If there is one
thing to be said for
John Obi Mikel , it is that he is no
stranger to difficult circumstances.
The Chelsea midfielder is presently on
an extended break, resting up from
his World Cup exertions with Nigeria .
Upon his return, he is sure to find
the furniture at Cobham has been
moved around quite a bit.
The world is, to this day, in awe of the
genius of Harry Houdini, a master of
escapology. He contrived the most
difficult bonds and fantastical
contraptions, and materialised from
them unfettered to widespread
adulation. However, a lot of his
manacles were self-made. So it is with
the Super Eagles’ number 10. The
difference is people pay to see
football in stadiums, not escape
artists.
Not that magicians and footballers
are much different. However, when
expected to fulfil a role that indulges
sleight of body and mind, Mikel
conjured up no wonder in Brazil.
There have been reports that the
London-based club are eager to get
him off the books, and have slashed
his asking price in a bid to generate
interest. A year is a long time in
football, and a decade seems a
lifetime ago now for the 27-year-old,
whose arrival to British football was in
the wake of an acrimonious battle
between Chelsea and Manchester
United.
Mikel has gone from being sought
after to being hawked around.
It is not hard to see why, neither is it
overly surprising. Mikel has made a
Blues’ career out of managing
escapes, wriggling out of a hole he
has steadily dug himself into. Under
different managers, he has defied
initial predictions of doom to stay
relevant, but only just. The mental
and emotional wear appears to have
taken a toll: Mikel looked like a man
running in treacle at the World Cup,
and was completely unable to get to
grips with the flow of the Nigerian
team.

His contribution at Chelsea has also
steadily petered out, and he now
finds himself pretty much at the
bottom of the Chelsea midfield
pecking order. Oriol Romeu is back
from one of those loans the club
seems to specialise in; Marco van
Ginkel is very highly rated, and may
have gazumped Mikel already last
season had he not injured his
anterior cruciate ligaments; Nemanja
Matic towers above him, physically
and figuratively; and Ramires offers a
staple all coaches love: tireless
running round the clock.
Add to these the adaptable Oscar
and, at a stretch, new signing Cesc
Fabregas who can also play deeper in
midfield, and that is six players who
can fill the two deep midfield
positions in a 4-2-3-1. Even worse, all
of them are superior footballers
(perhaps Romeu might be deemed
the exception, but even that is by no
means clear-cut).

The writing was already on the wall,
even before Jose Mourinho petitioned
the club’s Russian cheque book to
bring back Nemanja Matic from
Benfica in the winter transfer window.
It is no secret that the Special One is
not on Rafael Benitez’s Christmas list,
and upon his return to Stamford
Bridge, he quickly moved to distance
himself from the Spaniard’s big
experiment in his short stint: using
David Luiz in midfield.
Soon enough though, Mourinho was
fielding the footloose Brazilian as a
midfield anchor, and many sneered at
what was perceived to be hypocrisy.
However, you can be sure only a
matter of absolute necessity could
have forced Mourinho to effectively
endorse his long-standing rival. Mikel
unconvincing displays held sway over
the Portuguese’s vanity, no small feat
in itself.
By electing to be the team’s
workhorse, content to do only as the
coach asks for the past decade, he
has failed to fulfil his potential and
truly push on on a personal level.
Even clay, however malleable, must
retain a certain consistency. That is
the paradox by which Mikel has been
hung out to dry as the clubs seeks to
get him off the wage bill.
What now for Mikel?
These are his peak years, and a good
player does not become altogether
rubbish. Specifically, it appears there
is an eye toward the Italian market.
For a price of £4.8 million, whoever
takes a punt will be getting a
multiple Premier League champion
and a Champions League winner, who
still has three years (at least) of
consistent performance.

If the desired interest was to
materialise, it is a move that makes
sense for all parties. Chelsea free up
some funds for wages; the buying
club gets experience and technical
ability; and Mikel gets to play in a
slower paced league. Serie A is
starting to earn a reputation as a
good hunting ground for veterans,
witnessed by Maicon’s successful first
season with Roma at the ripe old age
of 32. Already, Patrice Evra and former
team-mate Ashley Cole have moved to
the peninsula to stay competitive.
Perhaps Italian sun could be the
tonic that peps Mikel back to form.
Aside the less rough-and-tumble
nature of Italian football, Serie A
boasts a number of Europe’s brightest
coaches. Think what the charisma of a
manager like Vincenzo Montella could
do for the Super Eagles midfielder, or
the young and articulate Andrea
Stramaccioni who is settling in at
Udinese. Fiorentina or a move to
Friuli may seem a step backwards in
terms of prestige, but may turn out to
be a step forward in relevance.
Perhaps even at AC Milan too, with
Filippo Inzaghi shorn of team captain
Ricardo Montolivo presently.
What is undeniable is that in Serie A,
there will be a greater appreciation
for his calm passing and less
consequence for his lack of pace and
dynamism. No more an escape artist,
Mikel may finally be able to rediscover
a creative spark long forgotten, as well
as a quiet place by the
Mediterranean Sea.
First though, he must extricate
himself from West London.
It was 13 years ago when a certain
Andrea Pirlo got a positional
makeover on loan at Brescia that
transformed him into one of football's
finest ever deep-lying playmakers.
Mikel will never hit those heights.
If he applies himself in Italy (or
elsewhere) and shows some of the
personal ambition that has been
lacking in his career to date though,
he may finally achieve the recognition
befitting a player whose name was
once measured in the same
conversation as Lionel Messi


source: m.goal.com/x/en-ng/news/4981445