He said last night: "I think the way we play sometimes, we're very good going forward, but when you lose the ball you need to defend, and you can't do that with six men, you need it to be the whole team. It has to be the team, and that is how we were successful last year.

"People say we didn't play attractive football, yes, but we won trophies. This year we want to play attractive football, and this is what we get. We don't want to be a team that plays attractive football and doesn't win games.

"We have to have that [foundation]. This has been the way we play. This is the way Chelsea play: we are very tough physically, we are very tough when we lose the ball. Now we just don't seem to do that and it is very easy [for other teams]. When we don't have the ball now it's a nightmare."

Taken from http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/blogs/early-doors/stop-ve-heard-one-090114995.html

He is spot-on, but how long will it be till the press decide that the players have got RdM the sack? Mikel has been an ever-present for Robbie, but in these words seems to show very little faith in his tactical approach. If the players are uncomfortable playing his way, it doesn't take long for the board to become aware of it. And now, following the latest and worst in a poor run of results, it seems apparent that there was major discontent in the squad about our playing style. We lost the solidity that served us so well, and have replaced it with some very attractive but ultimately a very unsuccessful brand of football.

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by Backbiter

The only teams who play that system perfectly are Barcelona & perhaps Dortmund. Everyone needs to press (including Torres & a few others around him)

Watching it last night (mikels interview) was strange if you get the chance wtch it!

Watching it last night (mikels interview) was strange if you get the chance wtch it!

Got a link?

Nah mate watched it on ITV highlights last night, could be on Iplayer?

I think if mikel feels like that he needs to hand a transfer request in because that is the system RA wants to implement. The fact is if we kept the ball better then we wouldn't be constantly having to defend with 6 men

Also a striker who takes chances would make a difference

Mikel does not fit the system we play and should be on the bench or sold.

Of course he wants to go back to the old way of playing but we need to knock this player power on the head fit in or ship out.

Mikel does not fit the system we play

I disagree. Clearly we are working our way towards emulating Barcelona's style of possession-based football; can you honestly tell me there is a great difference in playing style between Mikel and Busquets?

Mikel is dead wrong here...

Our problem is we have a divide in the team. Some players want to win the ball back immediately like Oscar and Hazard and Mata, while the others want to sit back and invite pressure. That divide causes a breakdown in team defending which RDM is not addressing.

You either pressure hard with 11 players high up the pitch and win it back together OR everyone sits back in their own half and absorbs pressure. The way our team is built now, the former is the only way to play. Absorbing pressure with Mata, Hazard and Oscar as your midfield is not going to go very well for you. Especially with our defensive line frailties as IMO Cahill is terrible in positioning himself on crosses.

I disagree. Clearly we are working our way towards emulating Barcelona's style of possession-based football; can you honestly tell me there is a great difference in playing style between Mikel and Busquets?

Yes one has quality the other does not. Seriously your comparing the two?

Be interested to know if you would take Toure over Mikel?

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by smileysmiles

If you want to see Mikel's interview you can do so over on the itvsport website.

Yes one has quality the other does not. Seriously your comparing the two?

Both are smart defensive midfielders whose primary job on the ball is to keep possession circulating and play the odd long diagonal. They are both by trade unadventurous and tend to drop deep between the centre backs, covering the full backs as they push forward.

This season has been the exception as Di Matteo gave Mikel licence to move forward on the ball and press higher up the pitch off it. Even if you rate one and not the other their playing styles are undeniably similar.

Both are smart defensive midfielders whose primary job on the ball is to keep possession circulating and play the odd long diagonal. They are both by trade unadventurous and tend to drop deep between the centre backs, covering the full backs as they push forward.

This season has been the exception as Di Matteo gave Mikel licence to move forward on the ball and press higher up the pitch off it. Even if you rate one and not the other their playing styles are undeniably similar.

I would have Busquets over Mikel every day of the week.

Both are smart defensive midfielders whose primary job on the ball is to keep possession circulating and play the odd long diagonal. They are both by trade unadventurous and tend to drop deep between the centre backs, covering the full backs as they push forward.

This season has been the exception as Di Matteo gave Mikel licence to move forward on the ball and press higher up the pitch off it. Even if you rate one and not the other their playing styles are undeniably similar.

Yet he is everything Mikel is not strange that.

http://arsenalcolumn.co.uk/2012/07/21/sergio-busquets-re-inventing-the-midfield-pivot-role/

Sorry for the scummy link but actually a reasonable article on him.

I would have Busquets over Mikel every day of the week.

Agreed.

Mikel is an average defensive midfielder and a poor central midfielder.

I can't see how long he can last when it's failed so many times. (systems in which we play).

I wouldn't want busquets near this club. His diving antics will NOT get rewarded in this country.

I wouldn't want busquets near this club. His diving antics will NOT get rewarded in this country.

'Quality' is a subjective measure and doesn't relate to playing style. It is a measure of how good each individual perceives that player to be at his particular playing style. I don't disagree that Busquets is the superior footballer (good article btw), but I do disagree that they are two different kinds of footballer, because they are not. In short, one floor mopper being better at his job than another floor mopper doesn't mean they aren't both still floor moppers.

I think most would have Toure before Mikel and as Busquets was the guy that kept Toure out of the barca squad for think it was 2009-2010 you start to understand where mikel fits on that ladder.

Ill take the guy who can mop the floor to the required standard 4 times faster than the other. That way I reduce my risk of breaking my neck by 4.

I'm sorry but who the hell does Mikel think he is ? This is the one player that has no right complaining about the systems Chelsea play, he doesn't seem to fit in any of them. Every system Mikel plays in the same mistakes from Mikel creep into his game. So Mikel you want to defend better as team do you ? well how about you f**king track back and help, which you yet again failed to do for Juve's second goal last night.

Very average player who doesn't seem to have improved at all in his time here. We will never win the Premier League title with Mikel as one of our first choice players. He hasn't got a clue.

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by Scott Harris

Mikel is spot on.

Agreed.

Mikel is an average defensive midfielder and a poor central midfielder.

I can't see how long he can last when it's failed so many times. (systems in which we play).

I don't agree with this.

Mikel is not Bousquets but that is an unfair comparison as Bousquets is basically a tactical genius playing in a system that fits him perfectly.

Mikel is an above average, I would say top 5 holding mid in the EPL. He breaks up play often with good anticipation and is very good at maintaining possession under pressure with his excellent shielding and ball protection. He then distributes simple passes.

Basically he does his job with efficiency and not with flash. The problem at Chelsea is how he is used. He should not be in a partnership in a two man holding midfield line. He should be on his own with two attacking mids in front of him instead as that would give him more forward options to locate after winning the ball back instead of one.

IMO, we should be like this....

Azpili ---------------- Ivan ------------- Luiz ------------- Cole

------------------------------Mikel----------------------------------

------------Mata-----------------------------Oscar-------------------

Ramires---------------------Moses--------------------------Hazard

This formation would force Mikel to track side to side and get him on the ball more and would greatly improve our ability to maintain possession by having Mata and Oscar in positions to receive in areas that Mikel can identify easier.

Mikel in the team is like having a Ferrari and putting this on it.

Bit uncalled for but couldn't resist

Edited November 21, 201213 yr by smileysmiles