Mikel under fire

For the second time Eagles’ midfield star, John Obi Mikel is
coming under fire for the loss of another game by Premier
League champions Chelsea.
The Blues were battered 3-1 by Arsenal on  Monday at the
Emirates Stadium. That was something that has never
happened for two years. And for England and Tottenham
star Jamie Redknapp, much of the blame should rest on
Mikel’s shoulders, even though he was yanked off the game
at half time.

“Mikel’s deep midfield role should be a dream position. You
should boss the game, touch the ball 100 times and put out
fires whenever there’s danger.
“ Mikel rarely passes the ball forward and is a weak link.
Chelsea have lacked a good player there since the master,
Claude Makelele, had the position named after him. Michael
Essien could go there, but it would curb his instincts,” said
Redknapp who was writing in his column in the Daily Mail.
Chelsea was a goal down at half and coach Carlo Ancelotti
who thought that Mikel was not doing enough, brought in
Ramires, for Mikel.
But that did not stop the Gunners from taking their pound of
flesh, as Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott put two past
Chelsea after Arsenal had gone ahead in the dying minutes
of the first half with an Alex Song’s goal.
Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti admitted that there was
need to buy in January, but he insisted that Mikel, Michael
Essien and Ramires have done their best for the Blues.
“Every player has different skills: Mikel is not able to score
but is fantastic defensively; Ramires the same; Essien has,
I think, his skill to score from outside the box but he was
injured for a month, so his condition has not been so good.”