COOLDUN: When I came across this comment from Segun Odegbami I thought he was saying that Mikel is an OPPOSITE of Lionel Messi, but to my greatest surprise he said that Mikel Obi will be another Lionel Messi, is now or when his career is finished? Haba Segun Odegbami. Why do you want to soil your hard earned reputation?

Your comparison is like saying that Abuja is like Washington DC. Mikel Obi is only lucky that Nigeria have no competitive national team players now, during your days in the Green Eagles will a player like Mikel Obi make the last eleven of the Green Eagles? Can you ever compare Mikel Obi with a player like late Mudashiru Lawal? RIP. Or Kadiri Ikhana? How many teams came for him last season transfer? He is an ordinary player that is never in the category of Lionel Messi.

No player in Africa can be compared to Messi in any level. Mikel Obi’s system of play can be played by any player who can stop and push football. Segun Odegbami in fact if you repeat this kind of statement again, I will personally remove the Gbami in your surname, so that you will be called Segun Ode- . If your comment was that Mikel Obi is an OPPOSITE of Lionel Messi, I would have agreed. I am not a Barcelona nor Messi‘s fan, but action speaks louder than words. The difference is too clear. Mikel is an ordinary player not in any competitive status in the world.

toluxe0075:
my broda there defensive midfielder making difference,if he is has gud as u take him 2 b, u would have seen alot of difference, side pass, backpass,inability 2 dribble n charge 4 goals shows dat he stil has a long way to go, if he is really gud u would have seen it even if he is a defenda, d likes of vidal are doing gr8 in dat dmf position

sunkoye: mikel's bad start with a wrong club killed the genius in him. o ma se ooo

olivertwist: If you understand football language, you'll know exactly why this football legend compare Mikel with Messi. Yes, we know Messi is an attacking midfielder and Mikel a defensive midfielder. But on a good day, they can both decide the outcome of a game.

agbari socket: Igbos are not happy bcuz then no see mikel robbed.thief people

thegoodjoehunt: The fact is that Mikel is very talented and brilliant. He is being played off position. No player including those you mentioned above would have excelled playing in an off position.

What the legend is saying is that if Keshi can look back and find out what made Mikel excel to the point of competing with Messi, then we can expect a special nations cup.

olivertwist: If you understand football language, you'll know exactly why this football legend compare Mikel with Messi. Yes, we know Messi is an attacking midfielder and Mikel a defensive midfielder. But on a good day, they can both decide the outcome of a game.

thegoodjoehunt: If you watched Xabi Alonso at Liverpool FC, you will notice that backpassing was one of his regular plays. He still looked good because he was in a more advanced role and had Mascherano as his defensive midfielder. Xabi wasn't scoring loads of goals or charging and making dribbles but he was brilliant.

If Mikel is put in a more advanced role, you will see the brilliance in his play. Back in the U20 world cup, Mikel made lots of backpasses but because of his position no one complained.

Andrea Pirlo makes lots of backpasses but at AC Milan, he had Gattuso behind him.

caukerzee: If a player is good you would see his quality no matter the position he is played, even if you make him a defender. Take vidal of juve for example. He is more of an SS naturally but he is played as a deep-lying mid feilder, but theres no qestioning his quality. Mikel is simply an average player. He is a bad passer, bad dribler. I believe the position one plays doesnt affect his passing or dribbling Mr man.

uzoexcel: 'if' doesnt build a house...mikel has not scored up to 4goals in chelsea since he joined 6yrs ago and thatz a damning statistics as a player;he hasnt even developed himself since that competition....the players like andrea pirlo,mikel carrick etc may do the backpassing but they knew how to also look for the long range passes and they also scored goals also...jose mourinho has even said the only player who is irreplaceable in the madrid squad is 'xabi alonso'...that guy s good and very effective also...and he could score outrageous goals...also stop making excuses of mikel been played as a defensive midfielder...roy keane,michael essien were core defensive midfielders but they could offer more by being able to charge and drive the attack from behind and the main thing they could do which i dont see in mikel obi was the ability to take'initiative'..been a defensive midfielder doesnt mean u must just sit at the back;once in a while u try and enter into threatening positions so as to offer more options to ur team when they have the ball..MIKEL doesnt do this @all

uzoexcel: 'if' doesnt build a house...mikel has not scored up to 4goals in chelsea since he joined 6yrs ago and thatz a damning statistics as a player;he hasnt even developed himself since that competition....the players like andrea pirlo,mikel carrick etc may do the backpassing but they knew how to also look for the long range passes and they also scored goals also...jose mourinho has even said the only player who is irreplaceable in the madrid squad is 'xabi alonso'...that guy s good and very effective also...and he could score outrageous goals...also stop making excuses of mikel been played as a defensive midfielder...roy keane,michael essien were core defensive midfielders but they could offer more by being able to charge and drive the attack from behind and the main thing they could do which i dont see in mikel obi was the ability to take'initiative'..been a defensive midfielder doesnt mean u must just sit at the back;once in a while u try and enter into threatening positions so as to offer more options to ur team when they have the ball..MIKEL doesnt do this @all

olivertwist: And, technically, I don't neccessarily believe Messi is the world best football player. If you say best attacking midfielder in the world, I'll say yes.

For instance, how can FIFA compare Messi with goal keepers like Casillas or Petr Cech? Or with defenders like Puyol or Rio Ferdinand? You cannot compare apple with orange.

Personally, I think it's wrong for FIFA to say 'Strikers' or 'Midfielders' are better than 'Defenders' or 'Goal keepers'.

FIFA should consider breaking the award to only five categories:
1. World best Striker
2. World best Midfielder
3. World best Defenders
4. World best Goal keepers
5. World best Coach

olivertwist: And, technically, I don't neccessarily believe Messi is the world best football player. If you say best attacking midfielder in the world, I'll say yes.

For instance, how can FIFA compare Messi with goal keepers like Casillas or Petr Cech? Or with defenders like Puyol or Rio Ferdinand? You cannot compare apple with orange.

Personally, I think it's wrong for FIFA to say 'Strikers' or 'Midfielders' are better than 'Defenders' or 'Goal keepers'.

FIFA should consider breaking the award to only five categories:
1. World best Striker
2. World best Midfielder
3. World best Defenders
4. World best Goal keepers
5. World best Coach

thegoodjoehunt: The fact is that Mikel is very talented and brilliant. He is being played off position. No player including those you mentioned above would have excelled playing in an off position.

What the legend is saying is that if Keshi can look back and find out what made Mikel excel to the point of competing with Messi, then we can expect a special nations cup.

caukerzee: in reply to your last reply to me. For some reason, i was not allowed to reply directly. You said oscar played terribly against leeds?? And he mirplaced many passes? Please dont bring up lies to win an argument or to defend mikel. Go check most reputable football websites he was the man of the match. And statistics showed that he completed the most passes. Mikel is simply an average player and playing position has nothing to do with that. As i said earlier, playing position does not affect you ability to dribble or pass the ball well. Mikel is pretty bad at both. Even natural defensive mid feilders like essien or say roy kean or felliani burts forward to make attacks talk more of mikel who is supposed to be attacj minded. He makes no attempt whatsoever to go forward. If you watched chelseas game today you would see how useless mikel is. Luiz played that position perfectly, he was not afraid to go forward unlike mikel. Position cannot kill your technical attributes, so just forget tht thing.

caukerzee: in reply to your last reply to me. For some reason, i was not allowed to reply directly. You said oscar played terribly against leeds?? And he mirplaced many passes? Please dont bring up lies to win an argument or to defend mikel. Go check most reputable football websites he was the man of the match. And statistics showed that he completed the most passes. Mikel is simply an average player and playing position has nothing to do with that. As i said earlier, playing position does not affect you ability to dribble or pass the ball well. Mikel is pretty bad at both. Even natural defensive mid feilders like essien or say roy kean or felliani burts forward to make attacks talk more of mikel who is supposed to be attacj minded. He makes no attempt whatsoever to go forward. If you watched chelseas game today you would see how useless mikel is. Luiz played that position perfectly, he was not afraid to go forward unlike mikel. Position cannot kill your technical attributes, so just forget tht thing.

caukerzee: in reply to your last reply to me. For some reason, i was not allowed to reply directly. You said oscar played terribly against leeds?? And he mirplaced many passes? Please dont bring up lies to win an argument or to defend mikel. Go check most reputable football websites he was the man of the match. And statistics showed that he completed the most passes. Mikel is simply an average player and playing position has nothing to do with that. As i said earlier, playing position does not affect you ability to dribble or pass the ball well. Mikel is pretty bad at both. Even natural defensive mid feilders like essien or say roy kean or felliani burts forward to make attacks talk more of mikel who is supposed to be attacj minded. He makes no attempt whatsoever to go forward. If you watched chelseas game today you would see how useless mikel is. Luiz played that position perfectly, he was not afraid to go forward unlike mikel. Position cannot kill your technical attributes, so just forget tht thing.

caukerzee: in reply to your last reply to me. For some reason, i was not allowed to reply directly. You said oscar played terribly against leeds?? And he mirplaced many passes? Please dont bring up lies to win an argument or to defend mikel. Go check most reputable football websites he was the man of the match. And statistics showed that he completed the most passes. Mikel is simply an average player and playing position has nothing to do with that. As i said earlier, playing position does not affect you ability to dribble or pass the ball well. Mikel is pretty bad at both. Even natural defensive mid feilders like essien or say roy kean or felliani burts forward to make attacks talk more of mikel who is supposed to be attacj minded. He makes no attempt whatsoever to go forward. If you watched chelseas game today you would see how useless mikel is. Luiz played that position perfectly, he was not afraid to go forward unlike mikel. Position cannot kill your technical attributes, so just forget tht thing.

Livermeka:
Expert Opinions: Counting on Mikel to be a Messi-by Segun Odegbami

There is simply no getting away from the issue of Lionel Messi these days. In April I described Barcelona as the greatest team in history and Lionel Messi as the greatest player.

The reactions were fast and furious: my assertion was premature. Messi had not won the World Cup with his country's national team like Maradona and Pele. Messi had not played enough games or scored enough goals like Pele and Gerd Muller. The critics were obviously looking more at the statistics than what Messi was doing with the ball.

Now, it is obvious I was prophetic.

Eight months later, the world is looking beyond the statistics. At 25, with years still left in his feet and goals in his boots, Messi has already re-written football history. At the last count he has scored, arguably, more goals in one football season than anyone else in history. He achieved this feat in less matches than the man who is generally believed (in the absence of acceptable universal data) to hold the record, Gerd Muller.

When Messi is eventually crowned the world's best player again this year, he will be setting another record as the first person in history to be crowned the world's best four times. Hopefully he still has time on his side to add to that number before he quits the game.

Lionel Messi, week after week, is doing to football what Picasso did to art, what Albert Enstein did to science, and what Mandela is doing to humanity!

Thoughts of him bring up the second thing on my mind - Afcon 2013.

What has Lionel Messi got to do with Africa's greatest football show? The answer is Mikel Obi, the Nigerian defensive midfield player making his mark quietly in the colours of Chelsea and the Super Eagles of Nigeria.

Seven years ago Messi and Mikel, both 18 years old at the time, competed on the same stage for who would be the best young player in the world. That epic 'battle' was fought at the 2005 World Youth Championship in Holland.

Messi and Mikel both captained their national under-20 teams to the championship. Argentina and Nigeria met at the finals in an encounter that provided a sneak preview of the future. On the night, Argentina won with two moments of magic provided by Lionel Messi.

He conjured the two penalty kicks that separated the two teams. They were moments of brilliance and sheer magic in the dying minutes of a hard-fought match that saw both players struggle to dominate the midfield.

Messi's goals provided the slim edge over Mikel, who had conducted Nigeria's midfield with the elegance, composure, confidence and efficiency of a maestro. So good were both players that, at the end of the championship, Messi was crowned king and Mikel was named second best player.

Since then both players have charted different paths, only meeting again this past season in the semifinal of the European Club Championships, where Mikel and Chelsea had the upper hand over Messi and Barcelona in terms of the final result.

Messi will not be at Afcon 2013. Mikel will be.

There is increasing expectation and mounting pressure by Nigerians for the Super Eagles to win Afcon 2013.

That’s where Mikel comes in. Nigerians are counting on him playing at his best again these days, to use his vast experience and leadership to lead Nigeria's onslaught.

The man is getting used to winning championships. There is something about Mikel that is special and confounding.

He brings all of that to the Super Eagles. With his quiet mien and conservative but consistent performances, Mikel Obi could just be the joker up the sleeve with which Nigeria can win the African championship. He is on my mind.


http://www.supersport.com/football/blogs/segun-odegbami/Counting_on_Mikel_to_be_a_Messi

thegoodjoehunt: When Di Matteo took over Chelsea, he gave Mikel the liberty of expressing himself and he became one of Chelsea's best performers.

That is his natural role he played for years growing up. Yaya Toure at Barca was restricted as a defensive Midfielder/defender at Barca. At Man City, Mancini played Yaya in a more advanced role and he became a super player. One of the best in the world today.

Players always do better playing their natural roles, no matter how long they were played off position.

SBabaJ:
The Dynamics Of The Game Are Beyond The Assertion In Your Last Statement.

thegoodjoehunt:

How can that be. A player played off his natural position will not do as well as he will playing his natural position. Mikel excelled playing his natural position during the WYC. At Chelsea he is okay but not at his optimum best because he is off position.

No matter the dynamics of the game, the fact still remains. Do you think CR7 will be exceptional as a defender?

thegoodjoehunt:

How can that be. A player played off his natural position will not do as well as he will playing his natural position. Mikel excelled playing his natural position during the WYC. At Chelsea he is okay but not at his optimum best because he is off position.

No matter the dynamics of the game, the fact still remains. Do you think CR7 will be exceptional as a defender?