John Obi Mikel's career, as a Nigerian and a football fan is just so heartbreaking to see that a player that had so much promise and was suppose to fill the void left in Nigeria's national team by the legendary Number 10 Jay Jay Okocha, now warms the bench as much as the fans does and even way more than his coach who isn't even a player.
As a result his failing career, Thegoalmac takes a look at five reasons why I feel his career has taken this unhappy path. Continue to see the reasons after the cut and tell us what you think.
1. Mikel's choice of joining Chelsea in 2006; Where he was converted from playing his natural attacking midfield position which made Man Utd and Chelsea to fight for his signature in the first place, to defensive midfield position to stop players with his kind of natural ability from playing and also delaying the game by Jose Mourinho, other than joining Man Utd where he would have been unleashed to play to his natural role by Sir Alex.
2. Terrible and Awful advisers; One of the worst thing that could happen to a young promising footballer is to have the wrong people advising him. Mikel for me, didn't have the people that understands football and proper players management knowledge in his life. And I think till date he doesn't still have one.
3. Mikel's lack of Ambition; For me, I believe he lacks ambition as a footballer and has simply proved that by not being worried about his lack of playing time at Chelsea and not wanting to revive his career in his natural position. Take for example, Matic who is currently benching Mikel at Chelsea presently, was once even lower than Mikel in Chelsea's midfield ranking order, but he choose to go and play regularly elsewhere, at Benfica to be precise and he developed his game to the point that Chelsea wanted him back so badly and paid plenty money for his return. And currently he is Mikel's boss in the team.
That is what ambition can do for a player, as we all know that in football, if you don't play regularly, you won't improve and it also affects your confidence as a player.
4. His Love for Money; This also has a connection with his lack of ambition, I have spoken to some Chelsea fans about Mikel's situation at Chelsea and most of them told me that he is rich and is making his money. I'm not saying anyone should hate money, but still using Matic's case as an example, I'm so sure that he makes a lot more money now at Chelsea, than when he was warming the bench before he left. And recently I reported on this blog that Chelsea wants to give him a new bumper contract soon as reward for his impressive perfomances, that is just less than a year after he returned to the club.
Now imagine if Mikel had left Chelsea some seasons ago to play regular football and in his preferred role, who knows the level he could have been at by now as a player.
5. Jose Mourinho; Sincerely speaking, Mourinho owes Mikel, Nigeria and the world a big apology for practically destroying a player's career that was just second best to Messi. Not that I'm taking anything away from Jose, he is a fantastic coach, but his failure to see the fantastic and graceful attacking midfield talent in Mike at that time was simply unbelievable and unforgiveable.
He turned him into a player that only knows how to bulldoze players with his muscle and passing back to his defenders and goalkeepers and whose slow movement on the pitch can only be envied by a snail. Other than helping a player who was even more popular for his graceful and slick attacking midfield talent at that time than Fabregas and Iniesta, he choose to develop a macho man instead.
For me personally and as a Nigerian, I wish he went to Man Utd, or even had coaches like Arsene Weger and Pep Guardiola groom and nurture his talent. Now we will continue to look for Jay Jay Okocha's replacement for many more years to come.
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