stamford_blue

1. They say John Obi Mikel bossed the tournament. That should tell you about the quality at AFCON 2..Have we ever loaned out a player and then sold him who has gone on to become "one hell of a player"?

ehh? Small squad is exactly what everyone has been crying about. He is right. We have played more games than any other team this season. But the players arent exactly helping the case by drawing against Brantford and thus being forced to play an extra game.

with that username, I know its futile arguing with you. But I am sorry, Mikel was poorest of the lot. Shocking defending on corners, lazy with tackles and escorting yaya toure to the goal. He did everything he could have to ensure our defeat. The transition that he supposedly does from defense to attack is so slow that other team is right back in their defensive positions by the time any of our forward players get the ball.

De Bruyne may not have shown defensive brilliance required of a DM at a top club but then neither has Mikel. Atleast De Bruyne likes to put himself about and put in an effort. In a two man pivot-midfield, one player should be a ball winner and the other a deep lying playmaker. Unfortunately for us, Mikel is neither.

There is a difference b/w just/unjust criticism, go figure

Also of our 4 CBs, JT is the only one who is left footed.

or Meireles for that matter.

Here are some goals per league game figures for some of our past strikers: Didier Drogba: 0.44 at Guingamp, 0.54 at Marseille and 0.44 at Chelsea Hernan Crespo: 0.53 at Parma, 0.72 at Lazio, 0.39 at Inter, 0.44 at Chelsea Andriy Shevchenko: 0.61 at Milan and 0.19 at Chelsea Adrian Mutu: 0.58 at Parma, 0.22 at Chelsea, 0.31 at Juventus and 0.48 at Fiorentina Nicolas Anelka: 0.42 at Manchester City, 0.36 at Fenerbahce, 0.40 at Bolton and 0.30 at Chelsea Saloman Kalou: 0.5 at Feyenoord and 0.23 at Chelsea Fernando Torres: 0.38 at Athletico, 0.64 at Liverpool and 0.19 at Chelsea One common feature there is that in almost all the cases, their poorest goals per game returns were at Chelsea. Read what you may out of that.

Seeing Ba's struggles, I am beginning to believe that strikers and Chelsea football club dont go together.

I am always skeptical about defenders from Bundesliga. After all that is a league where Mario Gomez has scored 20+ goals in quite a few seasons. Not exactly the best advertisement for defensive strengths.

The commentators were saying y'day that we have played the most games this season (47 I think). Given the small size of squad, the club could have prioritized (like Manchester clubs did last season in Europa League). However, I still feel we will finish in the top 4. Arsenal are in a bigger mess right now.

watching Mikel play, I sometimes wonder if other Chelsea players get the feeling that why put in an effort when they have a team mate who basically does nothing, puts next to zero effort and still gets games week in week out and on top of that is rewarded by a 5 year contract. That laziness of Mikel is infectious.

There was a time we had Ballack in that central midfield, now we have John Obi Mikel. says it all

He had the ball near the halfway line, was dispossessed by Silva/Aguero who exchanged a couple of passes b/w them and then he cut infront of Aguero and fell down and Aguero laid it off to Rodwell who shot at the goal. And Rodwell was consistently winning headers off him on corners and bringing Cech into the game. Mikel has outdone himself today in being useless.

but the good thing is I didnt. The names were all correct.

Really? Are you sure you weren't drunk during the game? Around 40-41 minutes, he lost the ball at halfway (to aguero/silva). They passed amongst each other and then Mikel tried to tackle and fell down (never a foul) and Rodwell brought out a finger tip save from Cech. And from the resulting corner, it was Rodwell who won the header (42nd min, you are welcome to check). Utter wan& today, Mikel was. Not that he is anything different otherwise.

What a waste of squad place this guy is. Lost Jack Rodwell 3-4 times on corners today and City would have been well out of sight within the first half itself but for Cech. There was this one special moment from him. Lost the ball near the halfway line, then in the same move put in a half hearted tackle, fell on the ground and the ball fell to Rodwell whose shot was tipped away by Cech's fingertips. Of the resulting corner, Mikel again let Rodwell have a free header and Cech made a point blank save. On the goal, it was as if he was telling Yaya Toure that Lampard is on my left so you please pass by my right side and take a shot at goal. Pathetic Not to mention numerous times he let silva/milner on the wing to get pass him easily and put a cross in.