June 21, 200717 yr Let me see if I got this right: Mikel was injured and so missed the game against Uganda. He was then left out for the Naions Cup. Because of this he's "disrespectful & disinterested"? I can't see how he's done anything wrong. Too bad for Mikel who I guess wanted to play for his country, but it's good for us since this might mean that he stays with us during the African Nations (or whatever it's called).
June 21, 200717 yr Author I opt for the 'don't believe 4/5 of what you read and 8/10 of what you hear approach' Chances are there are porkies being told on both sides - lets face it Mikel doesn't exactly have an unblemished track record when it comes to dealing with matters professionally!
June 21, 200717 yr but it's good for us since this might mean that he stays with us during the African Nations (or whatever it's called). I was just thinking that, would be good to keep him during the ACN.
June 21, 200717 yr steve sidwell is looking increasingly like the most pointless signing ever. poor guy.
June 22, 200717 yr steve sidwell is looking increasingly like the most pointless signing ever. poor guy. As he probably has the terms of his contract tattood on his chest, he MUST be successful signing
June 22, 200717 yr A good decision, his club should be his priority. Too right. And after a long hard first season in the EPL, wouldn't you want a few weeks holiday? Especially when you're still a kid and have a bank account to make your eyes spin? Every 19 year old needs to let off steam. So good luck to him I say. Go crazy for a month and come back fresh and itching to get stuck in. Mik was the real find for me, last season. Like a young Viera. So composed on the ball. Great vision. Touch of the red mist. Not afraid to put it about when it was needed. Who would've thought 16 million quid for a 19 year old would sound like a such a good deal... With him and Essien in the middle of the park for us next season, we're going to be very hard to break down.
June 23, 200717 yr steve sidwell is looking increasingly like the most pointless signing ever. poor guy. I am afraid I never saw the point in it since day one!
June 23, 200717 yr A good decision, his club should be his priority. Too right. And after a long hard first season in the EPL, wouldn't you want a few weeks holiday? Especially when you're still a kid and have a bank account to make your eyes spin? Every 19 year old needs to let off steam. So good luck to him I say. Go crazy for a month and come back fresh and itching to get stuck in. Mik was the real find for me, last season. Like a young Viera. So composed on the ball. Great vision. Touch of the red mist. Not afraid to put it about when it was needed. Who would've thought 16 million quid for a 19 year old would sound like a such a good deal... With him and Essien in the middle of the park for us next season, we're going to be very hard to break down. Agree with all of that, Brian
June 23, 200717 yr A good decision, his club should be his priority. Would you be saying that if he were a Socceroo?
June 24, 200717 yr Mik was the real find for me, last season. Like a young Viera. So composed on the ball. Great vision. Touch of the red mist. Not afraid to put it about when it was needed. Who would've thought 16 million quid for a 19 year old would sound like a such a good deal...With him and Essien in the middle of the park for us next season, we're going to be very hard to break down. Couldn't agee more with that assessment. For me Mikel along with Essien were the big plus points from last season in terms of talent for the future. Watching Mikel play for Chelsea in midfield it's amazing how much composure on the ball he has. I read somewhere that Jose said the great thing about him now is that he's turned Mikel into a multifunctional player. When they first brought him in he was more attack minded but Jose was thrilled that now he can play in that Makelele role as well yet he's even more dynamic there. Jose just loves these kind of players that are very physical and can play in various positions (well) and most importantly don't whine about it because it's for the good of the team. After some initial issues with him I think Mikel has turned into one hell of a buy - who would have thought that paying that much money for a 17 (?) year old would turn into being called almost a steal? For me a midfield with Essien and Mikel in is some formidable force for the future. No wonder we fought tooth and nail for him with MU. Their loss our gain no doubt about it, can't wait to see how he develops next season, if Jose can keep his temper under control he'll be fantastic. If he's now out of favour with his country - good. It means more time playing for us and we are the ones paying his wages and having to run the risk he might get injured on national duty. If they never recall him again, I'll be quite happy.
June 25, 200717 yr A good decision, his club should be his priority. Would you be saying that if he were a Socceroo? Yep.
June 25, 200717 yr For me it comes down to this - if Mikel was/is genuinely injured, then fair enough. But if he is not, and he just wants a rest, then the Nigerian FA is well within its rights to do this. It's not like the match he missed was a meaningless friendly - it was a qualifyer for a major international tournament. Imagine how the press would react if JT and Lamps decided they were too tired to play in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. As an international player - you shouldn't have the right to pick and choose which matches you do or don't want to play in. You can't go missing for the small qualifiers and expect to show up for the world cup. You are either part of the national set-up or you are not. If you decide that club committments are more important, then the right thing to do is to retire from interntional football - like Scholes has. But, as I said before - if Mikel is genuinely injured, then there is no problem and Nigeria is overreacting.
June 26, 200717 yr For me it comes down to this - if Mikel was/is genuinely injured, then fair enough. But if he is not, and he just wants a rest, then the Nigerian FA is well within its rights to do this.It's not like the match he missed was a meaningless friendly - it was a qualifyer for a major international tournament. Imagine how the press would react if JT and Lamps decided they were too tired to play in the qualifiers for Euro 2008. As an international player - you shouldn't have the right to pick and choose which matches you do or don't want to play in. You can't go missing for the small qualifiers and expect to show up for the world cup. You are either part of the national set-up or you are not. If you decide that club committments are more important, then the right thing to do is to retire from interntional football - like Scholes has. But, as I said before - if Mikel is genuinely injured, then there is no problem and Nigeria is overreacting. I don't know if Mikel was injured or not but if he wasn't then a bit of the blame must fall on Chelsea. They refused to let the national teams doctors examine Mikel and basicaly just said "He's injured. Trust us. He won't play".
June 26, 200717 yr Author As an international player - you shouldn't have the right to pick and choose which matches you do or don't want to play in. Unless your name is Ryan Giggs - beats me how Welsh people can consider him a Welsh hero.
June 26, 200717 yr As an international player - you shouldn't have the right to pick and choose which matches you do or don't want to play in. You can't go missing for the small qualifiers and expect to show up for the world cup. You are either part of the national set-up or you are not. If you decide that club committments are more important, then the right thing to do is to retire from interntional football - like Scholes has. A player, certainly not- but his club should.
June 26, 200717 yr Author I disagree that a club should - if you allowed clubs to opt players out of international games on a whim then international football would go to the dogs. You would get nto the stage where the big clubs would only allow their players to play in major tournaments and select qualifiers and that would mean international teams get no stability or continuity. It would also hit the smaller nations hard as their few top name players would always be getting withheld. Although my personal preference is with the domestic game (i.e. Chelsea before England in terms of picking the one I would rather see successful) I still hold the view that international clubs are perfectly entitled to call up players and expect them to show up. If the domestic clubs claim there is an injury and the international team is not convinced it is a legitimate one then they should be entitled to demand the player be iinspected by independent medics.
June 26, 200717 yr Personally, I think it is the right of any player to decide if and when he wants to play for his national side. It is also the right of the international side to leave the player out if they don't think he is committed. Take David Bentley as an example. If he doesn't want to play for England in the U21 championships that's his decision. If I was in charge of selecting England teams then he would never be considered for selection again and I would have made that clear to him at the time. I don't think you can force someone to play if they don't want to, but equally, I wouldn't let a player pick and choose his matches if I was an international selector.
June 26, 200717 yr Author Spot on ethical - I should have clarified that. I don't think a player should be forced to play international football, if they don't want to then they can simply opt out but that should be a permanent opting out, not a I'll play this game but not that one.
August 8, 200717 yr Author And on it still goes http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/footbal ... 935377.stm Probably safe to say Mikel is going to be in the headlines for good and bad reasons for the duration of his career! He does seem to have smartened up his act with regards to his attitude toward the domestic game (and he has openly commented on Jose's influence over this) however maybe this hasn't extended to international commitments. Possibly when it comes to the international thing we, as a club, are not so fussed what he does as it actually benefits us.
