Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Pavarotti »

Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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Manchester United Manager Jose Mourinho has joined the long list of those condemning Gernot Rohr for playing ex Chelsea star Mikel Obi in the advanced number 10 playmakers role

The highly regarded Portuguese tactician was speaking on a Russian TV where he was a pundit for the world cup . . . http://www.soccerassembly.com/mourinho- ... number-10/
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

[1] Mourinho is not saying anything I have not been screaming here for ages
[2] When I screamed myself hoarse telling everyone here that Mikel is no playmaker, some dumb and ignorant forumers were calling me names
[3] I told them that a playmaker needs the legs to get beyond the strikers and Mikel does not have that but alas, they refused to listen
[4] Anyone who saw Dele Alli and Jessie Lingard yesterday will appreciate the point I was making
[5] Harry Kane did not play any better than Odion Ighalo yesterday. However, the difference was that he got service, so was able to get into position to score
[6] When a targetman flicks the ball on, it is the playmaker who runs on to it behind the defence, allowing the striker to then turn and run into goal scoring positions. Mikel simply does not have the legs of lungs to play that role at 30. Even in his hey day, Mikel was never a quick player anyway.
[7] Let me repeat it again for your deaf people - Nigeria's best two playmakers at the moment are Kelechi Nwakali and Abdul Ajagun. Both of them should be in the squad, with one starting
[8] Some silly people are blaming Ighalo for our lack of goals as if he is to conjure chances out of thin air. Give Ighalo a playmaker and watch the team click. Even if Harry Kane or Sergei Aguero had played for Nigeria against Croatia, they would have had zero shots on target
[9] Some ignoramuses think playing Kelechi Iheanacho will make a difference. Dumb, silly people. All Rohr really can do is play Iheanacho and Moses wide of Ighalo, with Iwobi as his playmaker and then use Mikel and Ndidi as his holding midfielders. That is the best he will get out of this squad
[10] Also, where Rohr expects to get crosses from without Ebuehi and Joel out wide is beyond me. I can understand Rohr not knowing our players and psyche well as he has only been associated with Nigerian football for two years but when CE forumers who have been following the game for 30 years are as ignorant, that makes my blood boil. Too many of you just refuse to learn. Those of you who are teachers will appreciate how frustrating that is. I posted a 10 point educational piece here providing an insight into the lessons of the Croatia game but some imbecile who just wants to foster Almajiri-style ignorance on Nigerians deleted it. YOU the fans are the problem with Nigerian football!
Last edited by Ayo Akinfe on Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

I posted this but some evil doer who will rot in hell deleted it:



Coach Rohr attributes Nigeria's 0-2 loss to Croatia to too many mistakes by his boys - See more at: https://goo.gl/v5L9DC

10 observations I have to make about the Croatia game:

[1] First and foremost, what hurts most about the loss is that Croatia did not do anything to deserve a win. On the balance of play and the tame performance of both teams, a 0-0 draw would have been a fair result

[2] If we had lost 0-2 to Spain, I would not have minded but Uzoho was virtually on holiday throughout the game and yet had to pick the ball out of his net twice. Very unfair result if the ask me. We were extremely unlucky. We have played worse than this and won games

[3] From what I saw, the main problem was a lack on spirit, enthusiasm and dynamism from the team going forward. Our problems were all in the last third. We failed to have one shot on target. Where this team is totally lacking is in the area of creativity

[4] Rohr's biggest failing is that he has not taken the issue of a creative playmaker seriously. I have repeatedly said that Mikel lacks the legs for the role but was called all sorts of names for suggesting so. I hope those of you talking nonsense can now see how silly you appear. At 30, Mikel is in the twilight of his career and canot play the one-twp give and goes on the edge of the area. Even at his best, Mikel was never a fast player and lacked the urgency you are looking for in a top class playmaker

[5] I hope all of you who were disparaging calls for Kelechi Nwakali to be our playmaker can now see how dumb you are. Can you just imagine how he would have taken the initiative, gone past a few Croatians and had several shots at goal were he playing?

[6] Where Rohr messed up big time was taking Iwobi off instead of Mikel. He should have brought on Iheanacho to play Iwobi's tole out wide and then played Iwobi as his playmaker. A frobnt trio of Moses, Iheanacho and Ighalo with Iwobi playmaking behind them would surely have had a greater impact

[7] Rohr is also obsessed with Shehu Abdullahi and Bryan Idowu for some weird reason. In all fairness, the due performed their defensive functions well but offered us nothing going forward. I put it to you all that Tyronne Ebuehi and Joel Obi as our fullbacks would have made a huge difference. Did Abdullahi or Idowu provide one cross throughout the 90 minutes? Contrast that to the way Šime Vrsaljko was bombing forward all game

[8] William Ekong was responsible for both goals. On the first one he let Mandžukić lost him and get a header then he gave away a penalty for the second goal. Obviously Rohr had told him to mark him tighter of corners and the man got over-enthusiastic. Clearly Ekong has a problem with man-marking. We had more corners than the Croatians and never threatened them but alas, whenever we defended a corner, Ekong was in trouble. Is it too late to bring in a defensive coach to drill the boys on this?

[9] Mikel is clearly not fit as the Chinese league has been on a break and only just resumed. What Rohr should have done is get him and Igalo, to train with a European team when their league was off. This would have ensured they are fully fit for the World Cup

[10] Despite our loss, I am not going to panic and make rash and wholesale changes to our team. that would be irrational, irresponsible and tantamount to flying off the handle. For our next game, I would like to see this line-up:

***********************************Ighalo************************************

****************Moses**************************Iheanacho*****************

*************************************Iwobi************************************

*********************Ndidi***************************Etebo*******************

***Joel**************Balogun***************Ekong***************Ebuehi***

************************************Uzoho************************************
Last edited by Ayo Akinfe on Tue Jun 19, 2018 9:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by deanotito »

It’s true. Took me a while to accept but Mikel is no 10. It just doesn’t work
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by cchinukw »

Even Stevie Wonder can see that Iwobi ought to be the No. 10 on this team. It's an absolute no brainer.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by cic old boy »

Borinho should shut the rass up. Mikel was a 10 until he turned him into a water carrier. Now, Mikel doesn't have the energy to be a water carrier.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

cic old boy wrote:Borinho should shut the rass up. Mikel was a 10 until he turned him into a water carrier. Now, Mikel doesn't have the energy to be a water carrier.

So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by maceo4 »

Who is Mourinho and what does he know - signed JMO houseboys
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by cic old boy »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Did you see what Tunisia’s division two and three players did yesterday? Make una dey there dey wait for player to shine for Europe before una use am! At the 2000 ANC, our worst player was Barcelona’s Gbenga Okunowo.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Add Riquelme and maybe even Platini to the list. However all these other guys had other skill-sets. Riquelme and Pirlo had an amazing range of passing and were good strikers of the ball including set-pieces. Platini and Socrates had great lungs and an eye for goal....in Platini's case he was a better finisher than most strikers.

Mikel's skillset is just way too limited, if you add his speed to it, you can see now why he could never have played the number 10 even in his heyday.

You are right about Alli, Loftus Cheek came in yesterday and the difference was night and day. One over rated footballer right there.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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What the hell does he know, has he ever watched Obiesta play?
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by cchinukw »

airwolex wrote:
cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Add Riquelme and maybe even Platini to the list. However all these other guys had other skill-sets. Riquelme and Pirlo had an amazing range of passing and were good strikers of the ball including set-pieces. Platini and Socrates had great lungs and an eye for goal....in Platini's case he was a better finisher than most strikers.

Mikel's skillset is just way too limited, if you add his speed to it, you can see now why he could never have played the number 10 even in his heyday.

You are right about Alli, Loftus Cheek came in yesterday and the difference was night and day. One over rated footballer right there.
...But Dele Alli shows passion, guts and blood and a knack for running at defenders - a typical trait of British media darlings.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by cic old boy »

Ayo Akinfe wrote:
Did you see what Tunisia’s division two and three players did yesterday? Make una dey there dey wait for player to shine for Europe before una use am! At the 2000 ANC, our worst player was Barcelona’s Gbenga Okunowo.
The Tunisians showed they were Div 2 and 3 players! Any team with top div players would have played England off the park. Gbenga was a bench-warmer at Barca whose career was limited by injuries.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Good point... don't remember Zidane being the speediest chap either, in fact if I'm not mistaken Westerhoff's gripe against the youthful JJ was he slowed down the counter-attack.
Johnny Obinna still wasn't the biz sha... but an excellent point nonetheless.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by maceo4 »

Coach wrote:What the hell does he know, has he ever watched Obiesta play?
Imagine...the guy deserves a hot slap!
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by maceo4 »

Kneedeep wrote:
cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Good point... don't remember Zidane being the speediest chap either, in fact if I'm not mistaken Westerhoff's gripe against the youthful JJ was he slowed down the counter-attack.
Johnny Obinna still wasn't the biz sha... but an excellent point nonetheless.
But guys, name the current play makers who can't run? Even older Modric runs more than our own Mikel. Sounds like you guys are talking about old school number 10's that have been phased out of the game, even Pirlo was a deep lying play maker not a no. 10. Zidane wasn't fast, but he had lungs to run all day from side to side, up and down creating for his teammates with great ball control, dribbling skills, ingenuity and dictated the tempo of the game to suit his speed.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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deanotito wrote:It’s true. Took me a while to accept but Mikel is no 10. It just doesn’t work
Lets look at some of the stats from the game according to FIFA

Distance Covered (Metres)
Mikel: 9,472 (3391 in possession)
Modric: 9,915 (4148 in possession)

Sprints
Mikel:19
Modric: 40

Delivery/Solo runs into Attacking third
Mikel: 5
Modric: 9

Max Speed km/hr
Mikel: 30.60
Modric: 31.97

Shots:
Mikel: 0
Modric: 1

Fouls Committed:
Modric: 3
Mikel: 1

Tackles suffered losing/not losing the ball
Modric: 0/1
Mikel: 0/2
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

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Ayo Akinfe wrote:
cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Did you see what Tunisia’s division two and three players did yesterday? Make una dey there dey wait for player to shine for Europe before una use am! At the 2000 ANC, our worst player was Barcelona’s Gbenga Okunowo.
Our worst player in ANC 2000 was a Swiss 2nd division player, Furo Iyenemi.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Dammy »

The problem is that national team selectors allowed Mikel to choose the position he wants to play rather than play him in the position that suits the team best.
From Siasia at the Olympics to Rohr, they've been guilty of indulging Mikel. He can get away with it in the weak Chinese league but he will be found out at the top level.
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by maceo4 »

Dammy wrote:The problem is that national team selectors allowed Mikel to choose the position he wants to play rather than play him in the position that suits the team best.
From Siasia at the Olympics to Rohr, they've been guilty of indulging Mikel. He can get away with it in the weak Chinese league but he will be found out at the top level.

JJ said as much, that Rohr is accommodating Mikel and CE cursed him out and said what does he know. Imagine Rohr playing Iwobi BEHIND Mikel in CM/DM during the friendlies just so that Mikel can still be the AM...
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by Kneedeep »

maceo4 wrote:
Kneedeep wrote:
cic old boy wrote:
Ayo Akinfe wrote:
So na Mourinho you wan blame for Mikel no longer being able to run? It is only delusional Nigerian fans who think a playmaker can perform at the World Cup effectively without legs.

Did you see how much running Dele Alli put in yesterday? Give that job to Kelechi Nwakali and see how many problems he would have posed for the Croatian defence.
Many playmakers couldn't run - Valderrama, Pirlo, Socrates, etc. You need to run more at DM. Dele Alli is a headless chicken. Nwakali should try and get into his Div 2 first.
Good point... don't remember Zidane being the speediest chap either, in fact if I'm not mistaken Westerhoff's gripe against the youthful JJ was he slowed down the counter-attack.
Johnny Obinna still wasn't the biz sha... but an excellent point nonetheless.
But guys, name the current play makers who can't run? Even older Modric runs more than our own Mikel. Sounds like you guys are talking about old school number 10's that have been phased out of the game, even Pirlo was a deep lying play maker not a no. 10. Zidane wasn't fast, but he had lungs to run all day from side to side, up and down creating for his teammates with great ball control, dribbling skills, ingenuity and dictated the tempo of the game to suit his speed.
Is Iniesta "old school" too, just for conversational purposes.....
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Re: Mourinho Blasts: Mikel is Not a Number 10

Post by goke313 »

Rohr, Mikel and all the SE players can do whatever they like. I removed myself from being emotionally attached from the squad.

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