BY CHELSEASTATS
When I set out to write this article, I wanted to review John Obi Mikel’s performances for Chelsea so far this season,
mostly due to how he has impressed me personally but also because he
quite often comes under criticism which we will discuss later and
eventually try and disprove.
The Nigerian has played well enough,
perhaps to convince Di Matteo and the board that letting Raul Meireles
and Michael Essien (albeit on loan) to leave is good business in
reducing the wage bill and net expenditure, whilst not hurting the
strength of the squad to compete for the 5 remaining trophies this
season.
Mikel and Romeu are now the only real
defensive minded midfielders available in the senior squad, as Lampard
still has an attacking mentality and Ramires is the box to box engine.
The Likes of Chalobah can do the job very well at a level but is
untested and unproven in the premier league level and is out on loan along with around 25 others to gain competitive experience anyway.
Mikel is often seen as a player who
completes a lot passes by simply playing the ball back to Terry and his
defensive partner (Cahill, Luiz or Ivanovic) creating an artificially
high pass completion in an area of the pitch that normally provides time
and space to make simple backwards passes.
It appears to be a common belief that
this play slows the game down and stops Chelsea from building a quick
counter attack or suggests the team is lacking the urgency demanded by
some supporters, perhaps gets caught in possession too often and as
whole can be unreliable or frustrating for Chelsea fans.
But the statistics tell another story.
Mikel vs Wigan
An opening exhibition from Hazard helped the blues to a 7th minute 2 goal
cushion before hitting cruise control for the rest of the game. Mikel
had a solid display completing 49 of his 52 attempted passes, receiving
the ball 39 times, 19 of his 21 passes were forward, 17 of 17 backward
and 13/14 sideways.
Mikel vs Reading
A dominant first 25 from Chelsea with
some exciting tiki-taka football and a goal was blown away by an
unstoppable header and a mistake by Cech. The Blues rallied in the
second half to win 4-2 and Mikel was replaced by Oscar in an almost
gung-ho attitude by Di Matteo to salvage the points and the 100% start
to the season.
The Nigerian completed 63 of 70
attempted passes, received the ball 57 times. Completed 10 of 13
attempted passes in the final third. 32 of his 39 forward passes were
accurate compared to 15/15 backwards and 16/16 square.
Mikel vs Newcastle
Partnering Meireles in a more defensive
minded double pivot against a side that beat Chelsea 0-2 at the Bridge
towards the end of last season and a side that also finished higher in
the league. It was an understandable tactical change by Di Matteo and
the statistics show a share in the defensive qualities needed from a
midfield to keep Chelsea’s 2nd clean sheet in three games.
The Nigerian completed 60 of his 63
attempted passes and received the ball 53 times. Although clearly not
thought of as an attacking player, Mikel completed 5 of 6 attempted
passes in the final third.
58 of 61 short passes were completed and
26 of 29 were passed forwards as opposed to just 14 of 14 backwards and
20/20 side to side (square).
Mikel made 11 passes to Meireles his
team-mate in the double pivot or central midfield role, unsurprisingly.
However Mikel made 8 passes to Hazard and 5 to Torres which is 13
combined and more than Mikel’s total passes to defenders Luiz, Ivanovic
and Cech combined.
In summary (59%) 96 of 164 passes
analysed have gone to ‘forward players’ – those other players playing in
the 2-3-1 of a 4-2-3-1 formation.
29% of his passes have gone forward in the first 3 games of the premier league season compared to just 12% going backwards.
Mikel has completed 13 of 18 final third
passes successfully and has maintained 93% passing accuracy his own
half as well as 93% in the opposition half.
Mikel Vs Last Season
Last season Mikel made 22 league starts,
completed over 982 passes (90% completion). Made 362 passes forwards
compared to just 110 backwards, 295 passes went left and 322 passes to
the right.
Mikel was dispossessed just 16 times
last season, 0.727 times per game or once every 88 minutes (this season
he has improved to once every 124 minutes), whilst recovering possession
184 times making 4 blocks and 33 interceptions.
The Statistics from this season
and last show a forward playing and forward thinking Mikel, but a
player who also understands the need to keep possession by being able to
pass sideways and avoid being dispossessed. At Stamford Bridge this
season 29% of Mikel’s passes were forwards against Newcastle and 37%
against Reading, 72% of his attacking third passes have been accurate
and to compliment that Mikel has won 86% of his tackles, 57% of his
ground duels and 33% of his aerial duels.
Perhaps the 25-year-old is becoming the core of Chelsea whilst achieving 244 appearances the still young midfielder has a brighter future and the opportunity to flourish in the new look Di Matteo side.
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