Ejiné: I think a committee should be set up to help look into why Mikel Obi is underrated by outsiders

phreakabit: Yorubas already derailing the thread. . . Stay in the mud filled puddle, I am cool being in the infinity pool, not going to join y'all this time. BTW nice one Frank Lampard. #Kudos!

phreakabit: Yorubas already derailing the thread. . . Stay in the mud filled puddle, I am cool being in the infinity pool, not going to join y'all this time. BTW nice one Frank Lampard. #Kudos!

ogaemma: The man who played that role b4 Mikel was inspiring, aggressive and a scorer. Then why is Mikel not scoring? Why is he holding unto the ball only? What his fans are saying is Mikel should start steping on the aggressive and scoring shoes of Makalele.

ebamma: what lampard is trying to tell is that mikel is over- rated by insiders and to add to that i will say that mikel is the only player in premier league i can bet money on that he will not score a goal this season.

KINGwax: central midfielder? At ywc? Is he not playin as an offensive midfielder? Shut up dude!

SimplySEA: Song keeps improving season after season. Our mikel? I jus don't kno! But i'm certain about one thing,"i can put my money on mikel not scorin a goal dis season". On d pitch, he looks pathetic!

SimplySEA: Song keeps improving season after season.

ebamma: what lampard is trying to tell is that mikel is over- rated by insiders and to add to that i will say that mikel is the only player in premier league i can bet money on that he will not score a goal this season.

dyabman: some people are just been silly and simple-minded , so if mikel had played his preferred role as a CMD ,are you telling me he would give chelsea what we needed by going forward in this EPL we all know ? because he came 2nd to lionel messi in the WYC does that mean if he played that role he will also flourish like messi hes doing now by winning numerous awards ? N.O NO, i don't think he has won any personal award at chelsea even new boy ramirez won players player of the year award..

Lampard was on rum

ogaemma: The man who played that role b4 Mikel was inspiring, aggressive and a scorer. Then why is Mikel not scoring? Why is he holding unto the ball only? What his fans are saying is Mikel should start steping on the aggressive and scoring shoes of Makalele.

ogahope: Mikel-Mikel... I know dt ManU fans will always talk ill of him cos he shun dem. Mikel 4me is one of d greatest players Nigeria has produce ova d yrs. Apart 4rm Kanu and his Nig teamat in Ajax tell me anoda CL hero. Is mikel of course. If u nigerians dnt value him, he is much relevant nd integral part of Chelsea nd Super Eagle. Lampard is sayin d truth.

MacLovington: Fact is the world loves very expressive, explosive players (no matter the position they play in) like Yaya Toure, Messi, Vieira, Okocha because they give us that entertainment and special moments that lead to goals. These stick in our memories.

We seem to appreciate less the solid, confident and assured performance of DMFs but that's usually where games are won and lost. People praise Rooney when he scores 1 goal even if he barely touched the ball for 30 minutes but only few mention Carrick who slaves away throughout the game.

phreakabit:

Read the emboldened and then go take a shower, turn of the lights, ponder about your life for a while and go to bed ashamed. You clearly know little or nothing about football.

didadavid: Most of the people commenting here know very little about football.

When Makele left Real Madrid, the club's president said, "Makelele isn't really a fantastic player, he doesn't score goals, he makes only sideways and back passes, he will never be missed". When he left Madrid suffered for about 7 years before the advent of Mourinho. Zidane and McManaman who were Makelele's team mates rebuked the president statement. Zidane said "Claude is Madrid's best player, he is underrated, without him we will concede many goals and lose possession to our opponent in most of our matches". When Makelele landed at Chelsea he got a regular shirt, was an important part of the team and scored only two goals(Mikel has scored two goals) in 6 seasons. When Mikel arrived at Chelsea, Mourinho called him the future Makelele.

go to wikipedia and read about makelele, thats where I got my analysis from.

Mikel since arrival has been an important part of the team. When Ballack and Deco where around he started many matches leaving Essien on the bench

Meireles sits on the bench to watch mikel play

When Mikel is playing, chelsea have higher possession of the ball.

When everyone is gone to search for goals, he stays at the back to protect any counter.

Playing in the defensive midfield, the player might not make any tackle but his presence at that position disorganises the opponent from launching attack, they just take the ball back. Just standing in the defensive midfield jugging around is a lot of work even without making any tackle

Mikel is not timid, he plays with confidence, you think he does because you expect too much of him, and if he cant meet up to your expectation you think he his scared. He is not staying back because he's scared but because he knows thats the best way to play his football.

On many occasion, chelsea conceded goals, lost matches and possession after Mikel has been subtituted

If Mikel is not good he wont be receiving 110k pound sterling(owo iya charlie) per week, thats about 30 million nigerian naira compared to Song's 50k weekly. He should have been sold. He shouldn't make the first team. He should be on the bench 90 percent of the time. He wouldn't have played the semi final matches against Barcelona and the final in Munich. We should be reading his coach's complaint of him in the newspaper and the internet.

The last time I checked the Chelsea website, I saw Chelsea standard formation on the home page, only eleven players where there, guess what, Mikel is there.

Chelsea is one of biggest and best clubs under the milky-way, and our man has made it to the first team, and you say he's not good. Go have a re-think.

Akposkool: .this speaks volume of hw stupid you really are.mikel benched essien throughout last season.the only wonders essien did was commiting needless penalties n scoring own goals,while mikel was busy keeping top stars like messi and robben at bay.go check ur facts.

playboy19:

@Bolded, you see what sunday tribune has done to your sport knowledge? Mikel shunned Man U? Very funny. And FYI, Man U signed Mikel for 4m pounds from Lyn Oslo and before the beginning of the season sold him to Chelsea for 12m pounds. That's cool 8m pounds profit within few weeks. You should commend that.

kobikwelu: FIRST THINGS FIRST!!! WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A TRUSTED SOURCE....ANYBODY CAN GO AND EDIT WIKIPEDIA.....

Secondly....Nigerians and their mediocrity...
Mikel is the anchor in midfield...he balances the game for the chelseans and though most of the haters might not see it......only sharp and tactic minds will understand his value..

All i see are people (mostly Nigerians in this thread)that complain and expect him to play okocha's role...NEWS FLASH!!! the attacking midfielder's role is a dying role.Most coaches expect a structured team formation and i think mikel is playing that role perfectly...personally speaking, if mikel was allowed to play the "okocha's" role..by now he would be playing in INDIA!!...that role is a dying role...

Another thing..if you "nairaland world class experts" know more, why hasnt mikel be shipped off if he is not valuable....the professionals who are paid millions and do this for a living (and also earned their coaching badges with years experience) know his value..instead all we have here are semi-literates who can barely compose a meaningful sentence come and criticise mikel for his playing style which has obviously given him an illustrous career already..

the so-called okocha.....when he was at the pinnacle of his career, what was the best club that he ever played in??
i vividly remember when okocha would dribble the ball past every body and do all the "sliky and sexy moves in the pitch" what would be the result?? missed opportunities and wasted efforts..i remember everybody always complaining about his aimless style of football.


ladies and gents....football has a purpose..and mikel is playing purposeful football..even the messi "wey una dey use compare" he always has a plan...

kobikwelu: FIRST THINGS FIRST!!! WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A TRUSTED SOURCE....ANYBODY CAN GO AND EDIT WIKIPEDIA.....

Secondly....Nigerians and their mediocrity...
Mikel is the anchor in midfield...he balances the game for the chelseans and though most of the haters might not see it......only sharp and tactic minds will understand his value..

All i see are people (mostly Nigerians in this thread)that complain and expect him to play okocha's role...NEWS FLASH!!! the attacking midfielder's role is a dying role.Most coaches expect a structured team formation and i think mikel is playing that role perfectly...personally speaking, if mikel was allowed to play the "okocha's" role..by now he would be playing in INDIA!!...that role is a dying role...

Another thing..if you "nairaland world class experts" know more, why hasnt mikel be shipped off if he is not valuable....the professionals who are paid millions and do this for a living (and also earned their coaching badges with years experience) know his value..instead all we have here are semi-literates who can barely compose a meaningful sentence come and criticise mikel for his playing style which has obviously given him an illustrous career already..

the so-called okocha.....when he was at the pinnacle of his career, what was the best club that he ever played in??
i vividly remember when okocha would dribble the ball past every body and do all the "sliky and sexy moves in the pitch" what would be the result?? missed opportunities and wasted efforts..i remember everybody always complaining about his aimless style of football.


ladies and gents....football has a purpose..and mikel is playing purposeful football..even the messi "wey una dey use compare" he always has a plan...

God BLESS you for giving us those old memories of the GREAT mikel back in 2005 . That Mikel was light years ahead of this Mikel , He played elegantly back then and could shuttle between the center midfield and defensive midfield role until the defensive control freak called Mourinho brought him to Chelsea and destroyed his Career . Had Mikel signed for a team that encourages creative football like Bayern , Barcelona , AC Milan or even Arsenal he would have been THE BEST at the CMF / DMF role he plays . Take a look at how A.song has improved under Wenger .

kobikwelu: FIRST THINGS FIRST!!! WIKIPEDIA IS NOT A TRUSTED SOURCE....ANYBODY CAN GO AND EDIT WIKIPEDIA.....

Secondly....Nigerians and their mediocrity...
Mikel is the anchor in midfield...he balances the game for the chelseans and though most of the haters might not see it......only sharp and tactic minds will understand his value..

All i see are people (mostly Nigerians in this thread)that complain and expect him to play okocha's role...NEWS FLASH!!! the attacking midfielder's role is a dying role.Most coaches expect a structured team formation and i think mikel is playing that role perfectly...personally speaking, if mikel was allowed to play the "okocha's" role..by now he would be playing in INDIA!!...(and dont come and start telling me about oezil...oezil is not a 10.....he plays the 8 role-in the real madrid's 4-2-3-1)

Another thing..if you "nairaland world class experts" know more, why hasnt mikel been shipped off if he is not valuable....the professionals who are paid millions and do this for a living (and also earned their coaching badges with years experience) know his value..instead all we have here are semi-literates who can barely compose meaningful sentences come and criticise mikel for his playing style which has obviously given him an illustrous career already..

the so-called okocha.....when he was at the pinnacle of his career, what was the best club that he ever played in??if he was the 2nd comming of van basten, why didnt real madrid, barcelona, chelsea or even bayern munich snatch him up?? instead he ended up in PSG
i vividly remember when okocha would dribble the ball past every body and do all the "sliky and sexy moves in the pitch" what would be the result?? missed opportunities and wasted efforts..

ladies and gents....football has a purpose..and mikel is playing purposeful football..

rui costa,okocha, ballack..were the last generation of super 10's.....if you guys are hoping that mikel would run all over the pitch and start doing Nigerian style rigmarolling aka "eeeeeeeyyy eyyyyyyyyy eeeeyyyyyyy" on the pitch forget it...

omar22:

Andreas Pirlo was a supporting Striker but Carlo Ancelotti turned into a deep lying playmaker.