INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Where Eagles dare! Discuss Nigerian related football (soccer) topics here.

Moderators: Moderator Team, phpBB2 - Administrators

Post Reply
User avatar
wanaj0
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 43722
Joined: Tue Dec 30, 2003 8:41 am
INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by wanaj0 »

Interesting choice!
INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel
Former Super Eagles captain, John Obi Mikel, was in Nigeria recently for a talent hunt programme through his Back2Base project

https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/hea ... mikel.html

PREMIUM TIMES caught up with the ex-Chelsea star who spoke on several issues; including his time in London with the Blues, playing in the Championship, and also his time with the Super Eagles.

Mikel in this interview revealed he best Nigerian coach he has worked with and why he rates him above others


Excerpts…

PT: You have been in Nigeria in the past weeks for your Back2Base project. How successful was this maiden talent hunt programme

Mikel: Well, for me I think the last two and a half weeks have been absolutely amazing. Me coming back home to Nigeria to do this event, I never thought it was going to be as successful as it was. I just came to see how I can put smiles on the face of kids and young players.

I think my highlight has been the happiness that I can see on their faces. The joy and happiness I still see on their faces are so nice. The way we talk, laugh, and make jokes, they seem very happy and for me, this is definitely the highlight for me. Seeing the way the little thing we have done has changed their morale or confidence and I can see that they are becoming something special.

PT: Is it correct to say this is one of your longest stays in the country since you became a professional football star?

Mikel: I think this is my longest stay in one city for one event. I always used to come Lagos or Abuja and spend most of my time in Lagos and it has been worth it, so I wouldn’t say I regret spending all this time here. To cap it all up, the amazing event that we have just concluded has been truly amazing. This is definitely one of the best times I have spent in Nigeria.

PT: You were part of the Golden Eaglets team to the 2003 U-17 World Cup in Finland, but Nigeria crashed out in the group stage. Did you ever imagine that you will still make a success of your career despite that mishap?

Mikel: If I can be totally honest with you, in that tournament in Finland, after my first game, I had three teams already asking me to sign a contract. Our then NFF Secretary late Taiwo Ogunjobi was the one looking after me then. He saw the problem, and he said no because they reported to him they were chasing this boy. Ogunjobi shielded me. He knew what the agents wanted to do. I knew after my first game that I would get something. After that, the rest is history.

PT: You played a lot of games for Chelsea before you finally left the London club. When you look back, which of those games will you consider the toughest and why?

Mikel: The toughest game is probably the Champions League final that we won because we played in Bayern stadium. The adrenaline that day was something else. There was shouting, crowds and everything was going on for 120 minutes. You couldn’t lose concentration and we knew that was our only chance to win, and it wasn’t our strongest team, so we knew after the game that a lot of players would go.

We had to win. I was in my room. We got to the game an hour before the game and I got the call two hours before the game (Mikel’s father had been kidnapped).

I was still in my hotel room and we were getting ready to leave for the stadium-I didn’t tell anybody. If I tell the coach, it might affect the team. I just kept it to myself. I just asked my brother what I could do because I was captain and I had to play and give everything. You know they said a problem shared is a problem half solved, but I couldn’t share this problem. I was alone in it. As soon as the game finished, I told everybody, and they were like ‘wow’. Why didn’t you tell us earlier? It was tough.


PT: Also, tell us what stadium in the world you hated playing inside and why

Mikel: I dreaded Liverpool’s Anfield. Every time we go there, when I get home my body’s aching and the fans are everywhere. There’s no escaping. The tunnel is so tiny and their midfielders can tackle and run. Steven Gerrard always kills us. (Laughs..)


PT: You played in the Premier League and in the Championship, what was the experience like in both

Mikel: The Championship is like war. Every game is tough and horrible. The Premier League is easier and people play easy.

PT: At Chelsea and with the Super Eagles, you played under different managers. Can you tell us which of these coaches understood you the most and got the best out of you?

Mikel: I will start with Chelsea. I will say I played under many coaches, but I think De Mateo really understood me. He gave me the freedom to play and be who I am on the pitch. Carlo Ancelotti, as well, gave me the licence to do what I want. I will go with De Mateo. He brought out the best in me. I definitely enjoyed my time working with him. He communicated with me and he was always talking and listening to us and it gave us confidence.

For the national team, it’s really easy. It is the Big Boss, Stephen Keshi, may his soul rest in peace. I’ve met people, but that man was special. I can’t speak highly of him enough. He was outside and inside the Big Boss. He dealt with our problems and when he spoke, people listened and he didn’t have to scream.

Everything was just perfect. During the games, he knew what changes to make. Keshi was always there, screaming. He was involved. He knew exactly what he was doing, and we all bought into what he wanted us to do. We all respected him. For me definitely, he and I had a special connection.


PT: Meaning there are still good indigenous coaches?

Mikel: Definitely.

PT: But indigenous coaches have failed us when we try to qualify for the World Cup, in 2005 and now again?

Mikel: You could say that it’s always good to have your own person in charge. We have to give them opportunities and time because he (Eguavoen) took over a few months before the World Cup game. We need to give time before the World Cup game. Samson Siasia was one of them. I don’t know what his issue is, but I know him and he’s a good coach.

Again, these coaches, I know what they want because I’ve worked with them. They always need somebody, a player they can give the responsibility to on the pitch. When they don’t have that, it’s bad. If you want to go with foreign coaches, it’s fine, but I would say that we should definitely give our coaches a chance.

You and Ighalo left the national team when many were not expecting. Some thought you could have still stayed around as a mentor and gotten a few minutes of game time here and there

Mikel: It was a coincidence. I’ve already made up my mind that the AFCON in Egypt was going to be my last with the national team. It’s a matter of principle, I don’t like to overstay in a place. I feel when it is time, I should give other people their chance to establish themselves because when I was coming into the fray too, the likes of Okocha gave me the opportunity to establish myself.

A lot of people told me to still stay and be a mentor to the players and play a few minutes, and be their leader, mentor but I felt I can still do that outside of the camp instead of unnecessary distractions that it may end up being. I have done my best, and it is left to the players to stay focused and get the best from their coaches.

PT: Thank you Mikel for your time

Mikel: You are welcome…
“We do not have natural disasters in Nigeria, the only disaster we have is human beings,”
User avatar
mcal
Flying Eagle
Flying Eagle
Posts: 56338
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2005 3:01 am
Location: world of the americas
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by mcal »

...very interesting read, and choice of national coach.

but this, did he mean captain of the household or captain of the team Chelsea?

"I was still in my hotel room and we were getting ready to leave for the stadium-I didn’t tell anybody. If I tell the coach, it might affect the team. I just kept it to myself. I just asked my brother what I could do because I was captain and I had to play and give everything. You know they said a problem shared is a problem half solved, but I couldn’t share this problem. I was alone in it. As soon as the game finished, I told everybody, and they were like ‘wow’. Why didn’t you tell us earlier? It was tough."
User avatar
Lolly
Flying Eagle
Flying Eagle
Posts: 50082
Joined: Thu Dec 25, 2003 4:03 pm
Location: The Kingdom
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Lolly »

He couldn’t have chosen anyone else other than the Big Boss.
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life"

"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
Enugu II
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 23619
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:39 am
Location: Super Eagles Homeland
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enugu II »

Lolly wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 5:52 pm He couldn’t have chosen anyone else other than the Big Boss.
Lolly

The thing most people fail to understand is that a good manager or leader is bot necessarily knowing tactics best. It is about incredible ability to manage men. These leaders can get men to walk right through a mountain. If you follow Keshi's development as a player and then Manager, you will realize that he is a very different breed of guy. This guy changed Nigerian football by almost singlehandedly generating migration of footballers to Ivory Coast and then Europe. He then led the fights that created the kind of bonuses that our players now receive in the nationaL team whether you are home or Europe based. Then think about what he did in tiny Togo and the confidence he had in building a HB team after two tournament failures before he was hired. His story is yet to be fully written or understood.
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
User avatar
TonyTheTigerKiller
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 12334
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2003 7:55 pm
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by TonyTheTigerKiller »

Enugu II wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:57 pm
Lolly wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 5:52 pm He couldn’t have chosen anyone else other than the Big Boss.
Lolly

The thing most people fail to understand is that a good manager or leader is bot necessarily knowing tactics best. It is about incredible ability to manage men. These leaders can get men to walk right through a mountain. If you follow Keshi's development as a player and then Manager, you will realize that he is a very different breed of guy. This guy changed Nigerian football by almost singlehandedly generating migration of footballers to Ivory Coast and then Europe. He then led the fights that created the kind of bonuses that our players now receive in the nationaL team whether you are home or Europe based. Then think about what he did in tiny Togo and the confidence he had in building a HB team after two tournament failures before he was hired. His story is yet to be fully written or understood.
EII,

Man management is essential to being a good manager but you can’t have the kind of success Stephen Keshi had in his coaching career without being tactically sound❗️


Cheers.
Enugu II
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 23619
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:39 am
Location: Super Eagles Homeland
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enugu II »

TonyTheTigerKiller wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 11:39 pm
Enugu II wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 9:57 pm
Lolly wrote: Sat Jul 02, 2022 5:52 pm He couldn’t have chosen anyone else other than the Big Boss.
Lolly

The thing most people fail to understand is that a good manager or leader is bot necessarily knowing tactics best. It is about incredible ability to manage men. These leaders can get men to walk right through a mountain. If you follow Keshi's development as a player and then Manager, you will realize that he is a very different breed of guy. This guy changed Nigerian football by almost singlehandedly generating migration of footballers to Ivory Coast and then Europe. He then led the fights that created the kind of bonuses that our players now receive in the nationaL team whether you are home or Europe based. Then think about what he did in tiny Togo and the confidence he had in building a HB team after two tournament failures before he was hired. His story is yet to be fully written or understood.
EII,

Man management is essential to being a good manager but you can’t have the kind of success Stephen Keshi had in his coaching career without being tactically sound❗️


Cheers.
Agreed.

I simply wanted to point out that knowing Xs and Os is a dime a dozen but that ability to lead can be reached by a small percentage and Keshi has done this as both player and manager.
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
User avatar
Bigpokey24
Super Eagle
Super Eagle
Posts: 110363
Joined: Tue Dec 23, 2003 4:58 pm
Location: Earth
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Bigpokey24 »

Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
SuperEagles

© Bigpokey24, most loved on CE
My post are with no warranties and confers zero rights. Get out your feelings
It is not authorized by CyberEagles. You assume all risk for your use.
All rights aren't reserved
Enugu II
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 23619
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:39 am
Location: Super Eagles Homeland
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enugu II »

Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
User avatar
mystic
Egg
Egg
Posts: 8339
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2004 11:14 pm
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by mystic »

Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:41 pm
Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:
404
Egg
Egg
Posts: 275
Joined: Mon Jan 12, 2004 11:39 pm
Location: Seychelles
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by 404 »

Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:41 pm
Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Mikel is the most cerebral player to wear the Super Eagles 🦅 Jersey….as for the Blessed “Big Boss” next to the word legend is a picture with his trademark smile 😀
User avatar
Enyi
Egg
Egg
Posts: 3784
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:04 pm
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enyi »

404 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:24 pm
Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:41 pm
Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Mikel is the most cerebral player to wear the Super Eagles 🦅 Jersey….as for the Blessed “Big Boss” next to the word legend is a picture with his trademark smile 😀
Actually Oliseh was....since i started watching the national team....
The stupid neither forgive nor forget- the smart forgive- but never forget" -Thomas Szasz.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King- Jr.

“Our Audacity to rise from our losses is what makes Nigerian the number one footballing nation in Africa - Stephen Keshi RIP

Those who don't take decisions never make mistakes."..........
Enugu II
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 23619
Joined: Mon Dec 06, 2004 2:39 am
Location: Super Eagles Homeland
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enugu II »

Enyi wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:04 pm
404 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:24 pm
Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:41 pm
Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Mikel is the most cerebral player to wear the Super Eagles 🦅 Jersey….as for the Blessed “Big Boss” next to the word legend is a picture with his trademark smile 😀
Actually Oliseh was....since i started watching the national team....
Enyi

Clearly, Oliseh was a great player but he was not as dominant on his team as Mikel was on his squad. Oliseh, of course, spent a fair deal of time protecting the back four and providing great assists from deep especially at the AFCON of 1994. Nevertheless, Mikel was huge on his team which also won the AFCON with him as a dominant force in the middle and provided assists from deep and at times in more advanced positions. In fact, my first encounter with watching Mikel was when he was at u17 level and he provided several Pirlo-like deep passes that I initially thought were clearances but as they repeatedly found their target it became clear to me that this was a special special talent.
The difficulties of statistical thinking describes a puzzling limitation of our mind: our excessive confidence in what we believe we know, and our apparent inability to acknowledge the full extent of our ignorance and the uncertainty of the world we live in. We are prone to overestimate how much we understand about the world and to underestimate the role of chance in events -- Daniel Kahneman (2011), Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics
Kneedeep
Egg
Egg
Posts: 3678
Joined: Mon Dec 29, 2003 12:38 am
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Kneedeep »

Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 12:13 am Agreed.

I simply wanted to point out that knowing Xs and Os is a dime a dozen but that ability to lead can be reached by a small percentage and Keshi has done this as both player and manager.
Very true.
Data on a new managers ability to change a team's fortune by Xs and Os is poor, plus football is a low scoring game with all the statistical weirdness that comes with Poisson events. On the other hand the new coach initial psychological boost in football, basketball, and others has been tested and found to be real.
At the national level since buying or discovering a Rashidi Yekini every year is not possible (outside the minds of Nigerian fans), a coach who can pick motivated players and get the team to play as one may be at an advantage. Hence the success of the low-wattage Togo team qualifying for the WC, or BabatundeMessi and Sunday winning the ANC that talented but divided squads could not.
In Soccernomics we argued that managers are not that important- based on the statistical claim that most of the variation in league performance can be explained by wage spending. A statistical model that allowed for the impact of managers showed that most were statistically insignificant and those that were statistically significant only improved league performance by a small amount.
https://www.soccernomics-agency.com/?p=494
Advocating rational thought since 1987
User avatar
Enyi
Egg
Egg
Posts: 3784
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2005 2:04 pm
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by Enyi »

Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:46 pm
Enyi wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 4:04 pm
404 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 2:24 pm
Enugu II wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:41 pm
Bigpokey24 wrote: Sun Jul 03, 2022 1:35 pm Mikel is class on and off the field what a legend
:clap: :clap: :clap:
Mikel is the most cerebral player to wear the Super Eagles 🦅 Jersey….as for the Blessed “Big Boss” next to the word legend is a picture with his trademark smile 😀
Actually Oliseh was....since i started watching the national team....
Enyi

Clearly, Oliseh was a great player but he was not as dominant on his team as Mikel was on his squad. Oliseh, of course, spent a fair deal of time protecting the back four and providing great assists from deep especially at the AFCON of 1994. Nevertheless, Mikel was huge on his team which also won the AFCON with him as a dominant force in the middle and provided assists from deep and at times in more advanced positions. In fact, my first encounter with watching Mikel was when he was at u17 level and he provided several Pirlo-like deep passes that I initially thought were clearances but as they repeatedly found their target it became clear to me that this was a special special talent.
Mikel and Moses carried the team. Mikel was a special talent, wasted on Mourinho though….

But that’s not the issue….

I said the most cerebral player….Ajax, Dortmund, Juve, SE….He could see a play before it developed…

Mikel is probably more talented than him but cerebral? Reading a play for and against? Oliseh is miles ahead.
The stupid neither forgive nor forget- the smart forgive- but never forget" -Thomas Szasz.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and consciencious stupidity."
-Martin Luther King- Jr.

“Our Audacity to rise from our losses is what makes Nigerian the number one footballing nation in Africa - Stephen Keshi RIP

Those who don't take decisions never make mistakes."..........
ANC
Eaglet
Eaglet
Posts: 15916
Joined: Sat Jan 03, 2004 4:21 pm
Re: INTERVIEW: My best Super Eagles coach is a Nigerian – Mikel

Post by ANC »

the most cerebral Kanu
the most disciplined Mikel.

Post Reply