When Manchester United and Chelsea football club of England were battling to get the young Nigerian sensation, John Mikel Obi, from Lyn Oslo in Norway to play for them, many Nigerians thought the boy was lucky. Some of us who do not utterly believe in luck knew that the boy must be a prodigy to catch the attention of two of the best coaches in the world of football. Alex Fergusson and Jose Mourinho do not just buy a player because he is handsome. That was the style of Real Madrid who one time had a bunch of handsome Galacticos that they refused to bid for Ronaldino because he is not too handsome. Many football analysts and critics thought John Mikel Obi should have gone to Manchester United because he wouldn’t get a chance to play in a Chelsea all star team, but John Mikel Obi decided on his own accord to be recruited into the Roman army. After a long tussle between Chelsea and Manchester United he finally ended up in Chelsea.

And Chelsea for John Mikel Obi wasn’t a sweet beginning. Few months into the season he ran into problem with Jose Mourinho for late coming to training. He was sidelined many times for the big boys and played only few minutes in many matches. But then he had his chance when the big boys were down with minor or major injuries. Even though John Mikel Obi had already shown signs that he could play better than the big boys, he had not gotten the grip over his position in the midfield until that fateful day in the Champions League derby in Stanford Bridge when the visitors from Portugal, FC Porto, were leading Chelsea with a lone goal in the first half. Mikel Obi was brought in by Mourinho in the second half for Claude Makalele and the rest was story. He took over the midfield and led Chelsea into beating FC Porto 2 – 1. FC Porto coach told the press at the press conference after the match that John Mikel Obi was instrumental in Chelsea’s victory over his team. Jose Mourinho also said the same.

That day was the beginning of the beginning for John Mikel Obi and perhaps the beginning of the end for French international, Claude Makalele. John Mikel Obi has shown his class in a classic team like Chelsea. Not too many people gave him a chance to be where he is at the moment in his very first season in a team full of world class players like Michael Essien, Claude Makelele, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, and Joe Cole, all playing in the midfield. Mikel has already won the Carling Cup with Chelsea, knocked out of the UEFA Champions league derby in penalty at Anfield, and still has a hope of winning the FA Cup, even the Premiership if Manchester United slip which I doubt much. History has a funny way of repeating itself in European football and Liverpool have thwarted Chelsea’s biggest dream of the season.

Now do you think John Mikel Obi should have gone to Manchester United? Manchester United have done very well this season and are still comfortably leading the Premier league table with five points and many goals. They have also done marvellously beautifully in the UEFA Champions league with their trashing of FC Roma 7 – 1 in Old Trafford in the second leg of the quarter final after they were defeated in the Olympic Stadium in Rome 2 – 1. Another history repeated itself in San-Siro as AC Milan who has never lost to an English team at home or fail to score at home against an English team however ended Red Devil’s UEFA Champions league dreams and the dream of repeating their 1999 triple trophies glory. Manchester United is comfortable on the race for a double.

But no matter how you see it, it is clear that John Mikel Obi has made a perfect choice. Chelsea football club may not be the richest club in the world or the club with many trophies, in fact Chelsea has not won the Premier league in fifty years until the coming of Jose Mourinho, but it is a fact that Chelsea today is one of the top football teams in the world since it was bought over by Russian billionaire, Roman Abramovich, and in just his first season John Mikel Obi has shown the world that he was worth the tussle between Manchester United Alex Fergusson and Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho. John Mikel Obi has silence his critics. He has made it to top flight football in just a short while. We can only be happy for the young lad and give him all the support. We hope he would give the best to the Super Eagles of Nigeria as he has been doing for Chelsea football club. And whether you are a Gunner or you are with the Red Devils, when you see the Roman armies playing with John Mikel Obi, all you need to do is to forget your team for a while and support Chelsea because you would be doing that for John Mikel Obi.

You might not like Jose Mourinho because many people perceives he is arrogant and all that, even Roman Abramovich thinks so, but then you must admit that he is one of the best coaches in world football. You might not like Chelsea because Abramovich has pumped so much money into the team within a short while to make it one of the top teams in the world, but then it is a fact that they have done very well, even greatly, since the coming of Jose Mourinho to Stanford Bridge. Mourinho’s ardent critics would be happy that Chelsea would not be making it to Athens sometime this month. They had done very well in the UEFA Champions league but Liverpool deserved to qualify. They did well both at Stanford Bridge in the first leg even though they lost the match and at Anfield where they won, and won again in the penalty shootouts. In all these, our John Mikel Obi, is growing and taking shape to be one of the greatest midfielder in European football. Watch out for Mikel next season! If you still think that John Mikel Obi made a mistake by choosing to play for Chelsea instead of Manchester United, then you are incorrigible.

Whether you believe it or not, Chelsea is the future of English football. Roman Abramovich has said it that he would make Chelsea the biggest team in England for one hundred years to come. With all the billions in his pocket I doubt much if he wouldn’t do exactly that. I WOULD HAVE LOVED A CHELSEA versus AC MILAN FINAL I would have loved an AC Milan v. Chelsea finals in Athens. I almost anticipated that. But then History has a funny way of repeating it self in European football, and most of the time if you bet on history you are likely to win. No English team has ever defeated AC Milan in San-Siro or gone to San-Siro without conceding a goal against AC Milan. Manchester United could not survive as Kaka, Seedorf, and Gilardino all found the net in the second leg of the semi-final of the UEFA Champions league derby played on San-Siro, Milan, Italy. AC Milan needed a single away goal to kick the English giant out of the 2007 competition and they got three of those goals. Talking of betting on history, prior to AC Milan’s trashing of Manchester United, Liverpool FC took on Chelsea FC in the second leg of the UEFA Champions league on 2nd May, 2007 at Anfield. Daniel Agger shot in a Steven Gerald pass passed through Peter Chech forcing Chelsea to extra-time. Liverpool went ahead to win after 120 minutes through penalty shootouts. Jose Mourinho’s Chelses have to wait for another time. Would history repeat itself in Athens? If we are to bet on history, then it would be Liverpool’s day. Liverpool defeated AC Milan in dramatic come back in 2004 in Istanbul to lift the trophy. This time around I wouldn’t bet on history though if I were you.

Robot  Villager

# 1 var sbtitle6700=encodeURIComponent(John Obi Mi...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 05.05.2007 06:44

toshmann  Villager

# 2 knowing what i know now, i think it was a wise decision for him to have joined chelsea. i never knew he would make it in such a team considering the quality of chelsea'a midfield. but i guess chelsea is the team for him and indeed any african as most africans will be more confortable in london than in northern england. and also, as a liverpool fan, i wouldn't want to see my man playing for our biggest rivals (man utd) Posted by toshmann| 05.05.2007 08:50

akuluouno  Villager

# 3 I think he made the right choice. So far he seems to be the best Nigerian football export at the moment. I think his potentials are yet to be realised and hope that Chelsea should allow him to be more adventurous in the field of play. He sure puts some intelligence in his play. I hope a coach should play him out of the midfield and allow him to be a right side attacking striker. With his height and strenght I can see a goaleador in the mould of Yekini, Drogba or even The Bull Amokachi. :biggrin: :biggrin: Posted by akuluouno| 05.05.2007 09:41

THE VOICE  Villager

# 4 I thought he would not make it in Chelsea considering the caliber of star players in the team. He has proved to be a better and stronger star, the type the Yorubas will call '' Irawo osan ti m ba agba l'eru'' I now enjoy watching him play and boasting to anybody that cares to listen to me that he is a Nigerian. I now have adequate reason to be a fan of Chelsea just like my support for FCBarcelona is largely due to the exploits of Eto'o in the team , aside from the fact that I presently reside in Barcelona, Spain. Posted by THE VOICE| 05.05.2007 10:55

pappilo  Villager

# 5 chelsea or Man U, it doesnt matter. The boy's talent would have shown anywhere he chose to play. Point of correction... Chelsea is not the future of english football. If Chelsea represents the future of english football, then english football is doomed. £200 million losses over two years isnt the future. Any normal football club would have long gone into administration. A football club with ageing players like ashley cole, makelele, ballack and shevy cannot be the future of english football. A club where players' wages and other expenditure is ten times its income can definitely not be the future of english football. The future of english football is about 10 miles away at ashburton grove, where the average age of the first team players is 21. where a new and mordern stadium has just been built and where a modest profit is declared year in year out. This is most definitely the future of english football. The ARSENAL, I write about! Posted by pappilo| 05.05.2007 11:15

katampe  Villager

# 6 I think Obi is the face of the future of Chelsea, at such a young age he is doing wonderfully well and finally coming into his own.I was a bit worried about his lifestyle of the pitch initially, but the intervention of the dad I guess straightened him up. I liked the idea about the s-hittu (transfer) saga and how he engaged the services of a Nigerian. He is a prodigy that would also take Nigerian football to greater heights once we have better management, and are able to apply scientific approach to managing our football. So far, he hasn't disappointed in terms of promise he has shown on pitch, and over time I think the world will go crazy over him if he can keep up the work rate , discipline and focus. Posted by katampe| 05.05.2007 11:38

blondie  Villager

# 7 Mikel made a mistake. He should be at Old Trafford. Yes he is doing well at Chelsea but the entertaining aspect of his game is gone. That is the problem wth Chelsea and Jose Mourinho. They do not encourage entertainment football. They merely grind out results like the machines that they are. Naturally Nigerian footballers play with flair. Entertainment football is part of the Nigerian football culture just as it is with the Brazilians. In Chelsea this aspect of Mikel's football is completely blunted. Anybody that watched that young man in the 2005 Under21 World Cup Finals against Argentina will agree with me that at Chelsea we no longer see that magic with which Mikel Obi held the world spellbound. Infact after the World Cup Finals FIFA described Mikel as floating on grass and gliding past opponents.That was the beauty of Mikel's game. Imagine Mikel playing alongside Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney and Louis Saha at Manchester United. That will be utterly glorious. You sure will get your money's worth of football! Posted by blondie| 05.05.2007 12:39

oguzie j.j.  Villager

# 8 Like it or leave it , Mikel's kind of game doesnt fit with Chelsea soldier approach to soccer. I remember vividly the comment made by Blatter after watching Mikel play against argentina at the last under 21 played in holland and seeing him struggling to be given an oppurtunity to showcase what he is made of and this was actually the predictions of football followers around the world. All the same we wish our Mikel the best of luck. Posted by oguzie j.j.| 05.05.2007 13:02

Odinaka  Villager

# 9 I was of the opinion that he should have gone to Man U, somehow, even with what I have seen so far, I still cling to my opinion. Wish him all the best anyway Posted by Odinaka| 05.05.2007 13:03

Bobman  JJC

# 10 Mikel's class and finesse are gone since he joined the boring but effective Chelsea. His flair is gone and he would have done better and been happier at ManU with football artists like Ronaldo, Rooney, Giggs and Scholes, or even Arsenal with the likes of Henry, Fabregas, van Persie and our own Adebayo. Posted by Bobman| 05.05.2007 13:38

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