THE profile of the Chelsea and Nigeria midfielder John Mikel Obi is rising everyday in the Premier League. 

In the official premier league ranking of players, the 23 year old is rated the ninth best player in the Premier League, while Dickson Etuhu is placed on 18th position.

Mikel has started all the league games for Chelsea this season and has contributed to Chelsea's 'stingy' defense. Only one goal conceded in four games.

For Chelsea, he may not be the most glamorous of players' neither the most prolific of goal scorers, Obi Mikel is not a footballing celebrity like most of his team mates. Nonetheless, he is second in the English Premier League’s passing calculators.

Mikel has completed 234 passes out of a total of 258 passes. Only 25 of his attempted passes have gone astray of their projected mark, something that the young midfielder duly deserves credit for.

http://thenationonlineng.net/web3/football-golf-boxing/12979.html

Nice. Good news at least

unbelievable

The guy has improved tremendously, most of our(naija) players in EPL are doing well, Nsofor was a threat when West Ham played Chelsea last week end

This is good news! He shud keep it up.

We are gradually getting back our glory, We need more naija players to do well in Europe.

In the ongoing Champions league, we have 7 naija players playing for their clubsides. It is a very good development.

he's rated 2nd because his passes are always back passes,

he's rated 2nd because his passes are always back passes,

@ObamaNigeria,
you are right. but what can u do about that? i think nothing.
it is not by might, success most times is by favour. it is obvious that God's hand is upon mikel hence even with back pass(according to u) he is still getting awards while ppl like u who can pass forward will remain how they are forever and ever.
it is obvious if u are the english fa, mikel will not be a footballer but ur ways are different from the ways of God and the most unfortunate thing here is that mikel does not need u in any way to survive.
if i were u, in the presence of all these frustrations, i will think of suicide.

orangemen:

@ObamaNigeria,
you are right. but what can u do about that? i think nothing.
it is not by might, success most times is by favour. it is obvious that God's hand is upon mikel hence even with back pass(according to u) he is still getting awards while ppl like u who can pass forward will remain how they are forever and ever.
it is obvious if u are the english fa, mikel will not be a footballer but your ways are different from the ways of God and the most unfortunate thing here is that mikel does not need u in any way to survive.
if i were u, in the presence of all these frustrations, i will think of suicide.

Never knew a post can be so true, spot-on and funny at the same time.

you all are mking me laugh. has mikel ever held the ball for more than 5 seconds. has he had up to 20 goal attempts since he joined chelsea? has he ever crossed the box 18 yard. laugh wan kill me die. this is an embarrasing award.

you all are mking me laugh. has mikel ever held the ball for more than 5 seconds. has he had up to 20 goal attempts since he joined chelsea? has he ever crossed the box 18 yard. laugh wan kill me die. this is an embarrasing award.

@luvhenry,
u are right brother. as long as you are writing from a mental rehablitation home, u are right. even in ur abnormalities, u still claim to know more than the english fa. who will even blame u. if u are yet untreated and u can still manage this kind of thinking, then nairalanders shld watch out for u after u must have recieved enough mental treatments.

his passes r not all back passes as many r led to think, mikel gives a number of very good long passes and his short passes serve the purpose of the team

lol and this orangeman wants them to give him his old name back when he has still not changed. mikel is still the same player with last season, just finished watching chelsea vs slovakian club and he is still playing the same thing just sidepass and back pass, one in a while he gives long pass

lol and this orangeman wants them to give him his old name back when he has still not changed. mikel is still the same player with last season, just finished watching chelsea vs slovakian club and he is still playing the same thing just sidepass and back pass, one in a while he gives long pass

@12monkies,
wether they give me that name back of not, i don't care. how much does it course to get a new id? ppl who eat good food and think corectly have spoken so what a poverty ridden brain thinks does not matter.
ur problem is mikel and siasia and unfortunately, God has made these guys to be beyond ur abilities.
commit suicide if u are not comfortable

idiot no change topic i like siasia, i like mikel, siasia has potential and uses it, mikel has potenial and don't ue it.

no change topic i like siasia, i like mikel, siasia has potential and uses it, mikel has potenial and don't ue it.

@13large,
what abt u? do u have potentials at all? do u love these two guys more than urself? are u a disabled man? why are u not coaching or playing football?
i will suggest u get a life.

luvhenry:

you all are mking me laugh. has mikel ever held the ball for more than 5 seconds. has he had up to 20 goal attempts since he joined chelsea? has he ever crossed the box 18 yard. laugh wan kill me die. this is an embarrasing award.

I don't know why we find it difficult to celebrate our own. If some other foreign player was voted the 2nd best 'passer of the ball' we'll be over the moon celebrating them. When he's a fellow Nigerian, some will remember that his great grand papa did not play for the Eagles!

There's been a bit of Mikel bashing going on, sometime ago, we were told that once Jose Murinho leaves Chelsea, Mikel will become history. What did we see? Mikel has become a regular under 4 other world class coaches! We were told once Micheal Essien is back from injury, nobody will remember Mikel exists, so far Mikel has 100% record for appearance this season despite Essien's comeback.

For the 5 seconds as my broda quoted above, modern football is built on teamwork and not individual brillance alone. Well knit teams prefer excellent ball passing to excellent individual ball dribblers. Ask yourself, why is Barcelona & Arsenal beauty to watch? They pass the ball so well in amazing manners.

Mikel is a holding Midfielder. We may wish that he's a creative/attacking midfielder like Okocha, but Chelsea has groomed him to be a holding midfielder and he's so damn well efficient at it! He understands his role in the game and executes it brillantly!

Whether we like it or not, he's the most successful active Nigerian footballer today(Kanu is in semi retirement), playing for a club in the top 10 in the world. How I wish our other footballers play like Mikel!

Let's give the young man his due! Mikel is a success story.

I don't know why we find it difficult to celebrate our own. If some other foreign player was voted the 2nd best 'passer of the ball' we'll be over the moon celebrating them. When he's a fellow Nigerian, some will remember that his great grand papa did not play for the Eagles!

There's been a bit of Mikel bashing going on, sometime ago, we were told that once Jose Murinho leaves Chelsea, Mikel will become history. What did we see? Mikel has become a regular under 4 other world class coaches! We were told once Micheal Essien is back from injury, nobody will remember Mikel exists, so far Mikel has 100% record for appearance this season despite Essien's comeback.

For the 5 seconds as my broda quoted above, modern football is built on teamwork and not individual brillance alone. Well knit teams prefer excellent ball passing to excellent individual ball dribblers. Ask yourself, why is Barcelona & Arsenal beauty to watch? They pass the ball so well in amazing manners.

Mikel is a holding Midfielder. We may wish that he's a creative/attacking midfielder like Okocha, but Chelsea has groomed him to be a holding midfielder and he's so damn well efficient at it! He understands his role in the game and executes it brillantly!

Whether we like it or not, he's the most successful active Nigerian footballer today(Kanu is in semi retirement), playing for a club in the top 10 in the world. How I wish our other footballers play like Mikel!

Let's give the young man his due! Mikel is a success story.

@primegold,
u forgot wat nairalanders were saying when chelsea was going for ramires?
there is a natural law on those who appreciate good things.
look into ur village and u will see those enemies of progress will never succeed.
i am happy that mikel has grown above a certain level at least what nigerians think of him now does not matter.
if u look at the way nairalanders see football, u will have a reason to say most of them are ignorant of what modern football is.
which other nigerian footballer can command a shirt in the present chelsea team? which other nigerian player is playing at the same level with mikel?
negative minds all over the place. even when mikel signed for chelsea, wow, HE IS FINISHED. OH, BECAUSE OF MONEY, CHAI, IN SUCH A STAR STUDDED CLUB. HMM WHY NOT MAN U?
to the glory of God, the young man has defiled all theories of bad belle ppl to finish his first contract and get a second improved one.
if a player does not score a goal and chelsea is paying him heavily, then with one goal, UNO will start paying him.
mikel(captain of the super eagles -to be) will continue to grow from strenght to strenght.

I know Mikel is very good, but i just want to beef him anyway Congrats Mikel, but tomorrow we shall beef you about not scoring

ObamaUS:

he's rated 2nd because his passes are always back passes,

Roflmao

@orangemen: You are really working here. These guys are d-u-m-?. I wonder why they think like this

na short passes,good work though!

orange,you are too much.
please let them know that football is football, it's either you've played it before or you are a good fan and most of the best fan around have always been a fan all their life.
almost all the MAN U fans we have in Nigeria have not kicked that round leather before hence their knowledge of the game is shallow, they think it's all about bribing a ref. remember it's only those that knows the worth of gold invest their money therein, na we know wetin we see when we say OBIMIKEL Na somebody.

NA GOD BLESS MIKEL> MIKEL If you can hear me , i think i love you just like a love myself. you , tuface, Jose Mourinhno and Pastor are like my very self to me. Na touch them.

its obvious this orange man of a guy is frustrated probably, he is jobless or has had a miserable life since he was born so no need talking with him

Mikel, Oh! It's culled from TheNation, I no no,

John Mikel Nchekwube Obi, you can love or hate him but you can never ignore him. Nigerians should love their own and support them to do more.

Mikel's performance this season has been near excellent. The arrival of Ramires and Benayoun and the return of Essien has not affected his playing time contrary to conventional wisdom. Here's a summary of his performance against West Brom and Wigan by my recollection.

Chelsea 6 West Brom Albion 0 - Saturday August 14, 2010
Mikel made major contributions towards the first 2 goals. For the first goal, Malouda scored off Mikel's rebounded shot. For the second goal, Mikel gave a through pass to Essien who was immediately brought down near the 18 yard box. Drogba scored from the resultant free kick.

Chelsea 6 Wigan Athletic 0 - Saturday August 21, 2010
Mikel provided the assist in the second goal for Chelsea. He sent a through pass to Anelka who fired past the Wigan goal keeper in the 3rd minute of the second half.

MAN U is going to snap him up very soon to pair with scholes

dat's my man, keep improving every day, i luv mikel die as i luv kalou,
All busy body and amebo make una go die, mikel go soon became no.1 in africa whether una lyk am or not

My 9ja boy

[size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt][size=8pt]But how many of those passes are back passes[/size][/size][/size][/size][/size]

beautiful pictures, but we want to see the one where he was rejoicing after scoring for his club. NONSENSE