dkw Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 just saw it on skysports site "He will sign the deal early this week," he told Kick Off Nigeria. "Some of the club officials were away, but they were expected back last weekend. As soon as everybody is in, we will sign the new contract. "It is a very good deal for him and would put him at par with some of the top earners in the club" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gem Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Haribo Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Signed for another 4 years, is it? Very pleased if so. He's got a lot of undeserved stick from some corners but Mikel-Essien-Lampard is easily our best central midfield setup. He's still not as discplined as he could be but he does the holding role well and looks like he's maturing well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethicalstrategy Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 That's great news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjd Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 just saw it on skysports site"He will sign the deal early this week," he told Kick Off Nigeria. "Some of the club officials were away, but they were expected back last weekend. As soon as everybody is in, we will sign the new contract. "It is a very good deal for him and would put him at par with some of the top earners in the club" Well, i do hope not! Not with Frank and JT anyway. I remain unconvinced. He does show the odd spark of potential and so is worth hanging onto for now but i still think he gives away far too many free kicks in bad positions and am still unsure about his temperament in the big games, though to be fair he has improved his card count considerably But top opposing players have made mincemeat out of him , Gerrard and Totti last year spring to mind he has to step up in that respect. And as for his shooting.... :lol: He does seem to have a bit of a fan club and sometimes i do feel that all he has to do is pass the ball sideways to Ballack a few times in a match and a few posters on here say 'Mikel controlled that midfield, a real old head on young shoulders'.... But best of luck to him anyway. Prove me wrong Mikel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkw Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 :lol: neh, see. people joined in. you cheeky bugger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PloKoon13 Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I thought he'd signed a new contract earlier this season. I seem to remember being pleased about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Haribo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Well, i do hope not! Not with Frank and JT anyway.I remain unconvinced. He does show the odd spark of potential and so is worth hanging onto for now but i still think he gives away far too many free kicks in bad positions and am still unsure about his temperament in the big games, though to be fair he has improved his card count considerably But top opposing players have made mincemeat out of him , Gerrard and Totti last year spring to mind he has to step up in that respect. And as for his shooting.... ;) He does seem to have a bit of a fan club and sometimes i do feel that all he has to do is pass the ball sideways to Ballack a few times in a match and a few posters on here say 'Mikel controlled that midfield, a real old head on young shoulders'.... But best of luck to him anyway. Prove me wrong Mikel. Which game did Gerrard "make mincemeat of him"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
g3.7 Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 when they beat us at the bridge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomP Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 (edited) bjd is right in saying that defensively, he's not yet Makalele standard. I think he still can't read the game as well as Maka could, and rash tackles are a symptom of this. Remembering back to Maka in his prime, he almost never made a sliding tackle - because he didn't have to. He was already in the right position to intercept a pass in front of an attacker, or nick the ball away from his feet as soon as he received it. But when we have posession of the ball, Mikel really makes our midfield click. Maybe its just me, but I think that every time we have had Mikel in the side we look like we can dominate any team in the world. I think it is to do with the balance of the side. Lampard, Essien and Ballack are all quite similar players. I think when we play all three of them together, the balance isn't right. I think having Mikel there really give licence to the other two to get forward, and the fast, efficient way he moves the ball from defence to attack is at least as good as what Maka provided. And he has a much better range of passing. The good thing is that he's still only 22, so he has the potential to vastly improve his game over the next few years. He could well be a fixture in the side for the next 10 years plus. That is, of course, unless we sign an ageing Italian from Milan who would jump ahead of Mikel in his preferred position. The club is absolutely right to sign Mikel up on good wages on a long term contract. I think it is only a matter of time until someone like Real Madrid come knocking on the door for him, so the club need to make sure that he is happy and that he want to stay a Chelsea player. Edited July 8, 2009 by TomP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkw Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 when they beat us at the bridge. he certainly didnt make mincemeat of him. mikel didnt have his best game in that match but gerrard was barely in it either. and to be honest, liverpool didnt really have a lot of posession in the area mikel patrols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjd Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 he certainly didnt make mincemeat of him. mikel didnt have his best game in that match but gerrard was barely in it either. and to be honest, liverpool didnt really have a lot of posession in the area mikel patrols. C'mon he had the better of him all the way. I hate giving Gerrard credit for anything certainly ahead of a Chelsea player but Mikel was chasing shadows from start to finish. Anyway, no point in debating that now, we should be looking forward not back, like i said he has a lot to learn lets hope he improves even more this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibs Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Anyway, no point in debating that now, we should be looking forward not back, like i said he has a lot to learn lets hope he improves even more this season. Amen. IMO he needs to improve to justify all the hype. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dkw Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 C'mon he had the better of him all the way. I hate giving Gerrard credit for anything certainly ahead of a Chelsea player but Mikel was chasing shadows from start to finish.Anyway, no point in debating that now, we should be looking forward not back, like i said he has a lot to learn lets hope he improves even more this season. but he didnt, gerrard barely had any influence on that game at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Haribo Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 The 1-0 game you mean? The entire match was dross, nobody made mincemeat of anybody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjd Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 The 1-0 game you mean?The entire match was dross, nobody made mincemeat of anybody. I suggest you guys find a rerun of it. They battered down our wing play totally leaving it a central battle which was won totally by Gerrard and Alonso. Anyway, lets move on, no point in doing this right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mad_mac Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 Yeah no point. Glad to see that he's committed to the club and I doubt he's on par with Lampard and JT but I'm sure it will be a nice little increase for him. Also, could we please stop drawing comparisons with Maka's level of ability. I doubt anyone will ever be that good. It's called the Maka role, not the Mikel role FFS. I'm sure he can still develop into a great player, and his passing is already better than Makas anyway. People laud Maka for his short range passing and ability to break down and counter. But Mikel does it and folk complain that he doesn't pass forward enough and he can't score goals...... Think I remember Maka only scoring once, maybe twice in his career with us, and that was a pen he had to take 2 cracks at the day we were presented with the 1st premiership title against Charlton at home. Mikel is a fine footballer and I am glad to have him in our team. His temprament could be cooled a little, but that will come with maturity. Alsonso is as bad a tackler as Mikel is (as in throwing in dirty tackles, not over all), but he's seen as a great in his role. Scott Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Haribo Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 I suggest you guys find a rerun of it. They battered down our wing play totally leaving it a central battle which was won totally by Gerrard and Alonso.Anyway, lets move on, no point in doing this right now. I remember it just fine. The entire game was played to an awful standard and whilst Liverpool may have dominated possession, they weren't running the show freely and generally had just as bad a game as our lot. Mikel and Lampard admittedly both had off days: what I was contending was the implication that Mikel had been walked over because he wasn't god enough to deal with players of Gerrard's standard. The lad's class and has shoen on a number of occassions that he has the potential to be great for Chelsea. Obviously we've missed Makelele this season - with the Mak of '06 in the squad against Barcelona I reckon we'd have won with ease, Ovrebo or not. Let's face it, the league games against Liverpool were under Scolari, who was hardly the greatest manager for a young, defensively-minded player. Anyway, sorry for dragging this on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Haribo Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Yeah no point. Glad to see that he's committed to the club and I doubt he's on par with Lampard and JT but I'm sure it will be a nice little increase for him.Also, could we please stop drawing comparisons with Maka's level of ability. I doubt anyone will ever be that good. It's called the Maka role, not the Mikel role FFS. I'm sure he can still develop into a great player, and his passing is already better than Makas anyway. People laud Maka for his short range passing and ability to break down and counter. But Mikel does it and folk complain that he doesn't pass forward enough and he can't score goals...... Think I remember Maka only scoring once, maybe twice in his career with us, and that was a pen he had to take 2 cracks at the day we were presented with the 1st premiership title against Charlton at home. Mikel is a fine footballer and I am glad to have him in our team. His temprament could be cooled a little, but that will come with maturity. Alsonso is as bad a tackler as Mikel is (as in throwing in dirty tackles, not over all), but he's seen as a great in his role. Scott You're forgetting that goal against Spurs. Otherwise, I largely agree. The only real similarity to Makelele is that he's generally the deepest lying midfielder. I don't think Jon Obi plays the game in the same style at all and I though Diarra was a closer match to Mak. Mikel for Nigeria plays a lot higher up the park and I think he's got a lot more to the attacking side of his game. What made Makelele so great was his vision and general awareness: always being in the right position to break up play. That's not something many young players have and as Mikel gains some experience I'm confident he'll become excellent at it. Ancelotti will hopefully teach him a thing or two, at the very least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ozboy Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 You're forgetting that goal against Spurs.Otherwise, I largely agree. The only real similarity to Makelele is that he's generally the deepest lying midfielder. I don't think Jon Obi plays the game in the same style at all and I though Diarra was a closer match to Mak. Mikel for Nigeria plays a lot higher up the park and I think he's got a lot more to the attacking side of his game. What made Makelele so great was his vision and general awareness: always being in the right position to break up play. That's not something many young players have and as Mikel gains some experience I'm confident he'll become excellent at it. Ancelotti will hopefully teach him a thing or two, at the very least. I think its great we have Mikel and the goal scoring doesn't matter so much. Mikel does do a great job of moving the ball quickly and is only rarely caught in possession. He's young, fit and works hard, so that's great. However I do feel that his passing lacks penetration, said so serval times over the last two seasons and look forward to him improving that side of his game. If he could find more creative passes he would become a more valuable member of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexelk Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 very pleased to see it give it a year or 2 and mikel will be the best CM in the world. he's already in the top 15/20 imo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalpitv Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Ok, Sky Sports seems to understand about this contract renewal. Looks like it will be official soon. Link And he does deserve it, I am sure he'll improve over the pre-season and be better next season. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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