TheGoodJoe:


Certainly Essien was a brilliant talent but Mikel eclipsed him due to his longevity. I also would rate Mikel ahead because he was more stable at the back. Essien left lots of gaps tactically. The injuries also.

But it takes nothing away from the brilliance of Essien.

AndSunGorilla:


True that, the same way he turned Eric Djemba Djemba to world class!!!! By the way I haven't seen an African ( full blown) thrive at Man Utd, Quinton fortune and Bailly are the best from africa to feature for them and that says a lot.

andrewbaba44:


How can you rate Mikel ahead of Essien ?

You think it’s by longevity abi ? Someone that won chelsea player of the season in a star studded team

Your opinion thou

JohnBullMySon:
Just imagine what Portugal played yesterday


If it were Nigeria now, we will be calling for Rohr's head .

TheGoodJoe:


I heard there were lots of threats and secrecy behind that saga. Mikel had no choice from his former agent, Anderson. But, why did Chelsea not let him be when they could sign anyone at that time.

TheGoodJoe:


It is about longevity.

Ronaldinho has more technique in one toe than the whole body of Iniesta but Iniesta is rated miles ahead of Ronaldinho because of his longevity.

ChrisKels:


If we had a reasonable coach, then we could bring down any team in Africa using this line up, though at the long run, I would shake it up by replacing Iwobi with Ademola Lookman. Also Maduka should sit for Uzoho.


Nice line up

TheGoodJoe:


It is about longevity.

Ronaldinho has more technique in one toe than the whole body of Iniesta but Iniesta is rated miles ahead of Ronaldinho because of his longevity.

elyte89:



Have u ever checked iniesta goals /assist record in Barcelona career.. Its very poor..I was shocked when I saw it too..he had few goals and assist.

Olulong:


Nice line up. I would prefer Etebo instead of Aribo and Tyrone ahead of Aina tho

elyte89:



Have u ever checked iniesta goals /assist record in Barcelona career.. Its very poor..I was shocked when I saw it too..he had few goals and assist.

TheGoodJoe:


I heard there were lots of threats and secrecy behind that saga. Mikel had no choice from his former agent, Anderson. But, why did Chelsea not let him be when they could sign anyone at that time.

ChrisKels:


If we had a reasonable coach, then we could bring down any team in Africa using this line up, though at the long run, I would shake it up by replacing Iwobi with Ademola Lookman. Also Maduka should sit for Uzoho.


Nice line up

andrewbaba44:


Ogbeni Iniesta is not rated ahead of Ronaldinho

Try to be getting your fact right abeg

Saying football is about longevity shows you know nothing about the game

Michael own has a shorter career while Emile heskey was Longer maybe we should say emile heskey was better

Funny dude

Neobulletzz:

I don’t understand, what threat? Which secrecy?

Danielnino00:
What is Babajide saying?

TheGoodJoe:


Emile Heskey's career was not on the highest level. Owen in a short time played at a higher level than Heskey.

Understand, Longevity and high level.

Ronaldinho lacks that.

andrewbaba44:


Mikel was class but he longevity was not on a higher level than Michael Essien

Same Michael Essien that will start for almost all big teams in the world during his prime like Barca juve Madrid Bayern ,but same can’t be said of Mikel

andrewbaba44:


Mikel was class but he longevity was not on a higher level than Michael Essien

Same Michael Essien that will start for almost all big teams in the world during his prime like Barca juve Madrid Bayern ,but same can’t be said of Mikel

TheGoodJoe:

For some reasons, won't stress much in these but there were rumors of threats if Mikel does not move to Chelsea.

No to Chelsea was not an option. Leaving also.

TheGoodJoe:


Ferguson's love for Mikel was different. He had his interest at heart. The players loved Mikel.

AndSunGorilla:


Another African talent I expected to flourish at Man Utd was Angola's Manucho, I dont even know what happened to the young man. I am waiting for the day when Man Utd would have nurture or field an African great like a Drogba, Mikel, Auba, the Toures, Essien, Mane, Salah etc.

TheGoodJoe:


You are forgetting Mikel started against the likes of Barca, Bayern, Manchester United and a host of others. Where were you when Mikel started Champions League finals against Bayern?

TheGoodJoe:


Mikel served longer than Essien at the highest level and started also against top teams too.

Finito.

AndSunGorilla:


Another African talent I expected to flourish at Man Utd was Angola's Manucho, I dont even know what happened to the young man. I am waiting for the day when Man Utd would have nurture or field an African great like a Drogba, Mikel, Auba, the Toures, Essien, Mane, Salah etc.

chrisooblog:
You make good points however Shittu was the one who orchestrated Mikel's trials with Chelsea. Ferguson knew he had no chance getting Mikel through Shittu. Hence the reason why he used Anderson to try and get Mikel. He also probably thought Mikel would probably want to be his own man having just turned 18 but unfortunately for Sir Alex he didn't reckon that Chelsea had other leverage on the young man.

If you know Sir Alex's notorious disdain for agents then his actions won't have surprised you.

BascoVanVeli:


I have heard of disdain but completely sidelining an agent is wrong. Would Sir Alex sign a new contract without his agent?

TheGoodJoe:


Shittu was not in the picture when Manchester United found Mikel while in camp in the U17 with Eguavoen.

The Nigerian U17 team of 2003 camped at Old Trafford in preparation for the U17 World Cup.

It was after that Mikel camped with the Manchester United team, did a trial and moved Mikel to Oslo.

In the course of that, I don't know how Mikel dabbled into Shittu or Shittu trying to play a fast one to secure Mikel a big deal. Keep in mind he was already a Manchester United player and Anderson was already in the picture. The Oslo deal earlier.

At the time Shittu was working with Chelsea, Manchester United were ready with an offer for Mikel. Mikel gladly signed and all hell was loosed.

Shittu did not want a loss, he wanted the money and things got messy.

Ferguson and Anderson had to let go to save Mikel.

This is what I think went down after reading multiple sources.

Shittu stole Mikel from Anderson and not the other way around. I heard some other players from that set suffered the same fate.

andrewbaba44:


3 point matters Baba

Was surprised CR7 didn’t boost his profile with an hatrick

JohnBullMySon:
I know. What I'm saying is that given that there's quality difference between Nigeria and Portugal, if Nigeria had that same result against Azerbaijan, people go still talk say na gernot rohr cause am.

andrewbaba44:


Nothing big was expected from Manucho unlike some other players so I wonder why you are expecting a player from the Angolan league to flourish there

Manucho best best was real vallodolid

Dude was below average in all the teams he played

AndSunGorilla:

He shone at an AFCOn at a tender age while still playing in Angola. To you, nothing was expected but to others much was expected, think about it, Man Utd signing a player straight from Africa on tope of a fantastic debut showing at the AFCON.