Debate about whether John Mikel Obi is good enough and effective enough for Chelsea or whether he passes it forwards or backwards, or even what is the point of Mikel has seemingly raged since the Nigerian midfielder has played for Chelsea. Nevertheless, Mikel has been a fixture since he made his debut against Liverpool on 13/08/2006 in the Community Shield as a 19 year old. It is surprising that he is still relatively young (26) for a holding midfield player, and since his acquisition the heir apparent to Makalele.
To understand Mikel is to understand the role, and indeed in many respects the sacrifice he makes for the team, for be in no doubt the holding midfield role requires tactical discipline and carrying out the instructions of the manager to the letter. Only when playing for Nigeria does he enjoy the freedom to go forward without responsibility, and was in fact the player of the tournament in the recent African Cup of Nations, in doing so.
Many Chelsea supporters level accusations at Mikel that he is too slow; too one paced; slows the game down; doesn’t score enough; is too ill-disciplined and so on. His supporters will counter that with the fact that he is fulfilling his role in the team effectively – he is there to be the disciplined holding midfield player – intercept the ball, win tackles and play the ball away from danger. Futhermore, your forward passing and the pace of your play can only be as quick as your team mates ahead of you will allow. And what of those team mates? Well 
they love him and trust him totally. Mikel is the out-ball for his team mates as they trust him to keep possession and distribute effectively, yes, he may lose it occasionally but the fact is Mikel is often given the ball in situations of intense pressure.
It is true that Mikel may not be and may never be Makalele, the man he was bought to follow, but then again we are talking about a player for whom a role was named after – a one off – unique. It may also be true that in Nemanja Matic, Chelsea have found a player who can add a different dimension to this role and may well eventually force Mikel out – he has already played less this season than he has for the last few years.
As far as I am concerned, Mikel is a valuable member of the team, and with all good squads we need ‘horses for courses’ players, prepared to do the job that is required and carry out the manager’s instructions. Futhermore, how can we doubt the effectiveness of a player who has won 1 Premier League; 4 FA Cups; 1 League Cup; 1 Community Shield; 1 European Cup; 1 Europa Cup. In addition he has often saved his best performances for Finals, and few doubt that he was our Man of the Match in the Champions League Final against Bayern Munich, and along the way has kept some of the best attacking midfielders in the game in his pocket – Cazorla, Arteta, Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi to name but a few. 
On the Chelsea FanCast this week we feel that it is time to set the record straight, and nail the issue once and for all. We’ll be having a debate on whether Mikel is effective in the Chelsea side or not. Do you rate him or not?
If you want to take part all you have to do is email chelseafancast@gmail.com before the show or tweet @ChelseaFanCast during the show and let us know what you think. If you want to have your say, then set up a skype or phone call with us. Let us know by email and add us on Skype – chelsea.fancast – and we’ll set it up tomorrow Monday 3rd March before 18.30 GMT.
You can also vote below and we will reveal the results on the show tomorrow night.
Don’t forget to tune in at 19.00-21.00 GMT on Monday 3rd March for the Chelsea FanCast on sportstonightlive.com, mixlr.com or watch live here to see what the boys have to say about John Mikel Obi!
Do You Rate John Mikel Obi?
- Yes (65%, 53 Votes)
- No (37%, 30 Votes)
Total Voters: 82
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I think we’ve had this conversation before but whatever arguments are made in his defense there’s no getting away from the fact that Mikel slows the game down too much and as such the opposition defense has all the time in the world to get back in position. If you watch opposition attacking midfielders, they play quick triangular passes round Mikel leaving him completely out of the game watching things pass him by and not knowing which way to go.
Sorry but as far as I’m concerned the sooner we get rid the better.
your a fool to say that. You need to watch games and finds out the kind of role he plays
Jose mourhino killed mikel midfield instinct. Let him go watch him play for Nigeria as an attacking midfielder. Mikel was an attacking midfielder before Jose mourhino converted him to a holding role. Mikel would have been better off with manchester United
Is true, mikel need fredom of playing.
“To understand Mikel is to understand the role”.
no it isn’t. to think mikel is good is to misunderstand the role. he is a defensive midfielder. a midfielder destroyer. but he doesn’t defend or destroy. what’s the point of that? he doesn’t contribute further up the field either, and most of his passing is simple and safe. he rarely starts anymore and that is because our manager can see that he doesn’t offer enough in any area to be a regular starter.
“how can we doubt the effectiveness of a player who has won 1 Premier League; 4 FA Cups; 1 League Cup; 1 Community Shield; 1 European Cup; 1 Europa Cup.”
wes brown can beat that and he’s useless. torres has won the world cup, european championships, champions league, fa cup and europa league in the last 5 years and been absolutely useless for that entire time too.
I really hope Chelsea knows what do stand to loose if really they get rid of the genius just as our master Jose M. has described him, well, if you really want to know more about Mikel Obi, them go and ask Xavi, Iniesta and Messi they can tell you more about him after they have played against him several times. I think with this you have have every reason to keep him even beyond his current deal
Jose monrìho is the person who completely kill him and he is the one who is complaining he shld give him freedom of playing and see if he can nt do better than his doing nw.
Jose M.are u a carrer killer?ur intension coming back to chelsea is it to kill mikel carrer?allow him to play a full role and see why is called mikel obi of Nigeria.
terry are u alright?
terry are u alright?better go and put ur ars together or u find urself to blame.
i think mikel is a good player we saw him at u20 world cup in 2005.so i think he wiil show is talent in the next world cup and live chelsea for another club because jose cant allow him to pllay in hold role. mikel you best but you need more confidence
truly Mikel normally slow down the game but is a good player. Because he had contributed a lot for winning of trophy in Chelsea.