Mikel, the midfield maestro

[BLionheart 516]

i agree with most of the comments up here , mikel has improved a lot specially in his passing game also his composure and strength on the ball is great .

but in all fairness i think part of the credit for mikel looking better this year has to go to another man and it's micheal essien .... mikel last year was blamed for our lack of pace and energy in midfield also us being exposed many times on counter attacks which the main task for a holding midfielder ( to stop oppositions counter attacks ) .

so if you give a look at our matches this season you will find that essien provided mikel with a great cover coming back very quickly in counter attacks and making oppositions midfield always having a lot of uncomfortable time also provided that needed energy and pace in midfield .

although mikel improved his passing , control and technique but defensively he still needs to work on his positioning and the timing of his tackles/blocks .... yes it's better but still not the best.

i rate mikel very highly and i think he is one of the best holding midfielders in the world so i am glad he is here but i just can't see that much of an improvement in his defensive game because sometimes he is not in the right position , sometimes he takes too much time to pressure the opposition or make a tackle and he still needs to work on his short sprint because it's very slow but the good part is i don't happen to find him lazy anymore .

anyway i think mikel's real test is gonna be against the likes of man city , tottenham , astonvilla and everton because against smaller teams mikel won't have a lot of job to do against a supposedly weaker players where we control the pace and the tempo of the game , also against the big four he will have a lot of support from our midfield and wingers in defense , we all know in those big four matches we tend to sometimes have our all 11 players in our own midfield also the big four will not tend to sit back and wait for the counter attack .

but against oppositions like man city or tottenham the problem is we will always be looking to attack and they will defend , they rely heavily on counter attacking and mikel won' t find the same defensive support from midfeilders and wingers that he gets in the big four clashes and as well it won't be easy for him to break those attacks as against westham or wigan .

wish him the best of luck

[Henrique 9,133]

I said after our second game that he was our best midifielder in that two games. He is proving that his haters (including me) were wrong.

[Rambo 1,729]

I was always behind Jon Obi so I`m glad he`s at the form hes at today, definitely deserves the praise.

[Gianfranco_Z 202]

Mikel has always shown quality and is the future of our club. He's a fantastic player and has many great years ahead of him playing alongside Essien

[Albertinho 0]

well, obi mikel is a very good player and I am sure he will play a good season..:cfc:

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Do you remember the way Drogba reacted to the sheva signing ? Mikel is reacting the same way, it just shows how competition is good to keep players on there toes !

Excellent point, I made that point to my dad (who has supported the club for 42 years) the other day.

[Badboy 1,526]

Excellent point, I made that point to my dad (who has supported the club for 42 years) the other day.

Even essien had a amazing season when we signed ballack. I would love us to sign a top quality keeper, we can then see cech's reaction. When we had carlo cudicini in goal cech was on his toes, he now has to compete with turnbull and Hilario. Players naturally up there game when they see a high profile signing, its human nature that you give that extra 20% in a match situation, Sign a right winger and watch anelka go through the roof !

[caesarblues 51]

Passenger or driving force? The enigma of Mikel John Obi

also Ray on mikel

WILKINS: MARVEL MIKEL

[DYC. 7,542]

Passenger or driving force? The enigma of Mikel John Obi

also Ray on mikel

WILKINS: MARVEL MIKEL

You beat me to it ceasarblues. I was just about to post that article. Great read.

He and Ess should really switch positions more, it could really provide us a lot more variety going forward.

When Essien goes forward, he would be a goalscoring threat. And when Mikel goes forward, he could provide a incisive pass to cut open the opposition's defence

[BlueLion. 21,491]

Decent article but the statistics are incorrect... other than that an enlightening read.

[Badboy 1,526]

In my opinion he is just as important as Essien to our team now, im not saying he is better than bison though.

[Steve 10,227]

Against Arsenal:

7 Interceptions

5/6 Tackles won

39/43 Passes completed

and he did not give away a free kick. Class act Obi!

[chrismada9 1,948]

I have to say it, Mikel has been one of my favourite players so far! I feel as though he's really come on as a Chelsea player, and he's finally beginning to mould into a regular starting eleven... AND he's young, which speaks a lot of volumes for him as a player, and for the career ahead of him.

At the beginning of the season, I was hoping Ramires was going to get regular starts, and that Mikel was going to struggle to get into the side, but Mikel's performances have made me think otherwise. The fact that Ramires has only just joined the club, and Mikel has spent more years at the club tells you that he's bound to get more starts in the side than Ramires this season. Though Ramires played exceptionally well against Arsenal yesterday.

Ramires I think was a huge buy on Mikel's behalf because it gave him a wake-up call to work hard for the team, and in doing so give him a place in the starting eleven ever week, and his display proves that he is only getting better every game, which makes me think, the more competition there is for places, the harder the players will work. Ramires has only just started to get a feel of English football, but mark my words... because there's a lot of competition for midfield places, particularly in the center, he will want to work extremely hard to get into the team, and we'll see the best out of him.

Going back to Mikel, I thought last season, he was sluggish with his movement, and I was furious when his back pass gave APOEL the chance to equalise at Stamford Bridge last year, but I think it's been Carlo's encouragement to him, to be whatever he wants to be, and like Alex has already said, it's working wonders for him.

That's one thing I like about Ancelotti, his words of wisdom to players. Letting his players know they are capable of doing a good job on the pitch, and even when teams are on a bad patch, they can pick themselves up quickly with a good set of wins under their belt.

[Rubber bullets 1,183]

Amazing to think last year same fans were crying out that we buy Lassana Diarra again.

[Steve 10,227]

Amazing to think last year same fans were crying out that we buy Lassana Diarra again.

Anyone with any sense would of backed this young man to make it with us. He was constantly improving and still is. He is one of our most consistant players and lets hope it continues!

[BlueLion. 21,491]

With Mikel, I'm very glad for two things: the initial faith I had in him has been rewarded, and he also has proved me wrong when I doubted him.

[diskoviolente 425]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/03/mikel-john-obi-chelsea

this is a very good read about Mikel.

Didn´t know that he was tipped to be the next big think at one time besides Messi.

Really interessting.

I always loved Mikel - in him you can see that with a bit of patience a once rough diamond can really start to shine if you give it time.....

Yesterday he really was like a certain Claude Makelele....

[diskoviolente 425]

oh the article has already been posted, sorry for that