Mikel, the midfield maestro

[LDN Blue 7,903]

So just to put Mikel's brilliance in perspective so far for all you Mikel-haters, check this stat, published by SkySports

Passers Team Passes Accuracy

Scholes Man United 328 89%

Mikel Chelsea 327 91%

Essien Chelsea 314 91%

Yaya Touré Man City 294 88%

Fletcher Man United 279 87%

[EskWeston 696]

Mikel has had a storming season so far, real class in the midfield. Just when everyone assumed the arrival of Ramires would mean a reduced role for Mikel he comes out in the form of his life. He is maturing at the right time and to still be so young....

[Badboy 1,526]

Mikel has had a storming season so far, real class in the midfield. Just when everyone assumed the arrival of Ramires would mean a reduced role for Mikel he comes out in the form of his life. He is maturing at the right time and to still be so young....

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 !

[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!