komekn:


I have expressed the same observation but in comparison to Sane, Gabriel and Raheem some disagreed with me vociferously.

TheGoodJoe:
Just came in from watching the games.

Ademola Lookman looked bright and promising but not as electrifying as I expected. forgiveness take ya time. Which kind of Okocha skills that I did not see one.

What is most impressive about Lookman is that he is very hard working. He fights hard for the team and a tireless runner. He showed brilliant attacking instincts and has skills to create shooting chances.

The downside was he could not spark the game due to the cagey set up of the game. Adama Traore was also a beast and made Lookman play cautiously.

He made some passing errors and had and missed a good scoring opportunity. Overall, the young man had a good game. Hope to see him improve.

I feel Success is more talented when it comes to taking on players and instincts in the box. A few more games will give me a better picture.

PietroRico:
Why is oliseh getting almost no coverage here?
Is there even any proper African coach, with a job in any of the European leagues?
The man seems to be doing a decent job.
Decided to check up on him and see how he came from 2 goals down with his relegation threatened(as at when he took over) team to beat high flying jong Ajax who were resident on the other end of the table.
His team seems to be nowhere near relegation?

BascoVanVeli:
Ok guys lets move on like G's. Create ur perfect player using only Nigerian Internationals past or present. Selected features being,

Strenght, pace, passing, left foot, right foot, dribbling, heading, ball control, inteligence, tackling, leadership.
These are mine.
Strenght- Amokachi
Pace- Ahmed Musa
Passing- Mikel
Left Foot- Iheanacho
Right Foot- Yekini
Dribbling- Okocha
Heading- Head Master
Ball Control- Iwobi
Inteligence- Onazi
Tackling- Taribo
Leadership- Keshi

Lets see yours.
cc: Icon4s, Kog45, TheSuperNerd, safarigirl, Joseph1013, Nihilist, lakesidepapa, goldfish80, Xzbit91, terzurum5

komekn:



What this tells you the successful marketing of a player is not necessarily synonymous with exceptional talent even if exceptional money has changed hands.

Was at Leeds United last week seen Ronaldo Vieira Born in Guinea Bissau but with Portuguese nationality. He would never make the Nigerian youth team but the figures for this kid are in excess of £5million.

My point forget the money look d player, I had made comments about Ademola although guarded.

TheGoodJoe:
I just need to address a point that still baffles me. Someone says Mikel was a Nonentity in Chelsea after Ancelotti. The same person said, I can say that Mikel can have a World Class tag before. Not me.

Did the Champions League triumph of Chelsea not come after Ancelotti? Can we term a player who stood out in three of the most important games to winning their most prized trophy a Nonentity?

Mikel’s reign for the Super Eagles from the AFCON, to the Confederations Cup, the qualifiers and Olympics came after Ancelotti. I do not understand how we can write off such player.

I accept people have opposing views and maybe, people do not consider accomplishments. Despite the challenges, Mikel against Crystal Palace had the Chelsea fans singing his name and winning the man of the match without a goal.

I think the young man has done enough to deserve better than looking for an Avenue to call him a non entity.

Judge Mikel’s career. Consider the barriers he faced. From the battle between Manchester United and Chelsea that lasted about a year. He deserves better.

As for me and Yara Yara, we will keep throwaying salute to John Mikel Obi.

BascoVanVeli:
Ok guys lets move on like G's. Create ur perfect player using only Nigerian Internationals past or present. Selected features being,

Strenght, pace, passing, left foot, right foot, dribbling, heading, ball control, inteligence, tackling, leadership.
These are mine.
Strenght- Amokachi
Pace- Ahmed Musa
Passing- Mikel
Left Foot- Iheanacho
Right Foot- Yekini
Dribbling- Okocha
Heading- Head Master
Ball Control- Iwobi
Inteligence- Onazi
Tackling- Taribo
Leadership- Keshi

Lets see yours.
cc: Icon4s, Kog45, TheSuperNerd, safarigirl, Joseph1013, Nihilist, lakesidepapa, goldfish80, Xzbit91, terzurum5

Nihilist:


At Chelsea, post-Ancelotti Mikel was a relative non-entity.
Your refusal to accept context is what is happening your ability to understand this simple fact.

Mikel was a rock during the Barca game but Ramires also scored a mad goal in that game. Mikel played well in that Final but Bertrand also started that final on the left wing.

Your argument is that we should ignore the fact that Mikel did not play a whopping 64% of the league games he was available for over the last 7 years and instead hail Mikel as worldclass for his admittedly good performances in just 2 games? He wasn't even man of the match in those games, and those were solid team performances anyway.

The really funny thing is that in those few matches Mikel played, we could see why he spent most of his career on the bench. Mikel Slowbi was regularly abject as a player for us.

If you want to Base your discussion on his exploits at AFCON, then that's a different story, but you cannot tell me that a man who only managed a composite 72 league games over a period of 7 years is anything but a non-entity at Chelsea. The facts simply get in the way of that narrative.

I can't see any difference career wise between Mikel and Paulo Ferreira sef.

TheGoodJoe:



Heading = Adepoju
Crossing = Finidi
Passing (Short) = Mikel
Passing (Long) = Oliseh
Shooting Accuracy = Iheanacho
Right Foot = Aiyegbeni
Left Foot = Amunike
Offensive Intelligence = Kanu
Defensive Intelligence = Mikel
Marking = Babayaro
Defending = Taribo
Dribbles = Okocha
Runs = Ikedia
Speed = Babangida
Ball Control = Kanu
Offensive Awareness = Kanu
Defensive Awareness = Eguavoen
Reflexes = Shorunmu
Leadership = Keshi

tbaba1234:


Eguaveon errors haunt me till date.. Defensive awareness?

TheGoodJoe:


You are making it look as if the AFCON is not part of Mikel’s career. I am judging Mikel based on his career. Not AFCON or Chelsea phases. Mikel’s career.

TheGoodJoe:


I am talking of Eguavoen up until Tunisia 94. His performances earned him the captain band. I do not think his errors counts as defensive awareness. I am talking of reading dangers. He was so alert especially in Tunisia 94. After his injuries, he went down the drain.

tbaba1234:


He got the captain's band because Keshi was injured.

Nihilist:


Performances at AFCON are not enough to call a player world class. Quality of talent at AFCON is relation to say EUROs or Copa America is quite poor anyway.

So if we have a situation where Mikel isn't a first team regular at club level, while shining once at a relatively inferior international tournament, what then is the basis for tagging him World Class?

This is what I've been driving at all along.

TheGoodJoe:


Career. Not AFCON Performance. You think out shining the likes of Yaya Toure, Seydou Keita and Drogba is inferior?

Judge Mikel’s career.

tbaba1234:


I think Agbonlohor should have had more caps for England. Players like Darius Vassel were regularly invited to the England camp.

Nihilist:


I'm sorry how does Mikel outshine Drogba or Yaya Toure?


Also I don't understand what judge his career means as the term world class is used to judge the player not the career.
I've never heard anyone say something along the lines of 'he had a world class career'

TheGoodJoe:


You have heard it now. Outshine means, having a better tournament and having a better game when Mikel met the likes of Toure and Keita.

Nihilist:


I'm sorry how does Mikel outshine Drogba or Yaya Toure?


Also I don't understand what judge his career means as the term world class is used to judge the player not the career.
I've never heard anyone say something along the lines of 'he had a world class career'

Nihilist:


You're a city fan, who would you rather have in your team - Mikel or Toure?

justiz5:

I am not happy with goal he missed. I am so sue he will work on that though.

justiz5:

I am not happy with goal he missed. I am so sue he will work on that though.

PietroRico:
Why is oliseh getting almost no coverage here?
Is there even any proper African coach, with a job in any of the European leagues?
The man seems to be doing a decent job.
Decided to check up on him and saw how he came from 2 goals down with his relegation threatened(as at when he took over) team to beat high flying jong Ajax who were resident on the other end of the table.
His team seems to be nowhere near relegation?

komekn:
A lot Of Nigerian origin players haven't come to the realisation that. There is still a preference for white players. You are there because there isn't a white boy to compete with you.

Then you may be given one cap so you can't play for anyone else. Zaha was lucky that his England cap was not in a competitive game.

Now he is playing for Cote de Ivoire.

goldfish80:

First of all, discrimination is real. That is an established fact even among native English people.

Wes Morgan of last season was better than any defender England took took to the Euros. He started turning out for Raggae boys not so long ago after waiting in vain for an English call up.
Wilfred Zaha is absolutely better than Chamberlain and Andros Townsend. where is he now?

Alot of dust was kicked up when England tried getting Jack Greilish (spelling) to commit his future to them. Phrases like England for English kept popping up from everywhere.
Mikel Arteta was open to playing for England, a lot of people were up in arms, saying their national team will no longer be their national team if Arteta was capped.
Owen Hargreaves didn't get the recognition he deserved in his prime years at Bayern Munich because he was born in Canada. Apparently they didn't find him English enough due to his Canadian connection.

Discrimination is real in professional sports, as simple as that.

Elxandre:

I would say favouritism, not even discrimination.
Tevez didn't get a look for several years in the Argentine national team despite his ridiculously obvious talent, while lesser players had a shot at a spot.

Zaha is better than Ox, but he plays in lowly crystal palace?
You think reputation of clubs don't matter?
I can bet Zaha would have been an auto starter if he was a starting player for Man United.

I am not even sure who Jack Greilish is

Mikel Arteta was also left out by Spain for several years, even when he was some stunning form, he never was given a look.
Arteta wasn't accepted with open arms by some because his case was a unique one sort of.
A player who saw England as a chance to go to the world cup despite having not participated at the qualifiers.
Some People must have seen him as an opportunist, because that's what I saw him as also.
I also remember he couldn't play for England at the end because a certain FIFA rule at that time disqualified him from representing England.

Owen Hargreaves didn't get a Hero status in England because he started out from Germany.
Messi is worshipped in Spain, but despised by many in Argentina for the same reason.
Is Dele Alli more of an Englishman than Hargreaves is?
Everyone loves Dele, and he's certainly not white!


I stopped believing in all these discrimination crap when Ballotelli became a starter for Italy; a very much racist country.
Ballotelli was loved by everyone. The only reason he fell out of the national team is his stupidity.
Ballotelli benched promising strikers and had praises sang of him.


Eto'o, Drogba, Yaya Toure all show us that "if you're good enough, you're good enough".


I had to reply this night even though I'm sleepy, cause I might not remember to do so in the morning.