Joebie:
Just because Mikel has less competition in the national team don't make him world class. I don't know your standard.. but these term is relative to me.. firstly I won't be making comparisons to other African players. Because we don't have a lot I can place in that category at the moment. If I mention Aubemeyang, someone will want to shoot my head and say he is a striker. Mikel cannot even be ranked among the top 10 midfiedlers in the world at the moment.. it's okay to be patriotic.. i don't dislike mikel.. but no self proclaimed soccer guru here will convince me to put him in that world class category.. sorry.. maybe write nairaland owner to kick me out of here since you guys own this place..haha

Joebie:
Just because Mikel has less competition in the national team don't make him world class. I don't know your standard.. but these term is relative to me.. firstly I won't be making comparisons to other African players. Because we don't have a lot I can place in that category at the moment. If I mention Aubemeyang, someone will want to shoot my head and say he is a striker. Mikel cannot even be ranked among the top 10 midfiedlers in the world at the moment.. it's okay to be patriotic.. i don't dislike mikel.. but no self proclaimed soccer guru here will convince me to put him in that world class category.. sorry.. maybe write nairaland owner to kick me out of here since you guys own this place..haha

joseph1013:


Chief, relax! No need to ask anyone to kick you out. People disagree here all the time. Don't take it personal. Don't be surprised if a lot of people support you when you get into the next argument. That's the way this place is.

Keep your head up.

daveP:
Mind you, nowhere do we say he is among the top ten midfielders in the world. We are affirming that he is world class!!! Which is what you seem to have a problem with.




Opta stats disagrees Strongly with you......1

His passes aimed at not losing possession is still one the top 3 best in the EPL.(Not even almighty Ozil, yes I'm a gunner, have a chance at this)


He fills in for Terry when Terry goes goal hungry. Conte didn't want to have such from a midfielder, so we saw the temperature of the bench increasing for Mikel.



Against Bayern, that final, his passes were either 3rd or 4th touch before a goal attempt. Bayern's middle had to foul him to disposses him.





I never liked Mikel when he wasn't replicating his form in the national team years back. But the Afcon win changed all that.



Then his game play at the Olympics..... Obviously you don't see that.



Watched him play against Algeria?


Onazi covered his back but we knew his moves were world class.




We don't hate here, if you have a good point, buttress it well with Facts




His time may be up, but he's not out.



Obviously Ezekwem basses I termed world class cos Barca took him ba? Even if we don't agree yet.


Man u and Chelsea fought for this guy's siggy.....

Joebie:
Okay maybe we have a different definition of World Class.
there is no one definition, as it is subjective. I think that's the reason for all this confusion.
I don't have to comment to your every point.. but let me add here.. As for the Algeria game Etebo impressed me most.
He did a lot defensively, which was uncharacteristic of him

daveP:





Ok




Give me 5 names of African Footballers who you think are world class and have good experience in ucl, EPL, and world cup in a trio.

Joebie:
Okay maybe we have a different definition of World Class.
there is no one definition, as it is subjective. I think that's the reason for all this confusion.
I don't have to comment to your every point.. but let me add here.. As for the Algeria game Etebo impressed me most.
He did a lot defensively, which was uncharacteristic of him

Joebie:
Just because Mikel has less competition in the national team don't make him world class. I don't know your standard.. but these term is relative to me.. firstly I won't be making comparisons to other African players. Because we don't have a lot I can place in that category at the moment. If I mention Aubemeyang, someone will want to shoot my head and say he is a striker. Mikel cannot even be ranked among the top 10 midfiedlers in the world at the moment.. it's okay to be patriotic.. i don't dislike mikel.. but no self proclaimed soccer guru here will convince me to put him in that world class category.. sorry.. maybe write nairaland owner to kick me out of here since you guys own this place..haha

enigmaticmotik:



Was it lack of competition that made him to last that long in Chelsea When players like Ballack was begging for his wages to be cut to remain in Chelsea Look at the caliber of players he has displaced in the team Makalele, Essien, Diara, Ballack and even other promising talents Benitez that was a big critic of Mikel during his Liverpool days, benched Mikel when he first came, but immediately he used him and say how technical the guy was... End of story. Remember when Benitez left for Napoli, Mikel was the first player he tried to recruit.

Try watching that game against Spain in the confederations cup (better still, watch the highlight on YouTube). Mikel is a legend, midfield maestro and a great footballer which can make him stand tall among his peers. World class of the highest order unreservedly..,

chrisooblog:
hi joebie well come to the house hope you would drop by often to help make this thread more lively and informative. read your views during the mikel debate i share your views about mikel's place in the scheme of things world football wise but no doubt as far as nigerian football is concerned he's an absolute legend. if in his early years he had played under a coach who would have groomed him properly i have no doubts he would have turned into a world class CM but instead he jammed mourinho who didn't have the time and patience to work on him turning mikel into an above average DM.

Congrats to Cameroon they lived up to their name indomitable happy they won because all our eyes don clear say we are facing formidable opponents. i'm quietly confident that we will get something positive out of our 2 matches against cameroon. rohr's attitude and comments so far regarding the lions shows he appreciates the task at hand. yes 5 months is a long time for cameroon to lose their team cohesion but the confeds will still help them gel further so we have to prepare and get ready like we are facing world champions. that approach saw us through against algeria and will God willing see us overcome the cameroonians.

Joebie:
Confed Cup performance I've never disputed that.

Yes he did enjoy first team appearance for Chelsea.. at the same time he played second fiddle to other midfielders.
when a player has no intention of leaving a club even when he is benched continually shows he rather stays in his comfort zone.
Word Class players don't do that. if they are not playing, you are bruising their ego. They will opt for a coach/team who would appreciate them better.
I'm happy Conte was adamant and made him move. Mikel's move had been long overdue.. he never took chances to increase his value.
Now let's see how he succeeds in doing that finishing his career in China. if he is that world class he should have upped his value.

Joebie:
I can't think of any player that is world class if you want to talk about those that have been around for a long time.
Yaya Toure - arguably. But that's how behind Africa is in Football. Potential-wise I see Nigeria doing great things than we have ever done. I am hopeful about Nigeria U17 2013/2015 classed and other young players springing up. Our golden generation is yet to come. Then we can compare top quality vs top quality. Mikel has little competition at the moment.

For now Aubameyang is the only player I can put up there.
But he is still new relatively compared to players that have been there. And still has to prove it consistency-wise

Oh that reminds me. Eto'o is purely world class

Joebie:
Confed Cup performance I've never disputed that.

Yes he did enjoy first team appearance for Chelsea.. at the same time he played second fiddle to other midfielders.
when a player has no intention of leaving a club even when he is benched continually shows he rather stays in his comfort zone.
Word Class players don't do that. if they are not playing, you are bruising their ego. They will opt for a coach/team who would appreciate them better.
I'm happy Conte was adamant and made him move. Mikel's move had been long overdue.. he never took chances to increase his value.
Now let's see how he succeeds in doing that finishing his career in China. if he is that world class he should have upped his value.

BascoVanVeli:


Guy are u a world class player to know what they do or don't do?

Joebie:
Thanks bro!

very well said about Rohr. Should we qualify he takes most of the credits.
Nigeria has never taking world cup qualification this serious in a long time.. we always leave it late.
We will qualify before the final two matches with Rohr's attitude. Cameroon does have the advantage speaking about building a cohesive team. You don't get a cohesive team without playing matches. I saw people comparing cameroon players and nigerian players here based on quality.. those arguments makes no sense to me.. quality team wins matches. Ivory Coast and Senegal did not win the AFCON. Portugal won the Euro 2016. Teams win. if you have quality players, they have to play as a team.

Joebie:
Confed Cup performance I've never disputed that.

Yes he did enjoy first team appearance for Chelsea.. at the same time he played second fiddle to other midfielders.
when a player has no intention of leaving a club even when he is benched continually shows he rather stays in his comfort zone.
Word Class players don't do that. if they are not playing, you are bruising their ego. They will opt for a coach/team who would appreciate them better.
I'm happy Conte was adamant and made him move. Mikel's move had been long overdue.. he never took chances to increase his value.
Now let's see how he succeeds in doing that finishing his career in China. if he is that world class he should have upped his value.

tbaba1234:
So there are reports in Spain that Kelechi will be offloaded by mancity in the summer. Apparently, he does not fit into PEP's plans. Cc: Thegoodjoe

TheGoodJoe:


The news is not straight. First of all, if City and Stellar Group reached an agreement for City to leave, then I think that can explain why he is not playing. Maybe the Pere Guardiola news is true.

Stellar Group value Iheanacho and they believe the can net a bigger deal for Iheanacho. I doubt it is about Iheanacho not fitting in. If it was, Guardiola would have played Nolito up front more times than Nacho. Nolito can also lead the line but Iheanacho was the preferred choice. Remember, Nolito is La Masia trained and a former Barcelona player. Trained in the academy with Guardiola. Worked with Luis Enrique at Barca B and Celta Vigo. Despite Nolito's grounding, Guardiola chose Iheanacho to lead the line and kept Nolito on the bench.

I think Stellar Group have their plans for Nacho and they have an offer for him.

Note, this is what I think is going on.

tbaba1234:


Pep does not value KI

tbaba1234:


Pep does not value KI

TheGoodJoe:


Guardiola benched Nolito for Iheanacho. Even once, is enough to show Guardiola values Iheanacho. You can say he rates Gabriel Jesus more but that he does not value Iheanacho.

TheGoodJoe:


Guardiola benched Nolito for Iheanacho. Even once, is enough to show Guardiola values Iheanacho. You can say he rates Gabriel Jesus more but that he does not value Iheanacho.

cc12:

He doesn't value Iheanacho he just wanted to fulfill all righteousness

tbaba1234:


Even before Jesus, Kelechi could not get a game. Even when Aguero was out. It has been clear for a long time that Kelechi was not valued. I am not surprised that there is talk about offloading him.

TheGoodJoe:


Seriously? Kelechi Iheanacho could not get a game? Kelechi Iheanacho started five EPL games and a Champions League game.

TheGoodJoe:


Mikel did not play second fiddle. Do not get that wrong. Makalele came to Chelsea and showed Florentino Perez he was wrong looking down on him. He played the defensive midfield role to an artistic level the role got named after him. THE MAKALELE ROLE.

"He wasn't a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres,"...Florentino Perez (Real Madrid President)

"Why put another layer of gold paint on the Bentley when you are losing the entire engine?"...Zinedine Zidane

Mikel was a player who understudied Makalele and soaked in the great lessons of the defensive midfield genius. That was why, despite repeated changes in Chelsea, they could not find a shield like Mikel. It just has to end up with Mikel. With several of midfielders coming into Chelsea. Great names, there was no one who could do it like him.

Just like Florentino Perez, a lot do not see how important Mikel was during the dominant reign of Chelsea but just like Makalele, he was the team was the engine of their success. He was the engine of that team.

Ed Dove of Bleacherreport wrote, "While Nigeria fans are naturally delighted at the elegant influence Mikel has had in the middle of the park over the last year of sport, joy is tinged with regret when remembering the delirious talent stolen by English football."

Mikel has the ability of becoming a celebrated gem in the game but he chose a role of importance to winning. His conservative and humble role ensured the team kept on winning. Others like Lampard and Ballack got the glory but Mikel made sure they won. People who think like Florentino Perez will come out tomorrow and say he is not World Class or Top Quality. Those who think like Zidane will understand the great sacrifice Mikel made for the Chelsea flag to fly high. It was not about his name but the team. That is truly a World Class player who laid it all for his team.

tbaba1234:


Is that why Sterling was starting as CF when Kelechi was fit.. anyway, good thing they want to sell him. Hopefully, he gets a manager that believes in him.

TheGoodJoe:


Is Sterling starting as a Center forward proof Iheanacho did not get a game?