BY Macaulay Maduwuba
Nigerian midfielder, John Obi Mikel, is resuscitating a club career that was gradually dying cold under the regime of former manager, Jose Mourinho.
Whilst the Portuguese was in charge at the beginning of the season, Mikel’s appearances trimmed down to nine in all competitions for the blues – just 15 times less for total participation in all of Chelsea’s matches throughout the 2014/2015 season.
Mikel’s future at Stamford Bridge had come under doubt with less playing time and Mourinho not ‘favouring’ the player until he was sacked and Guus Hiddink brought in as a replacement in the interim.
Hiddink has since offered Mikel more playing time within the shortest period than Mourinho did in recent times – the Nigerian made four appearances for the Blues from August 18 to September 24, but that has been surpassed under the new Dutch manager.
Whilst Hiddink awaited resumption, Mikel featured for Chelsea under a caretaker manager, in the 3-1 win over Sunderland; his first since October 2015.
Since then, he has made three other appearances within two weeks, in the games against Watford, Manchester United and the first tie in 2016 with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park, which have all contributed to his 352 appearances for Chelsea.
Following the resurgence and a seemingly strong faith in the Nigerian from the Dutch manager, Mikel, the third oldest in the current Chelsea line up, is being tipped to help the club regain its spot on the log with some likening him to a ‘deity’.
While Chelsea hounded Palace 3-0 in front of their home crowd at the Park, Mikel dominated Twitter trends in Nigeria with messages from fans who poured in accolades of appreciation and dignation.
”Mikel was class,” a fan wrote after the game ended 3-0 in favour of Chelsea.
Other messages praised the Nigerian for his survival at Chelsea, having spent 10 years at the club and seen the exit of 10 managers at the club.
“John Mikel Obi. The great survivor. Every season we mock him and question his relevance. Every season he becomes more useful.”
One particularly interesting fan described the Nigerian as the deity that should be celebrated on January 3.
“January 3rd, 2016. The day we all came together to admire the deity that is John Obi Mikel.”
“Chelsea impressive today. Mikel doing a very good job in front of the defence, better than Matic has played for absolutely ages,” Michael Cox wrote.
And the praises kept pouring in…
Another pointer to the importance of the Nigerian at the club, at the post-match interview with the players, Mikel and captain John Terry were questioned, leaving out the goal scorers Oscar, Willian and Diego Costa, who should have stood next to the captain for such sessions.
This website uses cookies.