ofwest:
Mikel could have been as pungent as Messi today but Mourinho who decided to bench him permanently at the back

kobonaire:
Done, issued a 'like' too

TheGoodJoe:


I know there is something special about Fernando. I feel he is a pick by Guardiola. There is a reason why Villas-Boas was crazy about Fernando and also why the Cityzen bosses fought to sign him.

We just have to wait and see what Guardiola does with him.

Segadem:


Mikel lacks the confidence to go forward, how many times have u seen him in an eighteen box? We always see Cahil, John Terry, even Zouma coming from far back behind to score, and someone who is a mid-fielder refuses to go forward. What happened against PSG shows to us clearly that if can go forward he too will become a regular goal scorer, and will all knew what prompted his decision to move forward that day. He wanted to redeem his image for the goal he caused.
Another thing about him is that he's too conscious of making any mistake and when u don't want to take a risk u can't get the best out of life. We know how he plays as a commander-in-chief in all aspect in Super Eagles team, he wants to play all the corner, he wants to play all the free kick, and he wants to play penalty as well,and the question is how many corners has he played for Chelsea and how many free kicks has he played for them? if inferiority complex no dhey worry am why will u have boldness at home and timid abroad?
I love him as a Chelsea fan, his success is our joy and the joy of Nigeria as a nation!

cruzita:
mourihno destroyed Mikel ,but u can see changes in his games under this new manager .I have always known Mikel to be a game killer ,he doesn't push attacks ,[b]u give him pass at the midfield and he sends it back to the keeper,[/b]but now he gives accurate passes,opens up to receive passes and even tries to score. Under hiddink I think we are going to see more of Mikel.I rest my case

TheGoodJoe:


Mikel's best football was never under Mourinho. His best games were his champions league game against Barcelona in Hiddink's first reign, the second leg against Barcelona under Di Matteo and the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

The memorable game under Mourinho was in the FA Cup final against Manchester United. That game was not as good as the ones above.

Mikel's best reign of playing consistently at a high level was under Ancelotti.

xtervaganza:
hahaha you're funny. Are you refer g to matches where chelsea were pressed back to the wall? Where chelsea defended for 90 minutes?


No doubt he defended well in those matches but chelsea defended as a unit and Mikel neber won man of the match in those matches



Now compare to the atmosphere of the 1st match in the renovated Wembley, an injury depleted chelsea, playing against the likes of Rooney, Ronaldo, Scholes, Vidic and Ferdinand and he won man of the match not counting his much more illustrious teammates, a team that had 5 national teams captain

TheGoodJoe:


Mikel's performance in the Games I listed were better individually than the game at the FA Cup Final performance. It was a good performance by Mikel but not as good as the Barca games or the Champions league final.

Mikel had better runs under Di Matteo and Ancelotti than his days under Mourinho.

xtervaganza:
then can you explain why Mikel only scored his goals under Mourinho and none under Di Matteo or Ancelotti?



Just deal with the fact that José benched for a better player Matic

xtervaganza:
then can you explain why Mikel only scored his goals under Mourinho and none under Di Matteo or Ancelotti?



Just deal with the fact that José benched for a better player Matic

TheGoodJoe:


[b]Who is the best passer in the Premier League? John Obi Mikel? Over the last three seasons Chelsea’s holding midfielder has a higher pass-completion ratio than any other player in the top flight (89.93 per cent — Paul Scholes is second with 89.88).

He has made an astonishing 4,598 passes (over 1,000 more than Scholes – just think about how many that actually is). He is the beating heart of this Chelsea team, moving the ball with metronomic precision.

Ah, but it’s easy enough to keep completing passes when all you do is move the ball 10 yards sideways, no? Like the departed Ray Wilkins, is Mikel not just a midfield crab, safely shifting the ball laterally from one harmless position to another?

Until this season that was a fair enough accusation (although one that underestimates the importance a short pass can have) but this season Carlo Ancelotti has made Mikel something of a pet project.

When looking at ways of squeezing improved performances out of his champions he alighted on Mikel’s relatively passive role in attacking the opposition. The work is born out in the stats: he hits twice as many forward passes as he used to (two in five rather than one in five).

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/chelsea/8130025/John-Obi-Mikel-reborn-as-Chelseas-undisputed-pass-master.html[/b]

TheGoodJoe:


That is because most of you see scoring goals as playing better when actually it is not. Mikel earned a lot of praise for his U20 outing in the 2005 World Cup. He did not score any goal in open play.

Mikel earned reviews for his fantastic performance against Crystal Palace this season but he did not score any goal. Mikel earned reviews for his performance against Bayern Munich (Putting out little fires - a pundit said) but he did not score in that game.

It is his interceptions, reading the games and the little short passes that makes the team tick that counts in Mikel's games.

Under Ancelotti, Mikel was special.

TheSuperNerd:
In all of these, Mikel has still scored 6 goals for Chelsea since the 2006/07 season as A DMF.

HOW MANY DID MAKALELE SCORE FOR CHELSEA?? 20?? 10??

One more question, how many goals have Mascherano scored for FC Barcelona as a DMF/Defender?. And pls, does his little or NO RETURN make him inferior?

Leave Mikel alone..... He got no inferiority complex. Every trophy he won at Chelsea, he was a major player in them..... 2009/2010 Epl title, 2012 UCL title, 2013 Europa league title, ALL FOUR F.A cup titles, and much more......

Nigeria conquered Africa because Mikel stood up to the Best Africa had to offer in midfield from Yaya toure to seydou keita even to Alain Traore.

Mikel bossed Yaya when Chelsea narrowly lost via the "away goals rule" in 2010/2011 UCL semi-finals. And bossed Yaya again when Nigeria overcame Ivory Coast @Afcon 2013.

Mikel bossed the Spanish midfielders @Fifa confederations cup 2013. And literally tore the Uruguayans apart. Inexperience and absence of other key players like Onazi (mikel's trusted midfield partner), Victor Moses, and Emenike (then on fire.... Seems he's discovered himself again for west ham) affected The Super Eagles @Fifa confed cup 2013.

Life itself is a risk.... No risks, no rewards..... Mikel may be short of true greatness because he may never live up to his fullest soccer potentials which we all saw @Fifa U-20 2005 BUT HE'S DONE ENOUGH IN THE PATH HE CHOSE AND WILL GO DOWN IN HISTORY AS ONE OF AFRICA'S TOP 5 MOST DECORATED PLAYERS OF ALL TIME.......

Others in Mikel's elite club from Africa are Samuel Eto'o fils, Nwankwo Kanu, Didier Drogba, and even Seydou Keita.....

We can keep playing the game of "what ifs"..... What if he went to man utd? What if he never met mourinho? What if, what if what if

But Mikel's place is already among legends...... He's led Nigeria to a major continental title.

Messi is yet to do same for Argentina despite all his achievements and for me, messi is the best in this generation and arguably the best in history.... Maybe second only to the king Pele...(Edson arantes dos nascimento)

So this and many more is why I maintain that even in the far reaches of saturn or our galaxy or any other galaxy..... Mikel does not suffer any form of inferiority complex.

He may never fulfill his highest potentials which is so sad but he still remains "a midfield boss".....

Even the catalan greats, Xavi, iniesta and busquets agree to this after what they witnessed at his hands during the Fifa confederations cup 2013.

xtervaganza:
under Ancelotti he was special? And he wasn't under Mourinho?


I remember how Mourinho's Internazionale Milan destroyed chelsea with his special Mikel lol

xtervaganza:
lol you're really quoting an analyst? Who may be right or wrong? Lol



And seriously my argument is not about Mikel being a good player, it's about your belief that Mourinho restricted him

TheGoodJoe:


And what of the stats showing Mikel making over a thousand more passes than Scholes. Is that an analyst? Or the comments of Ray Wilkins?

TheGoodJoe:



From your point, Xavi was not special because Mourinho's Inter Milan defeated Barcelona.

TheSuperNerd:
That's not true even in the far reaches of saturn....... Mikel suffers no inferiority complex.

xtervaganza:
see you, I would never say that. At least Barcelona that season beat Inter Milan twice.



Unlike Mikel and Chelsea who lost both matches to Inter

xtervaganza:
oh my god dude, are you seriously basing this on stats? Then christian eriksen is better than Iniesta and Gerrard is better than Pirlo & Xavi

TheGoodJoe:



Please, can you tell me when Gerrard raked more passes than Xavi and Pirlo. Tell me when Eriksen raked more passes than Iniesta.

TheGoodJoe:



So because Man City lost both matches against Tottenham this season, you are saying Silva is not special?

xtervaganza:
last season christian eriksen had more goals and assist than Iniesta



Gerrard had more career goals and assist than Xavi



Frank Lampard had more goals and assist than Xavi and Iniesta combined



Football is not all about passes and stats does not make a better footballer.


Mikel having more passes than Scholes will never make him better than Scholes

TheGoodJoe:


You can see yourself. Arguing off point. Who is talking about goals and assist. I am talking of Ancelotti improving Mikel's game. In the U20, Mikel did not score any goal in open play but he was the best player.

The stat did not talk about goals and assist and then you bring in goals and assist that has no relation to the discussion.

Mikel's game was about passing in the U20. Ancelotti raised his game by making him one of the best passmaters in the EPL. Even at one time he performed better than the all time best pass master of the EPL.

If you can not argue based on this point. Leave it than throwing unrelated points.