With the emergence of Haruna Lukman form the shadows coinciding with the absence of john Obi Mikel from the Super Eagles, an interesting way to get some perspective on the issue of who Nigeria's best midfielder is would be to rate all four key midfielders we are likely to use in the next six years.



Name Position Raw Talent Level Current Impact Level Projected Impact level
Mikel D.M 75% 60% 80%
Haruna C.M 70% 40% 70%
Ibrahim A.M 80% 30% 80%
Azeez C.M 70% 70% 75%

where raw talent is pretty self explanatory, current impact level refers to the impact they have had on the current level of the national team that they play/ed at and projected impact refers to what each players optimized input to the team should be ceteris paribus.

Based on my talent chart which reads as:

Name Tackling Passing Awareness Scoring Dribbling
Mikel 50% 70% 80% 5% 50%
Haruna 55% 60% 50% 60% 60%
Ibrahim 30% 60% 40% 60% 70%
Azeez 50% 70% 70% 60% 40%


conclusion:
John Obi Mikel has progressed through the ranks for Nigeria, managing to play an important role in the national team set up at each level. Having been transformed from a fluid attacking midfielder to a solid defensive midfielder, many Nigerians have had doubts as to Mikel's quality which has not been aided by the fact that Mikel's coaches at national team level doggedly refuse to use him in his new and improved capacity. With his immaculate passing, excellent positioning and great strength, Mikel is the future of the Nigeria in defensive midfield. i suggest Nigerians accept that he is never gong to live up to the billing of the new Okocha. the more appropriate tag might be “the new Oliseh”.

Haruna Lukman has risen through the ranks in a similar fashion to Mikel, while drawing less attention perhaps because of the more noticeable talents of his colleague Rabiu Ibrahim. Haruna is a box to box midfielder with good passing skills, a good shot and a decent skills. Perhaps he is the natural replacement for Christian Obodo?

Widely hailed as the new Okocha(yet again) upon has arrival on the Nigerian football scene, Rabiu Ibrahim has since failed to rise to the occasion. Blessed with great skill and play making ability, Ibrahim has all the capacity to go on and make a name for himself. perhaps he is a bit over rated though? Not the new Okocha but maybe the new Oruma.

Ramon Azeez emerged as one of the outstanding talents of the u17 world cup recently held in Nigeria. The young man has great passing skills and a playing style akin to that of his senior compatriot john Obi Mikel, as well as being the possessor of a very hot shot. according to media reports, Azeez has already attracted interest from both Manchester city and Manchester united setting the stage for an uncanny repeat of the 2005 transfer war involving the Mikel, Manchester United and 'new money' boys Chelsea. the world is set before Azeez and nigerians will be hoping that Azeez lives up to his potential and plays his part in what could easily become Nigeria's most powerful midfield four of all time.


Mikel
Haruna Azeez
Ibrahim

for me i would personally go for

ibrahim
okoro
lukman
mikel
azeez

interesting, i omitted Okoro initially because he is more of a forward but a formation of

Mikel Haruna

Haruna Ibrahim
Okoro

would be very very potent.

yes he is more of a forward but he is still miles better than mikel. oboy khydavid we have talent ohh. our next generation is another golden one

quite true, there are even more talented players who are still a little bit under the radar such as Kayode Olarenwaju, that kid is good as well. just imagine having defenders like Apam, Chukwudi, Adeleye, Edet, Udoh, Omeruo and others, forwards like okoro,salami, anichebe, s. emmanuel, king osanga, thats why im not much bothered by the nonsensical players we have now. we just need to make sure that proper preparations are put in place and the eagles shall fly again

so what about you, who would you pick in those 5 midfilders

Sorry to bust una bubble. . .Mikel still stands heads and shoulders above all those other guys.

mama gee abeg shut up, what do you even know about football please stay with your boyfriend, one game does not make lukman a bad player, for me he is still better than mikel. semid4life you are a big slowpoke if you think mikel is nigeria best midfilder, a player that have no short on target or goal

Ahem, You guys forgot to add obiora nwankwo. I rate him higher than lukman haruna sef. Shey he's playing under mourinho? Wonder why the present coaches never noticed his talent.

kennymore obiora is good, but not as talented as the 5 mentioned above. obiora is in the class of emmanuel ekpo,christian obodo we are talking about midfilders that would make nigeria the best in africa and by the way obiora is not as good as lukman

12large:

mama gee abeg shut up, what do you even know about football please stay with your boyfriend, one game does not make lukman a bad player, for me he is still better than mikel. semid4life you are a big slowpoke if you think mikel is nigeria best midfilder, a player that have no short on target or goal

Not surprised at all by your vituperations cos you're just a frustrated low-life reject. Why not take a sip of the gutter water in front of your hood and cure yourself of this madness?

Clown wey nor fit spell midfielder and shot

Dundee United!!

mama-gee:

Haruna: he's simply the most unskilled footballer in Nigeria's history, wonder where the NFA got him from to participate in the World Cup. Dude can't

even kick a corner kick right, bagging up yellow cards and offences here and there.

Mikel: he's simply an average skilled player but thinks he's all that thinking Nigeria would lose without him plus his money is beginning to get into his head definitely a spolit brat.

Rabiu: I have never seen or heard of that name before but from the evidence of Nigeria's match on Friday, I can tell he's not terrific either.

Azeez: One of the unknown players in the Nigerian team but I'm guessing he isn't that terrific.

Mama Gee: annoying little girl

Abdulazeez Ajagun from our u-17 team is also good

he is good, but the others are better, again that depends on how he develops from here. guys Obiora Nwankwo is a defender isn't he? Siasia used him as a midfielder and he was good there but that was a temporary arrangement i think. whats the name of the other u20 DM? one hausa boy like that

mama-gee:

Haruna: he's simply the most unskilled footballer in Nigeria's history, wonder where the NFA got him from to participate in the World Cup. Dude can't

even kick a corner kick right, bagging up yellow cards and offences here and there.

Mikel: he's simply an average skilled player but thinks he's all that thinking Nigeria would lose without him plus his money is beginning to get into his head definitely a spolit brat.

Rabiu: I have never seen or heard of that name before but from the evidence of Nigeria's match on Friday, I can tell he's not terrific either.

Azeez: One of the unknown players in the Nigerian team but I'm guessing he isn't that terrific.

Go get your weave done or something. This ain't for you.

This is the team list for Egypt '09.
1 Oladele Ajiboye
2 Daniel Adejo
3 Nurudeen Orelesi
4 Obiora Nwankwo
5 Raheem Lawal
6 Ibok Edet
7 King Osanga
8 Odion Ighalo
9 Kehinde Fatai
10 Rabiu Ibrahim
11 Danny Uchechi
12 Uche Okafor
13 Yakubu Alfa
14 Omatsone Aluko
15 Oluwasina Abe
16 Stanley Ohawuchi
17 Gbolahan Salami
18 Mohammed Shagari
19 Harmony Ikande
20 Lukman Haruna
21 Oladejo Olateru

yakubu alfa is the one im looking for, how do you guys rate him? to me he is very similar to sani kaita but i also consider kaita to be a poor player so what do y'all think?

Kgdavid:

yakubu alfa is the one im looking for, how do you guys rate him? to me he is very similar to sani kaita but i also consider kaita to be a poor player so what do y'all think?

He hasn't cut it. He plays for Helsingborgs and considering his age (you know what I mean) may never get to play for SE

Mamagee is better ignored. Anybody that does know Rabiu or Azeez does not follow Nigerian football, and not fit to comment.

That said, I think Mikel is still ahead of these guys. In fact, it is comparison abuse to compare Rabiu and Azeez with Mikel. Mikel did better than them at their level.
Even if Mikel has not been able to replicate his under-20 performance at national/team level, we have not seen Azeez or Rabiu, not to talk of judging them. How can we be using Rabiu and Azeez's Under 17 or 20 performance to comapre Mikel's SE or Chelsea performance? Who says these boys will not do worse at such level?

As for Haruna, he is also in top club in Monaco, and also now in NT, so he is the only one that can at least be compared with Mikel. I agree he is more attacking minded, aggressive, tackles more and boots packed with more productive shots than Mikel, but I'm not yet convinced he's better than Mikel.

snakova:

He hasn't cut it. He plays for Helsingborgs and considering his age (you know what I mean) may never get to play for SE

lol. i rather surprised that adefemi didnt make it either, not olubayo adefemi the right back but olufemi adefemi or something like that. i thought he was a good player.

Jarus:

Mamagee is better ignored. Anybody that does know Rabiu or Azeez does not follow Nigerian football, and not fit to comment.

That said, I think Mikel is still ahead of these guys. In fact, it is comparison abuse to compare Rabiu and Azeez with Mikel. Mikel did better than them at their level.
Even if Mikel has not been able to replicate his under-20 performance at national/team level, we have not seen Azeez or Rabiu, not to talk of judging them. How can we be using Rabiu and Azeez's Under 17 or 20 performance to comapre Mikel's SE or Chelsea performance? Who says these boys will not do worse at such level?

As for Haruna, he is also in top club in Monaco, and also now in NT, so he is the only one that can at least be compared with Mikel. I agree he is more attacking minded, aggressive, tackles more and boots packed with more productive shots than Mikel, but I'm not yet convinced he's better than Mikel.

good points but i'm not really comparing them as such, its more of taking stock

@kgdavid,
u once told me that u wanted to be a footballer but ur father refused and forced u to continue with ur education.
i think at ur age, u are not capable of taking ur personal decissions so why taking other ppl's decissions?
why are u always talking about mikel?
why are u always comparing him to others? the guy is born to be far above u and ur generations.
can't u discuss anyother issue apart from mikel?
are u this destined to pull ppl down?
all the names u mentioned here are far better than u so let them be wether they are doing well or not.

chidichris:

@kgdavid,
u once told me that u wanted to be a footballer but your father refused and forced u to continue with your education.
i think at your age, u are not capable of taking your personal decissions so why taking other ppl's decissions?
why are u always talking about mikel?
why are u always comparing him to others? the guy is born to be far above u and your generations.
can't u discuss anyother issue apart from mikel?
are u this destined to pull ppl down?
all the names u mentioned here are far better than u so let them be wether they are doing well or not.

do you have to resort to personal attacks in defending your lord and savior mikel?

do you have to resort to personal attacks in defending your lord and savior mikel?

@bawomolo,
must u display ur frustrtaions and that of ur family in disciussing a guy that is not aware of ur existance? why is it that nothing constructive can be discussed here on nairaland outside comparing mikel to any living being?
we are we more interested in running ppl down here?
is it that ppl here are as useless as their thread topics or that they are as empty as their noise reflects?
visit other countries'forums and see what they do there and compare it with useless topics that are flooding in this forum.
most of u here have useless parents who sleep and wake up in the bars. most of u are this useless that ur parents will jump to any opportunity to exchange u even for a goat.
why do u come here with ur emptiness?
mikel is not a good player, he passes the ball backward and sideways, accepted but leave the boy alone, u will not leave him. at the end of this topic, we will see another idiot comparing mikel to oliver de coque or saddam hussien of iraq. just very silly topics flooding the whole forum.
if i may ask u mt speaker, do u know that mikel is the most popular person on this nairaland coursty of those who hate him.

chidichris:

@bawomolo,
must u display your frustrtaions and that of your family in disciussing a guy that is not aware of your existance? why is it that nothing constructive can be discussed here on nairaland outside comparing mikel to any living being?
we are we more interested in running ppl down here?
is it that ppl here are as useless as their thread topics or that they are as empty as their noise reflects?
visit other countries'forums and see what they do there and compare it with useless topics that are flooding in this forum.
most of u here have useless parents who sleep and wake up in the bars. most of u are this useless that your parents will jump to any opportunity to exchange u even for a goat.
why do u come here with your emptiness?
mikel is not a good player, he passes the ball backward and sideways, accepted but leave the boy alone, u will not leave him. at the end of this topic, we will see another comparing mikel to oliver de coque or saddam hussien of iraq. just very silly topics flooding the whole forum.
if i may ask u mt speaker, do u know that mikel is the most popular person on this nairaland coursty of those who hate him.

how does attacking one's parents contribute to this thread?

^ why bother with that fellow? he is best ignored. he's been reported to the proper authorities, let them do their job.

Funny enough, none of those midfielders except Mikel would have been able to control the midfield during our match against Argentina.

During the match, I kept lamenting. . . if only Mikel dey this game, e nor go be like this as im go hold the ball and relieve the pressure on our defence. (Haruna and Etuhu couldn't do it ). . . and sadly enough, the others on Kgdavid's list (R. Ibrahim and Ramon Azeez), wouldn't have done 'nada against Veron and Mascherano either. As for Okoro and Ekpo, those ones na error. . .I don't even rate them at all.

Now where is that slowpoke pretending to be a Naija footie afficionado, 12large?

a matured azeez might be good enough to have had an impact though, not necessarily as he is now, same thing for lukman.

Kgdavid:


Mama Gee: annoying little girl

Blood_Shed:

Go get your weave done or something. This ain't for you.

Jarus:

Mamagee is better ignored. Anybody that does know Rabiu or Azeez does not follow Nigerian football, and not fit to comment.

Damn!

Can you all stop acting like crybabies?

It's my opinion and I'm entitled to it. . .Every user' opinion vary.

You all need to grow up!

semid4life your officially a goat. if your mikel cannot hold the ball against 35 year old ahmed hassan, then what makes you think he would do it against messi. the guy mikel is useless. lukman played a poor game yesterday, but i forgive him because i know he does not play bad everytime. okoro is miles better than mikel

but okoro was playing against high school kids in the under-17 tournament. that's an unfair comparison