A Trojan horse for Chelsea youth? A focus on John Obi Mikel

John Obi Mikel is a divisive figure: half the Chelsea fans I speak to appreciate the young Nigerian, others don’t. Fans of other clubs (who don’t watch Chelsea games in full) invariably don’t rate him. The truth is however that he’s a rapidly improving player with talent beyond his years. For the benefit of both his and the club’s long-term future, it’s crucial that he now receives the backing his talent deserves.

It’s not been the smoothest of rides for Obi Mikel (or is it Mikel Obi? Those I sit with at the Bridge often call him Obi Wan) since he joined Chelsea back in 2006. His transfer itself was controversial of course, but in his first three years at the club he was sent off four times and collected more yellow cards than the Special One had press conferences. His discipline was clearly an issue, and not just on the pitch – three fines came for arriving late for training – and he seemed to be suffering from over-confidence.

Last season things worked better for Mikel however. Relied upon first by Scolari and then Hiddink – in no small part due to Essien’s horrendous injury – the Chelsea number 12 looked set to properly take the reins from Claude Makelele in the holding role, who had left the club the previous summer.

Strings of games followed and, to many at least, he was improving. Unfortunately a tendency towards inconsistency and the odd concentration lapse – from memory a couple of the goals in the 1-3 away defeat to Roma were down to his errors – came to characterise his ability for many looking to judge his progress. He was often – and is still – accused of being too negative, only able to pass sideways and a defensive liability.

It’s not hard to see why some Chelsea fans don’t rate Mikel. If the figures are to believed, Chelsea may have paid up to £16m for him (although the club’s recent exoneration in the deal to sign him might see some of that recouped), and such a high transfer fee brings greater expectation. He has been prone to lingering too long on the ball and he has had concentration lapses. Perhaps more than anything else, following the exemplary Makelele is very tall order indeed.

To judge Mikel by such standards however is neither fair nor realistic. He is just 22 years of age (he’s 23 next month), exceptionally young for a holding player, and actually shows uncommon discipline, reading of the game and awareness for someone of his age. How many players aged 22 have played 153 games in that position for such a high-profile club, all in just three and a half seasons? Not many.

And – it seems to me at least – parts of his game are starting to improve dramatically. Again because of an Essien injury, Ancelotti has given Mikel a sustained run in the first team and it is paying dividends. One or two errors aside (the header to Tevez in the Man City game, for example), he has been exceptionally consistent over the last couple of months, having a 94% pass completion rate over the four consecutive Premier League games he has played. A swashbuckling Essien he is not of course, but he has been more adventurous with his passing and is moving the ball far quicker. Perhaps this is Ancelotti’s influence – after all, we know that the Italian likes his deep-lying midfielders to operate as playmakers, hence his attempts to sign Pirlo last summer.

Above all, Mikel is starting to demonstrate an Essien-like self confidence in his own strength on the ball. Repeatedly over the past month we have seen him time and again receive the ball in close quarters in his own half, hold off two opposition players, emerge with the ball and move it forwards on to a blue shirt. Taking responsibility in such dangerous areas of the pitch certainly suggests a player growing in maturity.

Unfortunately, with that responsibility comes greater risk. Ultimately that greater risk will, occasionally, bring mistakes. And here lies the issue: are Chelsea – and not just the manager, but also the fans – ready to accept players, especially young players, making mistakes?

If we aren’t able have a little more patience to understand that young players need game time to improve, and if we can't accept that giving them time means mistakes might be made, the club will need to stick with its existing one-dimensional, limiting and expensive ‘off the shelf’ transfer strategy if it wants to stay competitive.

That will cost Chelsea not only money – money it probably doesn’t have - but also youthful drive and enthusiasm. For Chelsea’s management (and its fans), now is the time to recognise Mikel’s improvement and forgive his mistakes – the success of one young player could lead to the success of others. If they don’t though, it could reinforce the awkward precedent that youth doesn’t get a chance at the club, and present an almost insuperable barrier to rebuilding the squad for the future.

What do you think about Mikel? Please post a comment. And before I forget: bridgeviews.co.uk has been nominated for an award! Check out the nominees here - and drop the organisers a note about what Chelsea blog you like best and why...

Comments

[chelsfan]

he's not world class, but he's good enough. have to say i agree that we meeed to give young players more of a chance. whats happened to kakuta? Borini was making more appearances but now we haven't seen him for months. hutchinson, bruma?

their early appearances were a bit of a false dawn. if young players like mikel don't get a fair chance or are dropped after mistakes (tbf mikel is geting a game and his mistakes haven't cost him yet)then we won't get the best young players wanting to come to chelsea

[Louis Lombardi]

im one of the few chelsea fans that like mikel, he's good at what he does as a distributor of the ball, i.e. short passes or tidy passes around our D, but i agree he is no Essien. for me Essien is the most versatile midfielder in the world, given his attributes of every area of the pitch, i think you have to say Essien is among the top 3 midfielders in the world; he is absoloutely IMMENSE. Any team in the world would miss his presence in front of the defence or buckaneering runs through the midfield, and to be honest i think we are so conscious of his absence, we become anxious and paranoid to blame Mikel, i do feel however that essiens pace is missed the most and mikel is not that zippy sort of player with the ball, we probably end up playing slower with Mikel, but that is not to say we dont play well, he is just another dimension that is credit to our amazing variety throughout the squad. Lets support him, because he is a young player with so much more to give, more than he already has, i like the stats of how many games hes played that were given, which proves maybe how little notice, we've actually taken of the good things he's done. Lets just hope Essiens back soon though, because for me i would not swap him for anyone. cOME ON THE CHELS!!!!

[Kostaz]

I do rate Obi Mikel despite his huge mistakes like the back-pass in the APOEL game or the header in City game.I'm quite sure he'll never reach Mak's level or Essien's but he is good enough for his age and experience will only make him better.I'm not sure he is the youngster who should be given playtime(Sturridge looks like he's more worth it,Kakuta should get some too)but the number of games he has played is great for a player of his age and skills.

[Mos Def]

Brilliant article. Then again, I would say that as I agree with your views! I think Mikel has a lot to work on but as long as he has the desire to work on it, he will come good in the next two or so seasons and emerge as a wolrd class player. The real question is wether he has the hunger to succeed.

[steviej]

Good article. Fans have to realise that Mikel has fantastic presence on the pitch and for a player of his size is a wonderful athlete with great movement and balance. He has the potential to be better than Ballack in my opinion and indeed at the present time offers more than Ballack to our team. There are few players around with those abilities hence his price and the demand for him. I remain hopeful that he will emerge as a truly great midfielder given a little more experience

[Pam]

I love u all 4 all ur comments on Mikel.The young player was the most under appreciated player in chelsea. Comments like this will shouldly ginger the young man.