But I don't think Khedira would be happy to be a squad player and only get minutes now and again. Right now, there is very little I would change in our squad. You have to credit Mourinho. I moaned about him getting rid of favourites like Mata and Luiz and not keeping Lukaku but when it comes to it, I think he might just know what he's doing!! It's the best balanced squad we've had in ages - both in terms of ability and age.

That’s true but then I think he’d have more chance of getting game time here than at Madrid. It would also mean we could play Cesc further forward in certain games and put in Khedira in his place…that’s in an ideal world though and as you say might only be just that. I just don’t think Mikel offers anything other than defending then again Ramires was out and I’d expect him to be coming on before Mikel so hopefully we don’t see much of John after he’s back.

It’s definitely the most balanced squad since Carlo won the title here, Jose has done an incredible job getting the squad as balanced as he gotten it while getting rid of some deadwood too.

Wasn't Mikels job to track him. You'll find it was Schurlle's fault really, as even pointed out by Mourinho.

 

If there was anyone to complain about for last night not being as comfortable as it could have been it's Schurlle. But here we are, knocking the late substitute.

 

Mikel left Lampard to run in the box, Terry had his hands full and was carrying on the late game. Schurrle was the one who never tracked Milner, so yeah there was many to blame but I really think if Ramires was still on the field that the goal would never of happened.

 

I suppose we could debate all day about Mikel though, I think many of us have for years now, he's not going to improve and he's probably never going to leave, I say we should just play Ake a lot more instead.

Mikel did head towards him then stopped to face up play when lampard ran of him, but it was Ivanovic who should have picked him up really.

Edited October 1, 201411 yr by dkw

Yeah, Ivan was caught ball watching big time for the City goal.

But for some reason Jose always publicly blames his attackers for goals and not the defenders who ate there to, you know, defend the goal.

The question is this:

 

How confident are you of Chelsea winning the title if Matic is out for the season and Mikel has to play all the games.

 

Another way to look at it would be would Mikel get into any of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich's squad?  The answer would be hell no.  I mean Barcelona got rid of a better DM in Song.

 

I reckon Jose is working on trying to bring in Pogba while waiting to see how Chalobah and Ake do this year.  

 

Chelsea can't keep relying on a player who maybe once was valuable but now that Chelsea has improved and has higher aspirations, is no longer good enough to be part of this squad.   

Bring on the abuse... But I like having Obi-Mikel in our squad!!!!

I can't think of a better second-choice DM to be honest

Another way to look at it would be would Mikel get into any of Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern Munich's squad?  The answer would be hell no.  I mean Barcelona got rid of a better DM in Song.

 

Not many players would so not really a good point.

Also lol at Song being better. The one who is now at West Ham ?

Mikel is fine as a backup to Matic, but not much more. Is he happy to play the second fiddle this season and beyond, is the club happy with that? Surely we could give the likes of Romeu, Ake etc a try if we just need a backup DM. As someone pointed out Mikel was not to blame in some of the games, because our midfield was over run. However isn't that the point to play Mikel, a DM for an AM so you have stability and muscle, therefore don't get overrun. He's been a loyal servant to us, but he's just....

 

 

 

not that good.

I can't even get mad at Mikel, his smile melts my heart.

Not many players would so not really a good point.

Also lol at Song being better. The one who is now at West Ham ?

 

 

I realise we're Chelsea supporters but objectively it's hard to look at their time in the premiership and say Mikel has been the better player.  Song was a starter for Arsenal and attracted the attention of Barcelona, Mikel never has.  His last two years at Arsenal he was arguably one of the best defensive midfielders in the premiership.

 

I haven't thought about it yet but an interesting exercise would be to see which premiership teams would Mikel start for.  Funnily enough he might start for Arsenal right now...

Mikel is 27. He's in the prime of his career and he's apparently content to just sit on the bench with no chance of winning a starting spot. I honestly don't know what to make of that type of attitude in a sportsperson.

 

Is he a good back-up DM? Well kinda. Would I trust him to see out the final 30 minutes if Matic was injured? Just about. Would I trust him in the COC or FA Cup against weak opposition? Yes but I'd rather see Ake given the choice.

 

If Matic was out for a while would I trust him? Hell no. He's such a downgrade in that position that we'd seriously struggle. Fabregas would look like sh*t next to Mikel.

 

Now for his primary role - the 'shutting up shop, time to catch the early tube from Fulham Broadway because we're done playing football for the day' job. It's hard to say what his effectiveness in this role is because it's accompanied by a massive tactical shift. Him and Matic sat in front of the defence is physically imposing, although not quite on the level of Matic-Luiz last season. Defensively I'm not sure he's any better than Oscar, but he isn't given the licence to roam in quite the same way.

 

Honestly he's played 300+ games for us and he's the same underwhelming guy he's always been. He's a prime example of unfulfilled potential who is sorta handy to have around in very specific circumstances but does a job I'm pretty sure other players could do too. I won't begrudge him being around unless we actually had to give him meaningful minutes on the pitch and when he leaves I'll say thanks for the service and never ever think about him again. The expectations on him right now are so low that any sightly positive piece of play will earn him plaudits and that probably says everything you need to know about him.

Not many players would so not really a good point.

Also lol at Song being better. The one who is now at West Ham ?

 

Song's best season in the Premier League is better than Mikel's in my opinion, although they play different roles so it's hard to say.

 

Song deserves credit for stepping up and becoming a leader in that Arsenal team in 2011-12 though, something Mikel has never, ever done. If Mikel were to leave Chelsea would he actually get into any team better than West Ham? Would he even get into that West Ham side? He's a very, very specific player so it's hard to say.

 

Song is closer to Ramires than Mikel in terms of play and is very underrated in my opinion. He also deserves credit for leaving Barcelona in search of football when he probably could've sat on his arse at the Nou Camp and collected his wages in exchange for the odd sub appearance.

Mikel is 27. He's in the prime of his career and he's apparently content to just sit on the bench with no chance of winning a starting spot. I honestly don't know what to make of that type of attitude in a sportsperson.

 

Is he a good back-up DM? Well kinda. Would I trust him to see out the final 30 minutes if Matic was injured? Just about. Would I trust him in the COC or FA Cup against weak opposition? Yes but I'd rather see Ake given the choice.

 

If Matic was out for a while would I trust him? Hell no. He's such a downgrade in that position that we'd seriously struggle. Fabregas would look like sh*t next to Mikel.

 

Now for his primary role - the 'shutting up shop, time to catch the early tube from Fulham Broadway because we're done playing football for the day' job. It's hard to say what his effectiveness in this role is because it's accompanied by a massive tactical shift. Him and Matic sat in front of the defence is physically imposing, although not quite on the level of Matic-Luiz last season. Defensively I'm not sure he's any better than Oscar, but he isn't given the licence to roam in quite the same way.

 

Honestly he's played 300+ games for us and he's the same underwhelming guy he's always been. He's a prime example of unfulfilled potential who is sorta handy to have around in very specific circumstances but does a job I'm pretty sure other players could do too. I won't begrudge him being around unless we actually had to give him meaningful minutes on the pitch and when he leaves I'll say thanks for the service and never ever think about him again. The expectations on him right now are so low that any sightly positive piece of play will earn him plaudits and that probably says everything you need to know about him.

 

Good post.

 

You're right, with what he's asked to do and the level that he does it at, i'd rather just give one of the youth prospects a try.

Song's best season in the Premier League is better than Mikel's in my opinion, although they play different roles so it's hard to say.

 

Song deserves credit for stepping up and becoming a leader in that Arsenal team in 2011-12 though, something Mikel has never, ever done. If Mikel were to leave Chelsea would he actually get into any team better than West Ham? Would he even get into that West Ham side? He's a very, very specific player so it's hard to say.

 

Song is closer to Ramires than Mikel in terms of play and is very underrated in my opinion. He also deserves credit for leaving Barcelona in search of football when he probably could've sat on his arse at the Nou Camp and collected his wages in exchange for the odd sub appearance.

 

Agree.  Yes he might play a slightly different role to Mikel but if Matic was out i'd feel more confident with a Song-Fabregas partnership than a Mikel-Fabregas one.  

 

I guess the biggest difference for me is the aggression level of the players, Song just seems tougher, more athletic and more likely to win a ball back.

Agree.  Yes he might play a slightly different role to Mikel but if Matic was out i'd feel more confident with a Song-Fabregas partnership than a Mikel-Fabregas one.  

 

I guess the biggest difference for me is the aggression level of the players, Song just seems tougher, more athletic and more likely to win a ball back.

 

Mikel has always been a very passive player. I think it's just his character which just strikes me as a very un-Mourinho type of personality. I'm sure Jose would prefer to stick in a Luiz/Pepe/Motta type into the DM like he used to but Mikel doesn't seem to be going anywhere and can do some of the things we need him to.

 

Personally I've always been impressed with Ake whenever I've seen him play in midfield for us. 

Agree.  Yes he might play a slightly different role to Mikel but if Matic was out i'd feel more confident with a Song-Fabregas partnership than a Mikel-Fabregas one.  

 

I guess the biggest difference for me is the aggression level of the players, Song just seems tougher, more athletic and more likely to win a ball back.

 

I think Mikel can do a fine enough job stepping in for Matic, personally I'm more concerned over the potential injury of Fabregas, as we don't have anyone else in the squad who can truly replace everything that he brings on a high enough level.

I think Mikel can do a fine enough job stepping in for Matic, personally I'm more concerned over the potential injury of Fabregas, as we don't have anyone else in the squad who can truly replace everything that he brings on a high enough level.

 

I've said it in the other thread, but Matic is second-only to Costa in terms of his importance to this team. He's so far above anything else we have in that position that we'd seriously struggle without him for any period of time.

 

Fabregas would be a massive loss too but you'd hope we'd have enough in Oscar, Willian and Hazard to mitigate that loss. If Matic is out then we have nothing even close to his level of performance.

Mikel is 27. He's in the prime of his career and he's apparently content to just sit on the bench with no chance of winning a starting spot. I honestly don't know what to make of that type of attitude in a sportsperson.

 

Is he a good back-up DM? Well kinda. Would I trust him to see out the final 30 minutes if Matic was injured? Just about. Would I trust him in the COC or FA Cup against weak opposition? Yes but I'd rather see Ake given the choice.

 

If Matic was out for a while would I trust him? Hell no. He's such a downgrade in that position that we'd seriously struggle. Fabregas would look like sh*t next to Mikel.

 

Now for his primary role - the 'shutting up shop, time to catch the early tube from Fulham Broadway because we're done playing football for the day' job. It's hard to say what his effectiveness in this role is because it's accompanied by a massive tactical shift. Him and Matic sat in front of the defence is physically imposing, although not quite on the level of Matic-Luiz last season. Defensively I'm not sure he's any better than Oscar, but he isn't given the licence to roam in quite the same way.

 

Honestly he's played 300+ games for us and he's the same underwhelming guy he's always been. He's a prime example of unfulfilled potential who is sorta handy to have around in very specific circumstances but does a job I'm pretty sure other players could do too. I won't begrudge him being around unless we actually had to give him meaningful minutes on the pitch and when he leaves I'll say thanks for the service and never ever think about him again. The expectations on him right now are so low that any sightly positive piece of play will earn him plaudits and that probably says everything you need to know about him.

 

Cracking post, I always enjoyed your posts about Mikel on TC, you know where all the Mikel fanboys lurk!

Ah yes, can't say a good word about him without being called a fanboy.

Ah yes, can't say a good word about him without being called a fanboy.

 

There are no fanboys on here, that's why I said on TC...

Fabregas would be a massive loss too but you'd hope we'd have enough in Oscar, Willian and Hazard to mitigate that loss. If Matic is out then we have nothing even close to his level of performance.

 

They're all very different players to Fabregas though, and with the exception of Oscar none are comfortable playing so far deep (and even he's still a question mark for the pivot) nor are any of them naturals at dictating play as Fabregas does. Mikel at least is cut from a similar cloth to Matic and knows what his role in the team is, to anchor the midfield and protect the back four.

There are no fanboys on here, that's why I said on TC...

 

That's good then. 

 

Most people on here have just given up. It's like the third iteration of this thread so why bother 

That's good then. 

 

Most people on here have just given up. It's like the third iteration of this thread so why bother 

 

With solid reason, still though we need to address the issue of replacement. Like blue daze said, would anyone trust him if we had a long term injury or worse yet injuries to our centre mids? No way.

 

Of course that's thinking really negative but things can happen, even though this might be like the 5th time I've brought it up but Fabregas does have a very poor fitness record, someone brought it up that the best season he has had is 26 league games in a season, not very good for someone who has been considered a key player for every side he has been at.

Did not realise it was that time again, why it only seems like yesterday, when you all where lined up to have a crack at the latest whipping boy.