He did feature in the UCL in his first season with Leicester. Have you forgotten so soon?

And I already told you I won't allow stats alone dictate this discussion. You have eyes and clearly didn't watch Mikel as DM so you shouldn't be having this convo.

Less fancied teams? So Valencia, Sevilla, Barca and Bayern are less fancied teams?? Your Ndidi bias has clearly made you amnesiac.

Look, your case for Ndidi is not cogent enough to hold against the class act that Mikel was both as a DM and a CM. So rest it.

A DM not highly comfortable with the ball at his feet and can't dictate the flow of a game but is defensively solid vs A DM who is highly comfortable with the ball at his feet, can dictate the flow of a game and is also defensively solid.

The better option is clear. Finito.


Meanwhile..... you are still dodging the so called Important tackle you say Ndidi makes.

What say you about the one he made vs Algeria so carelessly which led to our ouster?

What say you about the cluelessness of a midfield led by Ndidi at the last Afcon vs Tunisia? Please answer.

Meliforme:


Ndidi at the EPL is yet to feature in any UCL. Let us compare their EPL stats. UCL might feature clubs from less fancied leagues.

Subzero047:


What is the correlation with what I just said

There is correlation. Just list 5 DMs in EPL with an excellent passing technique.

Have said this before and will repeat it again, it’s high time the new super eagles coaching crew look for centre backs to replace the trio of balogun,awaziem and ekong in the national team

Omeruo can be managed as a sub and our starting cb pair should be ajayi and bassey. Also akpoguma needs to be recalled while the football should try to reach out to torunarigha, uduokhai and adarabioyo to see if atleast two will accept to switch to us

Also osaze who just signed for oostende from Celtic and sochaux’s ozonwafor should be monitored

Obviously the season he won it under Ancelotti is one you can easily reference. The 2009/10 season. There is also 2008/09, 2010/11. I am sure history will show you one more.

And again, I say stats won't show everything. Stats are numbers and those numbers became amplified and emphasized overtime. The way stats are emphasised now is not the way it was emphasised in the Pre-2010s, 2000s and even in the 90s.

Now, we even give more hypes to defensive actions compared to back then.

Now, how about you show me Ndidi's best/Vintage game as a DM as compared to Mikel's vs Bayern in the 2012 UCL Final. Just one game.

Meliforme:


Show me Mikel's best season as a DM in the EPL.

mostob:
looks like all these jumps are camera aided because this is kinda unreal...

Camera angle and focus

TheSuperNerd:
He did feature in the UCL in his first season with Leicester. Have you forgotten so soon?

And I already told you I won't allow stats alone dictate this discussion. You have eyes and clearly didn't watch Mikel as DM so you shouldn't be having this convo.

Less fancied teams? So Valencia, Sevilla, Barca and Bayern are less fancied teams?? Your Ndidi bias has clearly made you amnesiac.

Look, your case for Ndidi is not cogent enough to hold against the class act that Mikel was both as a DM and a CM. So rest it.

A DM not highly comfortable with the ball at his feet and can't dictate the flow of a game but is defensively solid vs A DM who is highly comfortable with the ball at his feet, can dictate the flow of a game and is also defensively solid.

The better option is clear. Finito.


Meanwhile..... you are still dodging the so called Important tackle you say Ndidi makes.

What say you about the one he made vs Algeria so carelessly which led to our ouster?

What say you about the cluelessness of a midfield led by Ndidi at the last Afcon vs Tunisia? Please answer.

Bring up Mikel's best stats as a DM in the EPL.
There is a reason why i am avoiding the rest of the things you are saying. I want us to remain on the main course which is: who is better as a DM between Ndidi and Mikel.

Oga, cease repeating yourself like a robot and give me one game Ndidi's DM showing trumped the DM masterclass dropped in a UCL Final for 120mins vs Bayern by Mikel.

I have given you a few EPL seasons Mikel excelled in which you can always research yourself and still added that your reference to stats is a cheap plot to dodge the truth. Eyetest Supercedes stats. Stats are only a part of my argument while it is the entirety of yours.

Let me spell it out to you more...
NDIDI REMAINS INFERIOR TO MIKEL AS A MIDFIELDER BE IT AS A DM OR CM. Hard facts.

I cannot believe I would meet anyone else who sees sense in the nonsensical comments of Oliseh comparing Ndidi and Mikel as DMs.

Mikel as a DM started several Major finals and won. Played full EPL seasons under different managers and even emerged League Champion as a key part of a Chelsea side coached by arguably the most successful coach in Europe across the top 5 leagues and in an era (2009/10) where stats emphasis on defensive actions weren't even so strong and pronounced as they are today.

Ndidi has been at Leicester since 2017 and somehow we don't know if he would ever make the jump to an Elite side. His ball playing still remains an issue and since he hit an improved mark in 20/21, he hasn't shown he can surpass that even in the NT.


Rest!

Meliforme:


Bring up Mikel's best stats as a DM in the EPL.
There is a reason why i am avoiding the rest of the things you are saying. I want us to remain on the main course which is: who is better as a DM between Ndidi and Mikel.

Also, please address this comment of yours

"Ndidi makes important tackles..."

If you have been watching the Super Eagles since 2016, game for game and without bias, you would notice how sometimes, Ndidi loses it and gives away very unnecessary tackles close to the box. One of such struck again at the Afcon in 2019.
Yes that one... vs Algeria. The one Mahrez buried us from.

Please point out any such tackle Mikel made that led to such nonsense. Rather I remember the last ditch tackle Mikel made vs CIV in 2013 deep into the added mins of regulation time that prevented an Ivorian equaliser. Mikel timed it perfectly and won the ball off Lacina Traore I believe.

Both were moments of high pressure. Ndidi flunked it. Mikel owned it.

Big difference. These are some of the things stats won't show you. So Meli.... Drop it. Ndidi has a long way to go to reaching the Combined level of defensive smoothness and Ballplaying calm Mikel exuded in the DM role at Chelsea which he also brought to bear in a deeper role for Nigeria at 2013 Afcon and in several other games even.

Meliforme:


Bring up Mikel's best stats as a DM in the EPL.
There is a reason why i am avoiding the rest of the things you are saying. I want us to remain on the main course which is: who is better as a DM between Ndidi and Mikel.

Okoye nyash don open for Watford

Mikel and ndidi shldnt even b compared at all in any position... Mikel played in a top club under different managers and dey all find him useful ,and difficult to bench him while ndidi is yet to even get noticed by a top club,all na soso rumor

Shey na trophies wise..dey re not mate(club and international wise)

TheSuperNerd:
Oga, cease repeating yourself like a robot and give me one game Ndidi's DM showing trumped the DM masterclass dropped in a UCL Final for 120mins vs Bayern by Mikel.

I have given you a few EPL seasons Mikel excelled in which you can always research yourself and still added that your reference to stats is a cheap plot to dodge the truth. Eyetest Supercedes stats. Stats are only a part of my argument while it is the entirety of yours.

Let me spell it out to you more...
NDIDI REMAINS INFERIOR TO MIKEL AS A MIDFIELDER BE IT AS A DM OR CM. Hard facts.

I cannot believe I would meet anyone else who sees sense in the nonsensical comments of Oliseh comparing Ndidi and Mikel as DMs.

Mikel as a DM started several Major finals and won. Played full EPL seasons under different managers and even emerged League Champion as a key part of a Chelsea side coached by arguably the most successful coach in Europe across the top 5 leagues and in an era (2009/10) where stats emphasis on defensive actions weren't even so strong and pronounced as they are today.

Ndidi has been at Leicester since 2017 and somehow we don't know if he would ever make the jump to an Elite side. His ball playing still remains an issue and since he hit an improved mark in 20/21, he hasn't shown he can surpass that even in the NT.


Rest!

Why do you always refer to the UCL, while the EPL is a more level ground for comparison?

It is a more level ground because they get to play the same number of games and against the same quality of opposition.

Why always point to that particular game against Bayern? You keep referring to that game as though that is the only game Mikel has played.

Bring up Mikel's best stats in the EPL as a DM. Eye test is subjective, while stats are objective.

The same Mikel who was back then seen as the end of all chances of equalising by opponents.

Almost everyone who saw Mourinho or any other manager bringing him on had a saying....

"It is all over. Mourinho is closing up shop..."


Here below is one of Chelsea's biggest fan accounts on Twitter testifying to the Mikel of that era as a DM. The same one Oliseh wants us to forget was brilliant as a DM.

Same tweet was corroborated by Ben Jacobs, one of the experts on Chelsea transfers and a Journo at CBS sports.

The tweet is dated June 5, 2022.


P.S:
Mind you, Mikel only came off the bench 66 times in his EPL career while starting 183 games. So he was no bench warmer too.

elyte89:
Mikel and ndidi shldnt even b compared at all in any position... Mikel played in a top club under different managers and dey all find him useful ,and difficult to bench him while ndidi is yet to even get noticed by a top club,all na soso rumor

Shey na trophies wise..dey re not mate(club and international wise)

Ermm.... You're not following the argument.
There are lots of criteria to consider when you want to compare 2 players. As a DM, Ndidi is better than Mikel in some aspects while Mikel is better in another aspects too. That's what Meliforme is trying to pass across.
But overall o, Mikel is miles ahead.

Odunayaw:
Camera angle and focus

Ok...I get it now

I just take it that you cannot show or bring up one vintage game of Ndidi as DM vs Mikel's Vintage DM showing vs Bayern. I was even hoping you bring up Ndidi's 2021 FA Cup Final DM showing vs Chelsea but even that won't meet up to the Bayern game. Another of Mikel's FA Cup Final DM showings also trumps that one of Ndidi so I can understand your reluctance.


Stats are also subjective when it's not holistic and when the focus alone is on defensive actions in an era where it is more pronounced and emphasised than it was back in pre-2010s and one of Mikel's top EPL seasons was in 2008/09 where he featured in a whooping 34 league games starting 33 games. He had quite a top campaign that year.

So it is only fair Eye test and stats must go together. And when used together, Mikel is the obvious choice of superior quality over Ndidi.

Never you dare place Ndidi in the same sentence as Mikel again. Never.

Meliforme:


Why do you always refer to the UCL, while the EPL is a more level ground for comparison?

It is a more level ground because they get to play the same number of games and against the same quality of opposition.

Why always point to that particular game against Bayern? You keep referring to that game as though that is the only game Mikel has played.

Bring up Mikel's best stats in the EPL as a DM. Eye test is subjective, while stats are objective.

TheSuperNerd:
The same Mikel who was back then seen as the end of all chances of equalising by opponents.

Almost everyone who saw Mourinho or any other manager bringing him on had a saying....

"It is all over. Mourinho is closing up shop..."


Here below is one of Chelsea's biggest fan accounts on Twitter testifying to the Mikel of that era as a DM. The same one Oliseh wants us to forget was brilliant as a DM.

Same tweet was corroborated by Ben Jacobs, one of the experts on Chelsea transfers and a Journo at CBS sports.

The tweet is dated June 5, 2022.


P.S:
Mind you, Mikel only came off the bench 66 times in his EPL career while starting 183 games. So he was no bench warmer too.

Another one below who remembers vividly....
How the current generation of football fans forget so easily is so astonishingly disgusting.


They go about shouting stats, stats, stats when football has long been judged with what we can all clearly see before the advent of stats and numbers.

It is stats that will also make fans of today say Frank Lampard or KDB was a better AM than Zinedine Zidane all because either of them scored more goals than Zidane.

Or some would even dare say Lewandowski & Luis Suarez are better no 9s than Ronaldo De Lima. Why?? Stats!!! Stats!!! Stats!!! Just rubbish! I am still under 30 and should also fall into this "Check the stats only" generation but fortunately for Me, I had a different football tutoring from a young age that mixed eye test and stats beautifully. Thanks Goodness for that!

TheSuperNerd:
The same Mikel who was back then seen as the end of all chances of equalising by opponents.

Almost everyone who saw Mourinho or any other manager bringing him on had a saying....

"It is all over. Mourinho is closing up shop..."


Here below is one of Chelsea's biggest fan accounts on Twitter testifying to the Mikel of that era as a DM. The same one Oliseh wants us to forget was brilliant as a DM.

Same tweet was corroborated by Ben Jacobs, one of the experts on Chelsea transfers and a Journo at CBS sports.

The tweet is dated June 5, 2022.


P.S:
Mind you, Mikel only came off the bench 66 times in his EPL career while starting 183 games. So he was no bench warmer too.

All these talk of Ndidi not making the leap to an elite club. Mikel not being a bench warmer at Chelsea are just hilarious. I have really had a good time laughing this night.

I think i am calling it quit on this discussion, because it is not getting us anywhere.

Meliforme:


All these talk of Ndidi not making the leap to an elite club. Mikel not being a bench warmer at Chelsea are just hilarious. I have really had a good time laughing this night.

I think i am calling it quit on this discussion, because it is not getting us anywhere.

Mikel started 183 EPL games for Chelsea and came off the bench 66 times. He also sat on the bench in the EPL 42 times without being subbed in. How does that translate to him being a bench warmer? Lol

In the FA Cup for Chelsea, he started 29 games, subbed in 3 times and benched without coming in only 5 times.

I am the one having a good laugh. A good laugh at you laughing at your own ridiculousness.

And ofcos... you could not give me one Vintage game of Ndidi as a DM trumping Mikel's 120mins vs Bayern also as a DM... so naturally, your inability to do so kills any further headway in the discussion.

Ndidi and Mikel in the same sentence is absolutely insane.... it's just like putting Ndidi and Mascherano in the same sentence all because Ndidi has more goals than him as a DM. I don laugh tire.



P.S: And yes please... I have written some of the finest pieces in defence of Ndidi in the current generation but it is also becoming clear that Ndidi's ball playing deficiencies are indeed an issue. Something elite clubs take very seriously. So "all this talk of Ndidi" to an elite club is valid indeed. It is a thing of concern.



I pause, laughingly.

I know most of us (including myself) don't like the move but reporting on him is still a must so.... yeah.


Chidozie Awaziem in his first training session for New side, HNK Hadjuk Split.




NB: The Club Photographers took over 20 photos of Awaziem in training alone. The entire photo gallery of the club's training session today (Monday) was predominantly filled with Awaziem. Omo... I guess they are already in love with him.

But I will just select 4 and drop here.

TheSuperNerd:


Mikel started 183 EPL games for Chelsea and came off the bench 66 times. He also sat on the bench in the EPL 42 times without being subbed in. How does that translate to him being a bench warmer? Lol

In the FA Cup for Chelsea, he started 29 games, subbed in 3 times and benched without coming in only 5 times.

I am the one having a good laugh. A good laugh at you laughing at your own ridiculousness.

And ofcos... you could not give me one Vintage game of Ndidi as a DM trumping Mikel's 120mins vs Bayern also as a DM... so naturally, your inability to do so kills any further headway in the discussion.

Ndidi and Mikel in the same sentence is absolutely insane.... it's just like putting Ndidi and Mascherano in the same sentence all because Ndidi has more goals than him as a DM. I don laugh tire.



P.S: And yes please... I have written some of the finest pieces in defence of Ndidi in the current generation but it is also becoming clear that Ndidi's ball playing deficiencies are indeed an issue. Something elite clubs take very seriously. So "all this talk of Ndidi" to an elite club is valid indeed. It is a thing of concern.



I pause, laughingly.

Oliseh only played like 15 games for juventus in one season and japa and he has the nerve to criticize mikel

TheSuperNerd:
He did feature in the UCL in his first season with Leicester. Have you forgotten so soon?

And I already told you I won't allow stats alone dictate this discussion. You have eyes and clearly didn't watch Mikel as DM so you shouldn't be having this convo.

Less fancied teams? So Valencia, Sevilla, Barca and Bayern are less fancied teams?? Your Ndidi bias has clearly made you amnesiac.

Look, your case for Ndidi is not cogent enough to hold against the class act that Mikel was both as a DM and a CM. So rest it.

A DM not highly comfortable with the ball at his feet and can't dictate the flow of a game but is defensively solid vs A DM who is highly comfortable with the ball at his feet, can dictate the flow of a game and is also defensively solid.

The better option is clear. Finito.


Meanwhile..... you are still dodging the so called Important tackle you say Ndidi makes.

What say you about the one he made vs Algeria so carelessly which led to our ouster?

What say you about the cluelessness of a midfield led by Ndidi at the last Afcon vs Tunisia? Please answer.

He is really bias

zuchyblink:
Okoye nyash don open for Watford

Rest and leave okoye alone

Danielnino00:
Our centre back pairing option isn't looking so good at the moment.. Ekong, Omeruo and Ajayi are in the second division with Ekong being a bench warmer... Awazeim has gone to Croatia and Balogun is yet to get a new club...

Perhaps it's now really necessary to bring back Akpogunma and try and get Tosin Adarabioyo into the team...

Awaziem don go Croatia ?

Omo this guy career sha

It’s well

Truidstar:

My brother….All this hype una no dey help Dennis. The brutal truth is he is not good enough.

Not good enough in what aspect ?

TheSuperNerd:
He did feature in the UCL in his first season with Leicester. Have you forgotten so soon?

And I already told you I won't allow stats alone dictate this discussion. You have eyes and clearly didn't watch Mikel as DM so you shouldn't be having this convo.

Less fancied teams? So Valencia, Sevilla, Barca and Bayern are less fancied teams?? Your Ndidi bias has clearly made you amnesiac.

Look, your case for Ndidi is not cogent enough to hold against the class act that Mikel was both as a DM and a CM. So rest it.

A DM not highly comfortable with the ball at his feet and can't dictate the flow of a game but is defensively solid vs A DM who is highly comfortable with the ball at his feet, can dictate the flow of a game and is also defensively solid.

The better option is clear. Finito.


Meanwhile..... you are still dodging the so called Important tackle you say Ndidi makes.

What say you about the one he made vs Algeria so carelessly which led to our ouster?

What say you about the cluelessness of a midfield led by Ndidi at the last Afcon vs Tunisia? Please answer.

Mikel vs Spain 2013 was masterclass!

TheLoneCitizen:


Haaland is a good one metre taller.

Unfortunately, all his height and jumping is a waste though. because he's poor at heading the ball.

GIFxel:


Mikel vs Spain 2013 was masterclass!

DT game says it all...Mikel is what we wish ndidi would be

mostob:
There is correlation. Just list 5 DMs in EPL with an excellent passing technique.

I didn't say Ndidi should have excellent passing technique

mostob:
looks like all these jumps are camera aided because this is kinda unreal...

But you no talk the same thing for Osimhen.

Truidstar:

My brother….All this hype una no dey help Dennis. The brutal truth is he is not good enough.

'Was a joke. But this is no hype. I never liked or rated the lad before August last year.

timay1:


Unfortunately, all his height and jumping is a waste though. because he's poor at heading the ball.

You can't have this kind of leap and be poor at heading.

From the little I've seen of him, he just avoids it.

Against Liverpool, Haaland had an opportunity where he should have headed a great cross but he instead went for his leg.

13th sec of the video below.
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=Haaland%20video&src=typed_query&f=top

Some footballers are aware of the dangers of heading, so they limit it except when necessary. Especially since he has a football father.

Dessers and Iwobi are two of such players who I watch alot.

TheLoneCitizen:


You can't have this kind of leap and be poor at heading.

From the little I've seen of him, he just avoids it.

Against Liverpool, Haaland had an opportunity where he should have headed a great cross but he instead went for his leg.

13th sec of the video below.
https://mobile.twitter.com/search?q=Haaland%20video&src=typed_query&f=top

Some footballers are aware of the dangers of heading, so they limit it except when necessary. Especially since he has a football father.

Dessers and Iwobi are two of such players who I watch alot.

You're just making excuse for him at this point.