Carl Jackson lays out his case in
defence of the much maligned Jon Obi
Mikel...
No one in my lifetime of supporting this
wonderful club has divided opinion quite
like the owner of our number 12 shirt
John Michael Nchekwube Obinna, or in
simpler terms to me and you Jon Obi
Mikel. Signed from Norwegian side Lyn
Oslo back in 2006 via Man Utd he came
with the reputation of being a
playmaking number 10 but Jose
Mourinho thought differently. During
his early days Mikel struggled to adapt
to his new deep lying role and
his mentality on and off the pitch got
called into question numerous times and
it looked as if his time in SW6 would just
be a short and sweet one. Fast forward
8 years and this is a man who has won
a Premier League title, 4 FA cup winners
medals, 1 League cup winners medal, 1
Europa League title and 1 Champions
League title with what I believe to be a
man of the match display in the final.
This is a man who has played under 9
Chelsea managers including arguably
the best manager in world football Jose
Mourinho twice yet none of these
managers got rid of him. He has also
helped his country win the African
Nations Cup in 2013 which ended a 19
year drought for the underachieving
country.
Unfortunately present day he has
become our marmite player, our
scapegoat now David Luiz has left the
club and the fact this man who has
done so much for us gets this sort of
unfair treatment doesn't sit comfortably
with me. One of the best things about
the modern day game is that we have
the social networks available to debate
about the game so easily and so
frequently. I love listening to everyone's
opinions but get frustrated when people
use reasons for disliking someone
which are entirely false. The usual
comments which come up when
discussing Mikel are "he passes the ball
sideways and backwards only", "he
gives the ball away too much", "he only
passes the ball 5 yards" and even "he
doesn't score enough". I thought I'd do
some research comparing Mikel with
some other defensive midfielders in the
world right now just to give us all some
perspective.
Total Chances Created:
Mikel - 2
Matic - 12
Busquets - 9
Khedira - 3 Pass Completion %:
Mikel - 91%
Matic - 88%
Busquets - 92%
Khedira - 86%
Forward - Backward Pass %:
Mikel - 66.6% - 33.4%
Matic - 66.1% - 33.9%
Busquets - 66.9% - 33.1%
Khedira - 58% - 42%
Average Pass Length:
Mikel - 17metres
Matic - 18metres
Busquets - 16metres
Khedira - 14metres
Now quite clearly from this quick
research you can see most of the things
labelled against Mikel couldn't be further
from the truth. I am not saying he
should be first choice in this current
Chelsea side because that would be
wrong, I am saying he still has a role to
play at this club and maybe deserves a
little less stick than he is currently
getting. Recently it seems that if we win,
lose or draw with him in the side he gets
slated in some capacity. What I will say
about him is that he does slow the play
down when he is in possession of the
ball which is not great for this current
side when we are attacking as we love
to catch sides on the counter attack.
But later on in games in tight matches
when the opposition side starts getting
some joy a player who can put his foot
on the ball, take his time and then pass
to someone else on our team is just
what we need.
Lets just enjoy what I believe could be a
monumental season for us blues
together and enjoy watching this squad
as a whole.
Hope you all enjoyed your festive
period's UTC!!! chelseafancast.com/2014/12/the-curious-case-of-jon-obi-mikel/