Ranked: Nigeria's best defensive midfielders

[Ezesportsworld]

1. Mudashiru Lawal.
2. John michael Obi
3. Sunday Oliseh.
4. Sam Garba Okoye.
5. Ademola Adeshina.

Well done Mikel , African legend ...thanks for your years of service for Nigeria.

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Mikel over Oliseh is a tough tough one to decide. Happy to have them all.

[Sir V]

1. Mudashiru Lawal.
2. John michael Obi
3. Sunday Oliseh.
4. Sam Garba Okoye.
5. Ademola Adeshina.

Well done Mikel , African legend ...thanks for your years of service for Nigeria.

Midfielders or defensive Midfielders. MudaL awal was an attacking Midfielder, and Oliseh was a defensive Midfielder.

[joao]

...And Mudashiru can score.

If time can be reversed, we will have Garba Okoye and Muda as attacking midfielders,
with Oliseh and Mikel as the DMs.
With Usiyen as the striker, we would have been lethal.

[cchinukw]

Oliseh > Mikel any day.

[olu]

Oliseh over Mikel

[1naija]

1. Oliseh
2. Mikel
3. Ndidi
4. Etebo
5. Muda Lawal (never saw him that much so I can't rank him above people I see play against top players game in game out)

[deanotito]

Mikel NEVER played defensive midfield for Nigeria. He’s played mostly as a playmaker, and at times, central midfielder.

So your ranking doesn’t make sense ...and if you dare compare Mikel to Okocha, I go submit petition

I for one have always felt that for some unexplained reason, Mikel worked in that position for 10 years at Chelsea. I don’t know why but I think Jose’s alchemy was responsible

But....

If you told me that Nigeria was about to play a big match, and Mikel would be the shield in front of our defense, my heart would be in my mouth for 90 mins. I just don’t think that kind of player can work in that position for Nigeria.

[ANC]

Ndidi
Ademola Adeshina (I just like the name)
Ndidi
Ndidi
Oliseh.

[Damunk]

1. Mudashiru Lawal.
2. John michael Obi
3. Sunday Oliseh.
4. Sam Garba Okoye.
5. Ademola Adeshina.

Well done Mikel , African legend ...thanks for your years of service for Nigeria.

Midfielders or defensive Midfielders. MudaL awal was an attacking Midfielder, and Oliseh was a defensive Midfielder.

Me sef dey scratch head for that one.....

[ohenhen1]

1. Lawal
2. Oliseh
3. Mikel
4. Ndidi
5. Adeshina

Etebo is not a defensive midfielder.

[Sir V]

Thompson Oliha (RIP)was one of the finest midfielders Nigeria has ever produced.

[Ezesportsworld]

But Oliha played from the bench

[Sir V]

But Oliha played from the bench

From which bench? The one in your palour?

[chendosplastic]

1. Mudashiru Lawal.
2. John michael Obi
3. Sunday Oliseh.
4. Sam Garba Okoye.
5. Ademola Adeshina.

Well done Mikel , African legend ...thanks for your years of service for Nigeria.

I would have thought Muda Lawal was an attacking midfielder. Perhaps he kind of overlapped. Great one there.

I would include the headmaster above Adesina.
The blockbuster nko????

[Abbey]

Wasn’t Haruna Ilerika an attacking midfielder too? A today’s number 10 position? I thought that was the position he played in for the winning Nigeria ‘s ‘73 All Africa team. He reminds me of Chukwueze of that era...

[Enugu II]

1. Mudashiru Lawal.
2. John michael Obi
3. Sunday Oliseh.
4. Sam Garba Okoye.
5. Ademola Adeshina.

Well done Mikel , African legend ...thanks for your years of service for Nigeria.

Midfielders or defensive Midfielders. MudaL awal was an attacking Midfielder, and Oliseh was a defensive Midfielder.

Sir V,

They were just midfielders. This differentiation between defensive and central and attacking was not always there. It is much easier to compare them as midfielders. It is like differentiating a wide midfielder from a winger of those days. How can one then set up an all time team if these minor differences are established as obstacles? I do not even think Muda was an attacking midfielder? So what was Aloysius Atuegbu or what was Henry Nwosu who all were part of the same team. Of those three, Muda was in fact the most defensive. Yes, he did score but so did Atuegbu and Henry.

[john12]

For all the insults mikel gets at that DM position he dosent just give opponents free freekicks. His actually a good “deep lying DM” not a foul magnet like ndidi

[Goldleaf]

This is a tough one and the names already mentioned deserve super credit. Muda Lawal was a central midfielder who defended but that was not his best quality. Muda covered every blade of the grass, a good dribbler who scored goals but he was best at placing serious passes; long, short, crossfield lobs and defence splitting passes.

But how can we put together a list of best DMs and leave out (for me) one of the most versatile ever, tough and fearsome in defence, magnificent at tackling and played with supreme confidence and self belief; Sylvanus Okpalla.

My top 5 DMs are:

Sunday Oliseh
JM Obi
Sylvanus Okpalla
Ademola Adeshina
Sam Garba Okoye

[EMIR KONGI JAFFI JOFFA]

Ndidi is no way in the discussion. He breaks up well but offers little else, the guy doesnt even threaten to score with his air. he's a pure destroyer and thats it.

[green4life]

I for one have always felt that for some unexplained reason, Mikel worked in that position for 10 years at Chelsea. I don’t know why but I think Jose’s alchemy was responsible..

He worked in that position at Chelsea because he was very tactically disciplined in terms of his positioning/ awareness/ reading of the game AND his superior ball control skills and passing accuracy. When you infuse his strengths into a disciplined midfield where each player covers their roles and complements the team, weaknesses of each player involved in the team will be mitigated. Mikel was smart enough to understand that concept early on and therefore played within himself which allowed his teammates and team to function at the highest level. World class Coach after world class coach almost every year were hired by Chelsea and each ended up playing him significantly on teams that won big trophies almost annually for the 10 years.

If you told me that Nigeria was about to play a big match, and Mikel would be the shield in front of our defense, my heart would be in my mouth for 90 mins. I just don’t think that kind of player can work in that position for Nigeria.

Mikel was never a traditional 'midfield shield' for the super eagles. That is not to say that he couldn't have played the position at the highest level for Nigeria during his prime but the reality was Nigeria needed a lot more from Mikel than sitting in front of a back 4. Nevertheless, Mikel was one of the best players in the ANC in 2013 which was won by Nigeria. He also was an influential player in many qualifiers that led to WC campaigns in 2010, 2014 & 2018. ... in addition to the bronze Olympic medal in Brazil where he effectively carried the team on his back and also through his checkbook to mask organizational shortfalls from the Olympic team administrators.

My hope for the current and future SE players is to experience at least a fair percentage of the success enjoyed by Mikel over his illustrious Chelsea and Super Eagles career. #properlegend.

[Enugu II]

I for one have always felt that for some unexplained reason, Mikel worked in that position for 10 years at Chelsea. I don’t know why but I think Jose’s alchemy was responsible..

He worked in that position at Chelsea because he was very tactically disciplined in terms of his positioning/ awareness/ reading of the game AND his superior ball control skills and passing accuracy. When you infuse his strengths into a disciplined midfield where each player covers their roles and complements the team, weaknesses of each player involved in the team will be mitigated. Mikel was smart enough to understand that concept early on and therefore played within himself which allowed his teammates and team to function at the highest level. World class Coach after world class coach almost every year were hired by Chelsea and each ended up playing him significantly on teams that won big trophies almost annually for the 10 years.

If you told me that Nigeria was about to play a big match, and Mikel would be the shield in front of our defense, my heart would be in my mouth for 90 mins. I just don’t think that kind of player can work in that position for Nigeria.

Mikel was never a traditional 'midfield shield' for the super eagles. That is not to say that he couln't have played the position at the highest level for Nigeria during his prime but the reality was Nigeria needed a lot more from Mikel than sitting in front of a back 4. Nevertheless, Mikel was one of the best players in the ANC in 2013 which was won by Nigeria. He also was an influential player in many qualifiers that led to WC campaigns in 2010, 2014 & 2018.

My hope for the current and future SE players is to experience at least a fair percentage of the success enjoyed by Mikel over his illustrious Chelsea and Super Eagles career. #properlegend.

G4L,

He was possibly the BEST player not just one of the best. I like your breakdown. It seems many have forgotten how wonderful a player he was at his prime and for years his play was the determinant on how successful the SE would be in a game.

[Cristao II]

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