shymexx:
However, Mikel doesn't have the composure, tactical awareness, and technical abilities that Makelele had. With Makelele, the team's defense and attack started with him - he was like a general on the football field. Everything started with him.

fortunately, he does.....he's the most positionally-disciplined player in chelsea. he doesn't score because he rarely leaves his position to shield his centre-halves. nigerians say all he does is sideways/backward passing but that's his primary role: to keep possession. as a manager, i will rather have a backward pass than a forward pass that is intercepted!

Yeah, Mikel does break the opponent's attack from time to time, but that's about it. He's not really comfortable on the ball and despite playing for Chelsea for more than 8 years now, he's yet to exert his authority on that Chelsea team. This isn't even about lack of goals - Mikel lacks what made most of the great defensive midfielders who have played the round leather game great.

mikel does better than that - if he's an englishman, he would be hyped to the high heavens. he is criminally underrated by premier league fans but he does what makelele did back in the days. break the attack, play a short pass and keep the possession within his teammates.


makelele never attempted a pass more than 10 yards, he never dribbled past anyone. he scored a total of 2 goals in 5 seasons for chelsea and he's a legend. how is makelele different from mikel? you gotta admit the way we watch football or analyse players have changed. mikel is a very good player but trust the british media to heap criticism on him whenever chelsea lose a game....it's easier to find a scapegoat in mikel than their golden boy, frank lampard!!!

To me he is just over celebrated,because sentiment has blinded us in dis country.a player that came 2nd after Messi in 2005,now its impossible 2 compare them,he was in a top flight club b4 Yaya,Tiote,n Song,now can we compare them? Whch club has bid 4 him after Chelsea made d mistake? Even Babayaro,Olofijana n co,scored, won matches,n man of matches for their clubs,has Mikel ever don dat? I think his peak was 2005.I knw som certain people from a certain part of Nigeria will attack me,m ready wit facts.

Talking about Makelele's role in Chelsea: the reason RM's president said so about him was due to racial difference. RM is a racist club. Ask yourself, how many black players have played in RM so far.
1st it was Seerdorf. Seerdorf was on fire in RM, but he was relegated to the background. Next is Samuel Eto who wasn't given enough play time becaused of the Spanish players. And the last was Makelele. Its a trend.

Mikel has not played the best of football in Chelsea. I believe he could have been far better than where he is.

justsayemma: To me he is just over celebrated,because sentiment has blinded us in dis country.a player that came 2nd after Messi in 2005,now its impossible 2 compare them,he was in a top flight club b4 Yaya,Tiote,n Song,now can we compare them? Whch club has bid 4 him after Chelsea made d mistake? Even Babayaro,Olofijana n co,scored, won matches,n man of matches for their clubs,has Mikel ever don dat? I think his peak was 2005.I knw som certain people from a certain part of Nigeria will attack me,m ready wit facts.

he came second after messi bla bla bla!we heard enough of that abeg.Yes, Mikel can be compared with Song judging by there current forms.

shymexx:

*face-palm*

When did Ortega start playing football and when did Maradona retire?

You sir, should never be allowed to post on a football thread again!

lol

I know that Makelele played to the best of his knowledge and comparing his skills to Mikel is a disservice to Mikel; he's far more intelligent and skilful. The tempo of play in Mikel time is far more faster compared to Mikelele's.

Nevertheless, Mikel footballing skills can fit into any team. His present alignment is about his future endeavours.

Mikel age (26yrs) is fast diminishing - at 34yrs footballers value is always at the lowest.

This is the best time for him to get better disposable income so that his savings for the latter rain will be justified after his retirement.

Presently, he pays too much taxes on what he takes home in England. In Turkey, he pays close to nothing from his weekly pay.

It appears to me that this guy is very smart and knows what he's doing.

It's not about big club; it's about his finances

Ikenna94: @shymexx shut up, without people like ortega in midfield do tink maradona's goals and runs would ve counted? Besides mikel is beta dan makalele

Blasphemy to football! Are you sure you watched Makelele? I doubt if you did.

striker9: he came second after messi bla bla bla!we heard enough of that abeg.Yes, Mikel can be compared with Song judging by there current forms.

Kip deceiving urslf,Barca bot Song 4 20million, which club is currently bidding 4 Mikel,n @ wat price?

coogar:
fortunately, he does.....he's the most positionally-disciplined player in chelsea. he doesn't score because he rarely leaves his position to shield his centre-halves. nigerians say all he does is sideways/backward padding but that's his primary role: to keep possession. as a manager, i will rather have a backward pass than a forward pass that is intercepted!

mikel does better than that - if he's an englishman, he would be hyped to the high heavens. he is criminally underrated by premier league fans but he does what makelele did back in the days. break the attack, play a short pass and keep the possession within his teammates.

makelele never attempted a pass more than 10 yards, he never dribbled past anyone. he scored a total of 2 goals in 5 seasons for chelsea and he's a legend. how is makelele different from mikel? you gotta admit the way we watch football or analyse players have changed. mikel is a very good player but trust the british media to heap criticism on him whenever chelsea lose a game....it's easier to find a scapegoat in mikel than their golden boy, frank lampard!!!

Being positionally-disciplined doesn't make a player great - it's about knowing what your job is on the football field, and doing it well. That being said; can you say Mikel has the tactical awareness that a great defensive midfielder ought to have? How many times has he been found wanting because of his inability to read the game?

Makelele had all that and more. His style was breaking up the opponent's play and making short passes to keep possession. If you remember Stefan Effenberg of Bayern Munich, short passes was his game as well. I believe that's just a way to make up for the inability to go past players. However, what separate these two from Mikel - are their leadership qualities, ability to impose themselves on the game, awareness, and comfortability on the ball. Mikel is always shaky on the football in Chelsea's colours.

Being an Englishman has nothing to do with display of talent on the football field. Makelele didn't get his just due till he got to England. Jay jay Okocha was celebrated by everyone when he played for Bolton. Heck, he was on the best 11 EPL team, week in week out. Essien isn't English but he's celebrated by everyone. Odewinge isn't English, but West Brom fans love him to bits. I was still living in Birmingham when West Brom signed Odewinge and I know how much they all adore him. England is the home of football - and English fans love football.


You and I know that fat-boy Frank Lampard is the 2nd most hated guy in England after (C)ashley Cole. However, his goal scoring prowess is the reason why people can't just kick him to the curb. Yes, tons of English players are overrated but English people adore great talents.

Claude Makelele, possibly the best
defensive midfielder of his generation.
Makelele was so good that he has a football term based on his name The Makelele role. Makelele role in the team was very simple he was there to
beak up attacks and to hold the shape
of the team. He was a very simple but
efficient defensive midfielder who had a world class positional sense.

Oya o,makelele haters..
This is what Jose has to say about the
role makelele had at Chelsea.
“‘Look, if I have a triangle in midfield –
Claude Makelele behind and two
others just in front – I will always have
an advantage against a pure 4-4-2 where the central midfielders are side
by side. That’s because I will always have an extra man. It starts with
Makelele, who is between the lines. If
nobody comes to him he can see the
whole pitch and has time. If he gets
closed down it means one of the two
other central midfielders is open. If they are closed down and the other
team’s wingers come inside to help, it
means there is space now for us on
the flank, either for our own wingers
or for our full-backs. There is nothing
a pure 4-4-2 can do to stop things’.

And wat makelele has 2 sayrole and the impact it had on the team “in every team you need to know
what your role is and one of the keys
to my role is to keep the balance of the
team right. So when Didier [Drogba]
goes here, I do this. When Frank
[Lampard] goes there, I go there. Same with Michaael [Ballack]. When one
person moves out of position, then
someone else comes in and covers for
them” “When you play in my position you
have to enjoy it. You can’t be thinking
I don’t get any goals’. You just enjoy it,
you enjoy playing football, tackling,
giving the ball. Just enjoy it. When you
are small you have to tackle at the right moment. He might be tall, he
might be strong but if you tackle at the
right moment you’ll win it. It’s about
timing.”


I the modern game defensive players
don’t get a lot of credit for the jobs that
they do. Sergio busquests for
Barcelona is the most modern version
of makelele that we have but the
difference between the two that Sergio busquest is a better passer of the ball.
Sergio busquest and Michael carrick
will never get the praise that they
deserve because their roles in their
teams aren’t fancy and they don’t add
any wow factor so most people don’t recognise the effect that they are
having in the game

Afam4eva:
Not that i like Arsenal or any team in England but Arsenal despite not winning trophies is a business team and have made a lot of money from selling their players. Chelsea on the other hand are useless in every ramification.

... As that made Arsenal the richest club in England or Europe? What make clubs are the number of trophies won, not the amount of pounds realise from players sales. The likes of AC Milan, Bayern, Madrid, Barca, Chelsea and Man United are testament to this.

justsayemma:

Kip deceiving urslf,Barca bot Song 4 20million, which club is currently bidding 4 Mikel,n @ wat price?

we aren't talking about the price,but your contribution towards the club and national football.Now do the ratings your self,compare Mikel and Song this past season,alongside there national assignment.

Its an insult 2 compare Mikel n Makelele,Makalele marks far better than Mikel,Mikel is slow n lack confidence.Ramirescan play his wing far better.not that he is not good,I think he is old,but ve a young look.

Honestly after watching mikels performance @ afcon and confed am convinved that Nigeria midfield still has a brighter hope he was a dynamic player despite losing the match against spain i single handedly honourned him with man of the match he render the likes of xavi,iniesta,busquet useless in the game.mikel please leave for Gods sake else mourinho will change you to fulltime defender you still have a long way to go you are not yet a pensioner.

shymexx:
Being positionally-disciplined doesn't make a player great - it's about knowing what your job is on the football field, and doing it well. That being said; can you say Mikel has the tactical awareness that a great defensive midfielder ought to have? How many times has he been found wanting because of his inability to read the game?

he does......however, he's often played alongside loose cannons like lampard and sometimes ramirez. these 2 players are the most indisciplined players on the planet when it comes to holding their positions but they often score - so fans quickly forget their atrocities and heap the blame on the water-carrier, mikel!

Makelele had all that and more. His style was breaking up the opponent's play and making short passes to keep possession. If you remember Stefan Effenberg of Bayern Munich, short passes was his game as well. I believe that's just a way to make up for the inability to go past players. However, what separate these two from Mikel - are their leadership qualities, ability to impose themselves on the game, awareness, and comfortability on the ball. Mikel is always shaky on the football in Chelsea's colours.

i will refer you back to what florentino perez(real madrid president) said when he sold makelele to chelsea.

We will not miss Makélelé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn't a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres. Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélelé to be forgotten.

Being an Englishman has nothing to do with display of talent on the football field. Makelele didn't get his just due till he got to England. Jay jay Okocha was celebrated by everyone when he played for Bolton. Heck, he was on the best 11 EPL team, week in week out. Essien isn't English but he's celebrated by everyone. Odewinge isn't English, but West Brom fans love him to bits. I was still living in Birmingham when West Brom signed Odewinge and I know how much they all adore him. England is the home of football - and English fans love football.

good examples you listed up there but which of these players is a dedicated defensive midfielder? none. okocha is an attacking midfielder, he scores goals. odemwingie is a striker, he scores goals. essien is a box to box midfielder, he scores goals. mikel is a water-carrier, he cannot score goals from that position so he's easier to criticise.

the equivalent of mikel in the other clubs are carrick(man utd), lucas(liverpool) busquets(barcelona). when fit, no manager leaves these players on the bench. they provide the balance needed to a team. only mikel gets underrated but guardiola/del bosque never joked with busquets.........he's one of the few spanish players that completed all the minutes in the last world cup.....

You and I know that fat-boy Frank Lampard is the 2nd most hated guy in England after (C)ashley Cole. However, his goal scoring prowess is the reason why people can't just kick him to the curb. Yes, tons of English players are overrated but English people adore great talents.

now you get my point.....
lampard can screw-up 30 passes in a game and win man of the match. all he needs to do is score a penalty and all is forgiven. we are often bribed deceived by this - forgiving a player's general poor play just because he scored!

However Mikel plays he still a good player to me. My fear right now is that Moses is about to be Mourinhonized too...

Ikenna94: @shymexx shut up, without people like ortega in midfield do tink maradona's goals and runs would ve counted? Besides mikel is beta dan makalele

Arial Ortega contributed nothing to Maradona success,get your fact right before yapping.

Thank you @OP. U've said it all.

coogar:
he does......however, he's often played alongside loose cannons like lampard and sometimes ramirez. these 2 players are the most indisciplined players on the planet when it comes to holding their positions but they often score - so fans quickly forget their atrocities and heap the blame on the water-carrier, mikel!

i will refer you back to what florentino perez(real madrid president) said when he sold makelele to chelsea.

We will not miss Makélelé. His technique is average, he lacks the speed and skill to take the ball past opponents, and ninety percent of his distribution either goes backwards or sideways. He wasn't a header of the ball and he rarely passed the ball more than three metres. Younger players will arrive who will cause Makélelé to be forgotten.

good examples you listed up there but which of these players is a dedicated defensive midfielder? none. okocha is an attacking midfielder, he scores goals. odemwingie is a striker, he scores goals. essien is a box to box midfielder, he scores goals. mikel is a water-carrier, he cannot score goals from that position so he's easier to criticise.

the equivalent of mikel in the other clubs are carrick(man utd), lucas(liverpool) busquets(barcelona). when fit, no manager leaves these players on the bench. they provide the balance needed to a team. only mikel gets underrated but guardiola/del bosque never joked with busquets.........he's one of the few spanish players that completed all the minutes in the last world cup.....

now you get my point.....
lampard can screw-up 30 passes in a game and win man of the match. all he needs to do is score a penalty and all is forgiven. we are often bribed deceived by this - forgiving a player's general poor play just because he scored!

However, Makelele played alongside Lampard and worse loose cannons and average players like: Geremi (at the twilight of his career), Geremi, Alexei Smertin, Tiago, Jarosik, and Nuno Morais. So evidently, Mikel has no excuse whatsoever, if he's to be compared to the legend of Claude Makelele.

Perez was just talking out of his ar.se because he had a great Los Galacticos team - with arguably the best talents in world football at that time. And he was looking for a way to get David Beckham into that team. Makelele ended up being the sacrifice - I guess it had more to do with his skin than his talent.

Didn't Perez also sack Del Bosque afterwards? This alone should tell you all you need to know.

Alright, I'll cite defensive midfielders. Emmanuel Petit? Didier Deschamps? Patrick Veira? Yay Toure? Are these guys English players?

Mikel doesn't possess the passing range of Carrick and Michael Carrick is arguably the most critiqued player in England. Lucas is just as rubbish as Michael but he's more comfortable than Mikel on the ball. However, you can never compare Busquets to Mikel - Busquets is a box to box player and, technically and tactically superior to Mikel.

Regardless, this has nothing to do with Lampard and that won't take his name away from the 2nd most hated player in England.

You know I support Chelsea and I've been a fan since 1998, right?

In summary, u will never no what u ve till u lose it

justsayemma: To me he is just over celebrated,because sentiment has blinded us in dis country.a player that came 2nd after Messi in 2005,now its impossible 2 compare them,he was in a top flight club b4 Yaya,Tiote,n Song,now can we compare them? Whch club has bid 4 him after Chelsea made d mistake? Even Babayaro,Olofijana n co,scored, won matches,n man of matches for their clubs,has Mikel ever don dat? I think his peak was 2005.I knw som certain people from a certain part of Nigeria will attack me,m ready wit facts.

Since u decided 2 call names, let me call some names as well; Taye Taiwo came 3rd but I don't hear u critisizing him (Isaac Promise, Owoeri, Ogbuke etc were all among d top rated players @ d@ tournament. There are also other Nigerians d@ have done well in under-age tournaments (Chrisantus, Lukman Haruna, Stanley Okoro, Sani Emmanuel etc). They were all among the top players in deir time but where r they now Mikel deserves praise 4 re-inventing himself in another position. He deserves 2 b commended 4 d fact d@ he is able 2 command a regular shirt @ a top club like chelsea. Nigerians shud learn 2 appreciate him more, as well as d man who gave him d opportunity 2 make d@ transition.

A Madrid Fan

ablyguy: However Mikel plays he still a good player to me. My fear right now is that Moses is about to be Mourinhonized too...

If Moses gets Mourinhonized, it'll be a good thing. Afterall, Ronaldo, Di Maria, Ozil etc. all became better players after getting Mourinhonized...

klickstar: Honestly after watching mikels performance @ afcon and confed am convinved that Nigeria midfield still has a brighter hope he was a dynamic player despite losing the match against spain i single handedly honourned him with man of the match he render the likes of xavi,iniesta,busquet useless in the game.mikel please leave for Gods sake else mourinho will change you to fulltime defender you still have a long way to go you are not yet a pensioner.

So u'd rada hav Mikel play as an attacking midfieler fo Galatasaray, Celtic or Southampton than as a defensive midfielder for Chelsea How selfish of u

Ikenna94: @shymexx shut up, without people like ortega in midfield do tink maradona's goals and runs would ve counted? Besides mikel is beta dan makalele

JESUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CFCfan:

CFC have won the English top-flight title 4 times.

why are u now making noise? Ok, man utd have won it 20 times...oh, less i 4get that should be 4(chelshit) * 5=20(man utd)

shymexx:
However, Makelele played alongside Lampard and worse loose cannons and average players like: Geremi (at the twilight of his career), Geremi, Alexei Smertin, Tiago, Jarosik, and Nuno Morais. So evidently, Mikel has no excuse whatsoever, if he's to be compared to the legend of Claude Makelele.

lampard was years younger then, he was strong, durable and would quickly chase back if he loses possession. it's not the case anymore as old age has set in.

Perez was just talking out of his ar.se because he had a great Los Galacticos team - with arguably the best talents in world football at that time. And he was looking for a way to get David Beckham into that team. Makelele ended up being the sacrifice - I guess it had more to do with his skin than his talent.
Didn't Perez also sack Del Bosque afterwards? This alone should tell you all you need to know.

i am not saying florentino perez was right to have sold makelele but everything he said up there was the truth about makelele in those years. he only won the ball and then passed it 3 yards to a teammate(job done)

Alright, I'll cite defensive midfielders. Emmanuel Petit? Didier Deschamps? Patrick Veira? Yay Toure? Are these guys English players?

toure? chased out of barcelona by 19 year-old busquets? this is where you should appreciate subtle defensive midfielders like mikel. football has evolved. no more bonebreakers like keane, vieira, petit, etc....

Mikel doesn't possess the passing range of Carrick and Michael Carrick is arguably the most critiqued player in England. Lucas is just as rubbish as Michael but he's more comfortable than Mikel on the ball. However, you can never compare Busquets to Mikel - Busquets is a box to box player and, technically and tactically superior to Mikel.

busquets is not box to box - he's never ahead of the ball when the game is in play. he sits between his two centre-halves to become the 3rd defender when alves/alba maraud forward. in my opinion, he's the best defensive midfielder in europe for the past 3 or 4 years.

Regardless, this has nothing to do with Lampard and that won't take his name away from the 2nd most hated player in England.You know I support Chelsea and I've been a fan since 1998, right?

nobody hates lampard - even if we assume some fans can't stand him, he's got friends in the media that literally fellate on him everytime. when villas-boas decided to drop lampard, we all saw the meltdown in the media.

vislabraye: Talking about Makelele's role in Chelsea: the reason RM's president said so about him was due to racial difference. RM is a racist club. Ask yourself, how many black players have played in RM so far.
1st it was Seerdorf. Seerdorf was on fire in RM, but he was relegated to the background. Next is Samuel Eto who wasn't given enough play time becaused of the Spanish players. And the last was Makelele. Its a trend.

Mikel has not played the best of football in Chelsea. I believe he could have been far better than where he is.

RM is not a racist club.

Fitzy4real:

Since u decided 2 call names, let me call some names as well; Taye Taiwo came 3rd but I don't hear u critisizing him (Isaac Promise, Owoeri, Ogbuke etc were all among d top rated players @ d@ tournament. There are also other Nigerians d@ have done well in under-age tournaments (Chrisantus, Lukman Haruna, Stanley Okoro, Sani Emmanuel etc). They were all among the top players in deir time but where r they now Mikel deserves praise 4 re-inventing himself in another position. He deserves 2 b commended 4 d fact d@ he is able 2 command a regular shirt @ a top club like chelsea. Nigerians shud learn 2 appreciate him more, as well as d man who gave him d opportunity 2 make d@ transition.

A Madrid Fan

thank you for this post of yours,what an insight.Most people's beef with Mikel is purely on rival club,smh........

coogar:
lampard was years younger then, he was strong, durable and would quickly chase back if he loses possession. it's not the case anymore as old age has set in.

i am not saying florentino perez was right to have sold makelele but everything he said up there was the truth about makelele in those years. he only won the ball and then passed it 3 yards to a teammate(job done)

toure? chased out of barcelona by 19 year-old busquets? this is where you should appreciate subtle defensive midfielders like mikel. football has evolved. no more bonebreakers like keane, vieira, petit, etc....

busquets is not box to box - he's never ahead of the ball when the game is in play. he sits between his two centre-halves to become the 3rd defender when alves/alba maraud forward. in my opinion, he's the best defensive midfielder in europe for the past 3 or 4 years.

nobody hates lampard - even if we assume some fans can't stand him, he's got friends in the media that literally fellate on him everytime. when villas-boas decided to drop lampard, we all saw the meltdown in the media.

Lampard got better with age and every Chelsea fan would tell you that. Lampard used to give the ball away carelessly when he was younger and the only tool he had in his armoury back then, was scoring deflected goals.

How can everything he said be the truth when the senior players in that Los Galaticos team, Del Bosque and almost all the pundits disgreed with him? The crux of the matter is that he wanted David Beckham so bad and there was no way he would have been able to afford to buy David Beckham and give Makelele a pay rise. One had to give way for the other - and Makelele ended up being the sacrifice.

I disagree. Toure wasn't chased out of Barcelona. It had more to do with his demand for a pay rise and disagreements with Pep Guardiola. Busquets being a Spanish player also played a role in that. It had nothing to do with talent and his achievements on the football field. If that were to be the case - then Samuel Eto must have been sold for the same reason. However, we all know that wasn't the case.

Well, Mikel also did break a few bones when he was younger. He was either getting yellow carded or red carded. He evolved as he grew older just as the likes of Petit and Veira did.

Busquets is box to box despite his lack of speed and pace because he's always part of the play on both sides of the field. The defense starts with him - and he's always also part of the attack. Anyway, about him being the best defensive midfielder in europe for the past 3 or 4 years - both Arturo Vidal and Yaya Toure would have something to say about that.


Nobody hates Lampard, yet he gets booed all the time by the fans even when he's playing for England? The same Frank Lampard that nobody likes, apart from the MOTD crew and a few other pundits? Benitez did drop him a few times and nothing happened.

Honestly, I've no problem with Mikel, however as a Chelsea fan - I think it's high time Mikel left Chelsea. We've given him enough chances to prove himself and exert his authority but he has been a failure. I'd prefer a young Ake, or a David Luiz in that position everyday of the week to Mikel. And I used to be one of his biggest fans after watching him play live for Nigeria against Ghana. Heck, I used to defend him all the time back in my uni days during football arguments. Back then, I believed he needed more time to grow into the Chelsea team. However, right now, the time has elapsed - time to move on, Mikel. Galasataray would be a good fit - he can play behind Sneijder and improve his passing range and skill set by learning from the great one.