The defensive midfield position isn’t the most glamorous role in the line-up and many fans seem to misunderstand it, but it’s a vitally important part of the team’s make up and John Obi Mikel must be the most underrated player in the position in the Premier League.
Perhaps it’s because he arrived at the club in controversial circumstances as an 18-year-old which say him sign for us instead of Manchester United, but the media have never taken to the man and he rarely get any credit for the work he does. He’s also under appreciated by many amongst the Chelsea support, those that argue he only passes backwards/sideways and is a liability in the middle of the park.
The 25-year-old isn’t perfect but he’s a very good player and I’ve listed below a few stats that go some way to prove how instrumental he is:
Tackling: Mikel has made 26 tackles for Chelsea this season and is only bettered by Ramires (29) and Ashley Cole (36).
Interceptions: Mikel is joint-1st at the club with Cole and Eden Hazard, who all have 17 interceptions each.
Accurate passes: Mikel (560), Hazard (430) and Juan Mata (428).
Long-ranged passing: Mikel has completed 31 long-ranged passes this season (3rd best). David Luiz and Petr Cech are joint-first on 45.
Accurate forward passing: Hazard (334), Mata (305) and Mikel (280)
Pass success %: 89.8
Duels Won: Fernando Torres (64), Mikel (56) and Ramires (56) make up the top three in this department.
He does however commit a lot of fouls with 22 in total (the most in the team) but it is sometimes a necessary evil in the position he plays, which is the busiest area of the field, so it’s no surprise his midfield partner Ramires is 2nd with 15 fouls.
Another criticism that is often levelled at him is that he doesn’t score any goals and although it would be nice if he did, it’s not really his job, is it? I don’t remember anyone slagging Claude Makelele off because he only scored two during his time at Stamford Bridge (the same as Mikel’s current total) and although they’re a different type of defensive midfielder, it’s essentially the same role.
Speaking of Makelele, he wasn’t appreciated when he was at Real Madrid and club president Florentino Perez infamously said this about him when he left for 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.”
Sounds familiar.
Although Mikel has some way to go before he has a position named after him, he’s come a long way since he arrived at the club as a teenager that believed his own hype, had a poor on-pitch temperament and a questionable attitude. Now, at only 25-years-old, he’s mastered a role that was originally unfamiliar to him and has won one Community Shield, one League Cup, four FA Cups, a Premier League title and the UEFA Champions League.
Am nt known 4 sentimental nd hatery arguments.mikel is nt 2 blame in any where in chelsea team.d guys dt acused him are idiots nd stupid monkeys.wt mikel contributes in chelsea is numerous 2 compare 2 wt oda our players contribute.u beta go nd blame old legged lampard who alwys creates dubious jobs 4 mikel 2 do alone cuz he lampard doesn’t mark oponents at all while playing.dn’t expect mikel 2 score cuz he’s nt a striker.go nd blame ur useles striker tores.he’s d dt needs 2 heap blames on him cuz he alwys makes us 2 lose match attimes cuz he doesn’t knw hw 2 score goals.likewise old terry nd luiz.they both attimes causes costly erors 2 us nd thereby alowing our oponents 2 score us cheap nd nonsense goals dt irritates.so in actual sense mikel is a gud nd fantastic player dt any team wl wish 2 have in their disposal ok.
Mikel was an attacking midfielder from day one which he had to beat Messi for the most talented young player at the world cup.but unfortunately for him and fortunately for the club Mourihno “The Special One” Changed his style of play and converted him to a standing 4 (defensive midfielder).which i think chelsea is enjoying so far i havent seen any coach come to chelsea and bench he’s always been credited.I just think he’s not the only one making mistakes although costly.Terry have done more David Luiz done the same. and he’s the only defensive Midfielder Chelsea got at the moment that doesnt surge forward which should be his job Ramirez and Josh On Loan do surge forward and create that counter attack i think if we have Josh come back i would love to see their combination.To all critics you will only know when Mikel is useful when he’s got injury.Tag him for sale and see how many teams are dying to get him (Premier League the most)
I guess the issue is about the skin colour and not scoring goals. He lost a pass against juve which resulted to a goal and got racial threats. Hazard lost the ball against sharkta, but was he criticised? I guess not. If the coach really wants him to score goals, that means our side backs shouldn’t be found forward often. Haven’t u guys noticed that since he has gotten a DM partner he now goes forward unlike before. Let’s give this guy a break because I believe he is doing what the coach wants. He has started 99% of chelsea’s game this season, which means he is the heart of the coaches midfield plans
Talking about mikel’s mistake: i think he came with a destiny to alway be the Blamed and that’s why he can be a good leader. Romeu lost ball that resulted in man u scoring in carling cup. Put mikel in his shoes boom!
John terry slipped in chelsea’s premier league game against arsenal and liverpool last season and what did he do in champions league semi-final, he went kicking butts instead of ball. Put mikel in terry’s shoes BOOM!
Hazard lost ball to donestk it resulted in a gaol. Put mikel in his shoes BOOM!
We’ve seen michael essien score own goals in so many games. I dought mikel has done such. Essien has handled the ball in the penalty area several occassions that resulted in penalties against chelsea i dought mikel has done that. Put mikel in his shoes BOOM!
I think AVB knows the result he got when he benched mikel and RDM knows the result he got when he started playing mikel again.
Mikel is yet to score goals that’s the only problem i got with him.
Talking about making descision quickly: a good DM should not always be hasty he needs to be calm and he is being calm.
Go back and watch the full video footage of chelsea’s 2-1 lost to donestk, mikel was bundled to the ground and it looked like he got injury, luiz urged him to please get up. Why would luiz do that! When lampard looked like he’s got injury his team mates didn’t care much because he’s truly not needed in the squad.
Mikel primary duti is nt to score is to break play n cover for d back 4. Pointin out is error y cant u jst count is ability on d field of play is defensive, long range passes, dictatin p pace of d game wit is calmnes, bein d pillar @ d heart of chelsea midfeild e desarve some credit. D best defesive midfeilder in d world Makalele only score 2 goals for chelsea with is bag of xperience all e does is to win d ball n give to lamp, ballak, or deco to do d playin till date e remain d bxt in dat role.
Anybody who abuse mikel for not scoring a goal were fools… When Didier Drogba was at Chelsea nobody remember Mikel for not scoring a goal but now when Torres has lost his scoring boot and there is no Drogba to help us, so some idiot remember mikel for not scoring a goal, how many goals peter cech has score? because his job is not to score but to save goals, and mikel’s job was to protect the back four, if luiz, cole, ivan or Terry left their job of defenceive duties you could see mikel covering for them… You haters should wait till january and see how mikel would be missed in 2 to 3 weeks! If barca has a DM in mikel, torres would have never score that killer goal which broke their heart…
Mikel does wat barely al epl dm can do, he’s job is nt to score goals. Stp criticisin d hard work workin young man and gv hm credit for 1s.
Don’t mind them,some ‘re with eyes but can’t see, watch the game while sleepn. It’s because u can read nd understand the game, better still, keep educating them!
Why all this fumble. I am not comparing mikel and other chelsea players. No. I am comparing mikel against mikel. His consistency is just not there. For torres i don’t know why this guy keeps playing for chelsea. I don’t think he has any business with chelsea. I can’t tell why the coach keep using him. Someone talk of essien committing penalties and scoring own goals. Yes thats a fact but essien on severe times would commit such errors but his subsequent performance on the day would overcome his error. How many times did you see mikel covering for his defence. He doesn’t even get there let alone score an own goal.You see his clearance in the box in ukraine. That shows he is not a good clearer of the ball. He is not good at recovery, not good tackler of ball and caught most time of position. You remember laveze’s goal against napoli, against donesk etc. Mikel i mean have to grow up. He is a very good player with lot of talents. Mikel still playing like a kid is not helping. He should know he is natured now and try to be consistent. He passes the ball very well, he dictate the pace of the game. But easily gives the ball away. I don’t say mikel should score goals no. He should know he is a key chelsea player and should start expressing himself on the pitch. Most at times you see his team mates shout at him. I don’t say terry or luiz not make mistakes. But i think as african fan of chelsea i expect mikel to have grown buy now. Yes he is improving but not at the pace we all would have predicted after 5years.
Many of u complaining of d young man called mikel can bearely kick an orange.No one is perfect so is Mikel.Why complaning?From d statistics above shows dat mikel is doing is primary job very well.If u want to criticize,criticize obectively & n’t being setimental.If he is dat bad,Di matteo will never start him.Why not talk about other players in d team dat are underperfoming.e.g Misfiring torres,luiz,.Please leave d young man alone.