Does Chelsea really need Mikel?

[BlueMack 1]

Of course we need him. As has been mentioned our squad is way to short on depth to contemplate selling him. Plus as Essien has proved he's not shy of a good injury now and again so who would we play in the hole? He's always a good option to have always hard in the tackle never see him bottle a 50/50 i love watching him play and when i look at the team sheet and even see his name on the bench I'm filled with confidence that we've got quality there to come on help us close out tight games

[Ollie 4,400]

I've not been a fan of his ever since he came here, mainly because of his laziness and keep falling half asleep like against Roma away where he was absolutely shocking. But i've seen signs this year that he is maturing into a very good composed defensive midfielder. His positioning and his reading of the game is very good and he's become a better passer and influential to stopping attacks and starting our own. He's young and he's strong, he's still learning a lot but he has the attributes to be very important. I'd say we need him because of his build against teams like Stoke, Everton and the like and his age. He has time on his side. If he just stayed more alert sometimes and reacted to certain situations a bit better, he'd be well on his way. He didn't come cheap either.

Edited January 12, 2011 by OllieCFC

[Lampards Bitch 21]

I agree 100% with Ollie. I wasnt a fan at the beginning but I am now. To be fair no forgien player apart from Zola has come into our team and set the premiership alight with in 1 game! Mikel, Kalou, Kakutam Ivanovic and McEchran will get stronger and if all kept with us will be our future heros. We have to remember to be patient. We often get gems of players but dont always keep them which can be our down fall.

[BLionheart 516]

I agree 100% with Ollie. I wasnt a fan at the beginning but I am now. To be fair no forgien player apart from Zola has come into our team and set the premiership alight with in 1 game! Mikel, Kalou, Kakutam Ivanovic and McEchran will get stronger and if all kept with us will be our future heros. We have to remember to be patient. We often get gems of players but dont always keep them which can be our down fall.

Kalou will never be anyone's hero ..... i am sorry , kalou will never be any chelsea fan's hero .

[Lampards Bitch 21]

He lacks confindence. He will become a great player, If your moaning about him 'nicking' Anelka's goal thats pathetic. He chased down the ball and made sure it went in. If he or other players did that more often we would have a chance of creating and scoring more. He has the pace and the ability but lacks confidence in the final part up field. I stuck with Drogba when people slagged him off and now he is a legend and I will stick will Kalou. A player who I havent got time for is Sturridge, he can sod off. I dont care if he scored against Ipswich to make 7 in 2 games. He is at Chelsea for the wrong reasons. He needs to stop titting around on the pitch and work bloody hard instead.

Every time Kalou has a good game and scores or not I will mention it time and time again but on the same token I will say if he has been shite.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

He lacks confindence.

He's had 5 years to grow confidence

I'm patient with players - We all learnt from our mistakes with not trusting the likes of Drogba, Malouda even Maka. But they turned our opinions within 2 season (3 for Malouda I think?). But Kalou has had 6 season to show us the quality he's supposed to possess and he hasn't delivered. He's got pace, yes, and he's got good dribbling abilites. But he lacks a finish, he lacks a final pass and he lacks judgement. He's 25 now, personally, it doesn't look like he's improving any more than he is. He looks the same player who could dribble with pace but not do anything aside from that.

I'd rather he bench warmed for us while we give Sturridge his chance. The 20minutes he gets gives him no time to show his true potential, he must be allowed a run of games, like Kalou was given, to prove his value. Kalou on the bench, I do not mind, he's got the experience now to come on for the last 20minutes (when Studge would come on) and perhaps make a difference (because he can offer something different)

[Lampards Bitch 21]

I value your points. But I have a feeling on Kalou and I cant fault his efforts and there have been times where is has had blinding games and people have raved about him (I dont know on here because I havent been around for a while but I can imagine he hasnt been liked) ...........then he gets slagged off later. He needs to believe in him self and not to give Drogba or Anelka too much respect and say 'ello I;m here and I can score the goals here too!' but he doesnt sulk like Drogba for most the game if things dont go his way he sucks it up and get on with it. And I cant blame him for whats happend to us, it all the players that need an arse kicking right now.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

but he doesnt sulk like Drogba for most the game if things dont go his way he sucks it up and get on with it. And I cant blame him for whats happend to us, it all the players that need an arse kicking right now.

Definitely agree about that - there's no doubting the commitment. It's great to see, putting the likes of Drogba and Anelka to shame, but I've said before - There's no point in giving heart if there's no end product.

I hope you're right about him being better - The last 5 years make me think otherwise. But I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong, when he proves he's more than a dribbler, with no end product.

[Peace. 4,352]

He lacks confindence.

Nah. What he lacks is just football abilities.

Yeah he has a good pace and commitment, but it's all. He has an awful finish, he can't dribble (when he starts to dribble you see immediately he's gonna loose the ball - actually, his problem is that he just looks at the ball while he should look at his opponent, and when he dribbles he seems to not know what to do with the ball, that's why he's a poor dribbler), he isn't constant (one game he can be good but the next game he's awful - so he's not reliable), he has a bad passing game.

To me he is the double of his brother Bonaventure Kalou and he will have the same career as him... The only thing who changes is that he's a bit better.

Here the sum up fo his career : he played in Eredivisie (at Feyenoord like Salomon), then he has moved to a French top side, Paris SG, and finally, since he has left Paris in august 2007 he has played only 30 games (Lens, Al jazira Abu Dhabi, Heerenveen).

And I think Salomon will have the same journey : Feyenoord -> Chelsea -> some obscure club.

We gave him enough time to show something. He didn't grab his chance. So now it's time to say Bye Bye Salomon

Of course I wouldn't mind to keep him since we have squad deep problems, but he should be here just to give some rest every now and then to our main players.

Edited January 13, 2011 by killamanjaro

[Term-X 7,891]

Great post from Killamanjaro.

Mikel, Kalou, Kakutam Ivanovic and McEchran will get stronger and if all kept with us will be our future heros. We have to remember to be patient.

LMAO!

To say that after almost 5 years of Kalouless, is just ignorance.

[Ollie 4,400]

Kalou has had time now for sure, it doesn't matter if he's happy, sad, miserable, flu ridden, pregnant or completely overjoyed, he will still play the same way. 2006 Jose signed this guy and he seemed quick, full of energy and full of potential. It's 2011 now and that potential just didn't happen. Him stealing Anelkas goal was just desperate lol although Nico didn't seem to care so fair do's, a goal's a goal but Kalou only scores against poor quality teams or when we're already 3-0 up (or 3-0 down).

We need players that are gonna come on in a huge game and perform. Not just bullies of championship teams and relegation candidates.

He's scored a couple of important goals but when was the last one? Man Utd home in 2008-2009, Tottenham FA Cup in 2006-2007....

The other players, sure, give em time. Kalou has had his time. He's 25 now too, not a baby anymore, he should be at the peak of his career.

And FFS how many chances does this fucker miss horribly...

Anyway.... back on Topic as it's about Mikel and not Kalouless. Mikel does do what he's paid to do most of the time and yes... we do need him.

Edited January 13, 2011 by OllieCFC

[Gianfranco_Z 202]

Mikel is brilliant at what he does, has massive shoes to step into (makalele) but I think he's doing great when played, I don't see how selling him would benefit us apart from if we signed someone better than him at what he's doing now, If Essien is playing holding now then I think we still need some more players for cover, we can't afford to have just one player who can play the holding role.

[ZanSnake 1,211]

I find it funny how a discussion about Mikel's role in the squad can deter into the same arguement over Kalou (a player which i have spent my two pence on more times then i want), Kalou is at Chelsea and his role is above those like Sturridge, far enough. I accept that Kalou is a member of the Chelsea squad and that his talent is somewhat substantial to the amount ability which many of us think Chelsea should have, but he is a persistent player that give his all, albeit sometimes it causes frustrations at least he tries!

Mikel is a young player but is also an important player to Chelsea, and like i have said, it wouldn't be the wisest of choices to let him go. If Mikel prefers to play a more attacking role then it is a matter of communication between the midfeild and the defence to sort some kind of system in which Mikel can go forward but doesn't make us prone to the counter attack. You have to remember his devevelopment is still continuing, even though he is one of the best defensive midfielders in the world.

[HRiver 1,512]

Course we need Mikel. He plays a key role in the midfield and is very important to the team. I'd love to see him score a goal though, as it's been a long, long time since he last scored.