back and the other is to move back into his position now that we are defending and pick up Vucinic.

Mikel does neither.

Instead he stands still for about 5 seconds (might be a little either side because I can't quite remember).

Luiz picks up his marking job creating a space in the defence for Quagliarella to run into, Terry makes a second mistake by jumping out of defence and Juve score the equaliser.

Now it might be unfair in some people's eyes for me to blame our CL exit on that one mistake but top level sport is so tight nowadays that trophies are won and lost on individual plays. You can't fall asleep for one second because you will be punished, and that's what happened here.

I'm glad he got a new contract because I think he can do a job for us against some of the weaker teams, and maybe in a different role that requires less responsibility. But right now he's playing in arguably the most demanding, important position on the pitch and I simply do not think he has the mentality to play it.

And here's an interesting point someone else raised - what other top team could you imagine him playing at, week in and week out?

Great post, and then the reply you are most certain to get is a stat about Mikels passing or tackling percentage or some stupid shit like that. Your last point you put down summed it up perfectly, no other fans rate Mikel as Chelsea fans do, it doesn't happen, infact everyone else thinks he's shit. Yeah we shouldn't listen to what they think but when it comes down to it that applies to no other players, even Michael Carrick a lot of people see how vital he can be for United besides United fans.

Although Mikel, he wouldn't get into Uniteds team, Arsenals, Citys, Tottenhams, and fuck he wouldn't even get into Liverpools.

[Kieran. 6,317]

3-match ban, £60,000 fine for Mikel.

[Amblève. 4,995]

3-match ban, £60,000 fine for Mikel.

FUCK THE FA! Fuck this absolute joke of an association! This is beyond ridiculous.

[Leif 6,006]

cunt

[petr.breu 1,618]

FA are really bunch of twats...

[DONI. 1,291]

FUCK FA :rant: :rant:

[The only place to be 11,313]

Fair enough. You can't threaten referees and the mitigating circumstances probably brought it down from about 15 matches, at least.

[Ankit 3,176]

Mikel will miss games against Sunderland [PL], Leeds United [Capital One Cup] and Aston Villa [PL]

[Pizy 17,860]

Romeu looked good last night, albeit against a shit side, so I'm not worried at all really about the suspension with the sides we have coming up.

[zolayes 14,489]

Mikel will miss games against Sunderland [PL], Leeds United [Capital One Cup] and Aston Villa [PL]

should be well rested for ACON

[Superblue 6,331]

With Terry nearing fitness it might give us another game or two seeing Luiz in midfield.

I think at the moment he's the closest thing to a deep playmaker we have, he covers ground well and presses teams. He actually looked pretty disciplined aswell compared to how he can be at the back.

[Jase 43,479]

Hardly a surprise to see Mikel being punished by the FA. FA = Fergie Association.

Mikel will miss games against Sunderland [PL], Leeds United [Capital One Cup] and Aston Villa [PL]

We should be able to cope without him in those games.

Edited December 6, 2012 by BluesMaster

[The only place to be 11,313]

Hardly a surprise to Mikel being punished by the FA. FA = Fergie Association.

Seriously?

Also, apparently...

.John Obi Mikel: Since Aug 2009, Chelsea have gained an average of 1.87 points per PL game with Mikel starting, compared to 1.98 without him

:blue scalf:

[CHOULO19 24,332]

3-match ban, £60,000 fine for Mikel.

Fuck! Can he appeal?