Mikel John Obi

[Amblève. 4,995]

Mikel has given about 4 overhead balls, one was a one on one chance

Where does all that dissapear to in chelsea

He's restricted to his role. That's all. He's just an intelligent player that knows what he is asked to do.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

He's restricted to his role. That's all. He's just an intelligent player that knows what he is asked to do.

If we are playing and his pass can put the striker on a one on one situation, why doesn't he do it? Its not like a pass to the striker or wingers will kill him.

He has so much talent that he wastes and its frustrating.

In an under 21 or under 19 international tournament, he came second behind messi as best player. He could dribble and pass. He comes to chelsea and can't pass again, I think he should have a better long range pass than luiz. But because of his low baby confidence he never attempts a pass to a striker at chelsea, when he is obviously good at it. Even luiz looks a better long range passer than mikel, because he never attempts it.

It is really frustrating

[bushman 2,043]

He just kicked one into the bleachers.

[Kojo 4,676]

It's like when you compare a substitute goalkeeper's figures with the regular starter. Might have been a wise idea to take into consideration the position of the opponent or something like that... I mean the reserve goalkeeper will have better save rates etc, the starter who plays the big games will obviously have different rates

But otherwise that's interesting stuff, I must admit I never heard about that

I bet it's funny when you see people post those stats you 'left out' right?

[kellzfresh 7,226]

I'm always amazed by the confidence/character bullshit regarding Mikel. He's constantly shouting at the referee when he's pulled out by three players and some still pretend he's a victim on the field and suffers the game

Here's Mikel explaining his views to the ref after having been fouled 5 times by the same player

He is a good technical player, strong and can pass. He has an ability he has which he is scared to use, which is to give overhead passes. Which makes me blame his confidence for that.

[xPetrCechx 13,548]

We need better DM.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

I don't think that's a matter of confidence but rather state of mind, there's players who never gives the ball away and some others who attempts the most stuff as they can based on the lottery scheme (the more you buy tickets the more you're likely to win it).

Mikel didn't had to ask himself that question in 4-3-3. He hasn't found the right balance yet in 4-2-3-1. But that's not a matter of confidence.

You see when a player isn't confident with flaws in the execution, appearing tense... That's clearly not Mikel's case, his execution is perfect technically, almost robotic to play his passes

I guess so. He was a better player when young, more like a yaya toure. So it was shocking to see him play differently when he started playing constantly for chelsea. It just seems he doesn't show his full talent. Sometimes you just show what your capable off once in a while you know.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

That's the modern conception of the game, may sound weird considering I'm 19 but in my opinion players must serve the system and not the opposite.

I would disagree right there. System isn't as important as you sometimes try to point out. System is there only to get the best out of players, or if you do not have players for a certain system then you do not use it. e.g. last year's CL triumph was based on that.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

I would disagree right there. System isn't as important as you sometimes try to point out. System is there only to get the best out of players, or if you do not have players for a certain system then you do not use it. e.g. last year's CL triumph was based on that.

The system is more important than the players. Whats the point in having 11 players on the field if you don't have a good system for them to play under....

[Heisenberg 1,824]

I don't think that's a matter of confidence but rather state of mind, there's players who never gives the ball away and some others who attempts the most stuff as they can based on the lottery scheme (the more you buy tickets the more you're likely to win it).

Mikel didn't had to ask himself that question in 4-3-3. He hasn't found the right balance yet in 4-2-3-1. But that's not a matter of confidence.

You see when a player isn't confident with flaws in the execution, appearing tense... That's clearly not Mikel's case, his execution is perfect technically, almost robotic to play his passes

Son problème majeurs reste le fait qu'a Chelsea, je ne le vois pas se tuer pour chaque ballon, un manque d'agressivité criant de sa part que je n'aime pas, Mourinho pourrait regler ce problème, il l'a fait avec Sami Khedira qui est fantastique cette saison.

For me, his main problem is that he must be more "aggressive" on the pitch, he is no Essien at his best or Makelele or Tioté right now.For me he needs to be more involved on the pitch and show some passion in all his matches, not only the important ones.Mourinho had this problem with Sami Khedira at Madrid, he is now one of the best at his position.

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

The system is more important than the players. Whats the point in having 11 players on the field if you don't have a good system for them to play under....

Whats the point of having a system when you don't have players for it ?

So there are two ways of looking at it. Everything is about the players, because they play and not the system, nor the coach. Nowadays you can so often see a striker in defence, or a centre half in a strikers position, even scoring. In the past that wasn't possible. This means football is evolving and pure theory is becoming less and less important.

Of course you have to have responsible players on the pitch, because without them success is impossible.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Whats the point of having a system when you don't have players for it ?

So there are two ways of looking at it. Everything is about the players, because they play and not the system, nor the coach. Nowadays you can so often see a striker in defence, or a centre half in a strikers position, even scoring. In the past that wasn't possible. This means football is evolving and pure theory is becoming less and less important.

Of course you have to have responsible players on the pitch, because without them success is impossible.

Not exactly the place to discuss this, but football is evolving because theory is evolving.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

Whats the point of having a system when you don't have players for it ?

So there are two ways of looking at it. Everything is about the players, because they play and not the system, nor the coach. Nowadays you can so often see a striker in defence, or a centre half in a strikers position, even scoring. In the past that wasn't possible. This means football is evolving and pure theory is becoming less and less important.

Of course you have to have responsible players on the pitch, because without them success is impossible.

Formations and tactics these days are the most important things. You can have the 11 best players in the world but if you don't have a system that has balance and allows your team to accomodate all your players so they can attack and defend well, well whats the point?

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

Formations and tactics these days are the most important things. You can have the 11 best players in the world but if you don't have a system that has balance and allows your team to all your players so they can attack and defend well, well whats the point?

You've said it yourself, systems are adjusted to the players you have.

A proper manager is flexible, uses a lot of varieties, tactical tricks, different formations... He'd never have only one system to use whereever he goes or whoever he has in his team. But now we're going way off topic.

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

You've said it yourself, systems are adjusted to the players you have.

A proper manager is flexible, uses a lot of varieties, tactical tricks, different formations... He'd never have only one system to use whereever he goes or whoever he has in his team. But now we're going way off topic.

Yes but that doens't make the players more important than the system. A manager is flexible yes but still the system is the most important thing. Yes off topic but haha its nice to mention stuff than this rather than 'Mikel is shit' etc......

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

That wasn't the point which was when the manager has chosen the proper system suited to what he has at his disposal, players have to respect it.

What if Cole decided to stay upfront to challenge long balls or cut crosses because he wants to score ? That's absurd, that's not his role. Same with Mikel and the passing range (until a certain extent, he should use more often his long play in 4-2-3-1 and everybody will agree on that)

What if Cole never joined the attack and kept his position against Stoke at home ?

You're right it wasn't the point, but I used it to describe my thought precisely. Players must respect the system and most of them do, but in modern football it's becoming less significant than before. Before you could never see a left back five meters in front of opponents goal. Systems are made for players, not the other way around. Therefore, players are more important than systems.

[Heisenberg 1,824]

So basically you expect Mikel to chase the ball like a dummy, such as Cheick Tioté who leaves massive gaps and commits way too much fouls ? The most important thing when midfielders have to defend is not to be attracted by the ball. Mikel is brilliant to respect the positional instructions such as zonal marking (what 4-2-3-1 means for the two midfielders, especially given Mata's laziness).

He recovers the ball standing, barely dives into challenges... people seem to regard that as a clear statement of powerlessness. That's valuable to stay on one's feet!

I'm not so sure about Mikel's lack of aggressiveness, when he puts the foot in he barely loses the challenge because the opponent was stronger. And some of Mikel's tactical fouls such as the ones at the start of some games (classic shit to shut down your direct opponent) are sufficiently rash and reckless not for him to be regarded as weak to challenge for the ball.

Khedira is similar to Ramires in Madid's pattern: his role is to come out and press. Mikel has Alonso's role, to do the deep distribution. That's not Mikel's role to chase the ball like a headless chicken

Khedira has impressive stamina, he's decent to carry the ball up, fill the gaps, score the odd goal, recover the ball... But by no mean he's brilliant in one of those facets

Exactly, i want my DM to chase the ball everytime everywhere when the opponent attack, just like Ramires against Arsenal did.The problem is that Mikel is no near as good as Xabi Alonso, too slow and far less creative than Xabi.Bonne nuit !

[OneMoSalah 8,615]

So basically you expect Mikel to chase the ball like a dummy, such as Cheick Tioté who leaves massive gaps and commits way too much fouls ? The most important thing when midfielders have to defend is not to be attracted by the ball. Mikel is brilliant to respect the positional instructions such as zonal marking (what 4-2-3-1 means for the two midfielders, especially given Mata's laziness).

He recovers the ball standing, barely dives into challenges... people seem to regard that as a clear statement of powerlessness. That's valuable to stay on one's feet!

I'm not so sure about Mikel's lack of aggressiveness, when he puts the foot in he barely loses the challenge because the opponent was stronger. And some of Mikel's tactical fouls such as the ones at the start of some games (classic shit to shut down your direct opponent) are sufficiently rash and reckless not for him to be regarded as weak to challenge for the ball.

Khedira is similar to Ramires in Madid's pattern: his role is to come out and press. Mikel has Alonso's role, to do the deep distribution. That's not Mikel's role to chase the ball like a headless chicken

Khedira has impressive stamina, he's decent to carry the ball up, fill the gaps, score the odd goal, recover the ball... But by no mean he's brilliant in one of those facets

Thank god someone with sense.