John Obi Mikel's coming out party, still waiting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rewind to the World U20 WC 2005, we all saw Obi Mikel and saw the future of Nigerian football continuing its dominance of the West African scene. In a tournament where no one was going to stop the Argentine machine behind Lionel Messi and Kun Aguero, Mikel John Obi (at that time) still managed to emerge as one of the stars with superb offensive display from midfield. The dribbling, the passing, the leadership all lead us to crown the wonder kid as Jay-Jay's heir.

      Then came the special 1, actually, make that special 1 via Old Trafford drama. Mikel's arrival at Chelsea has been the subject of much debate whether it be the transfer "kuluulu" or the development or underdevelopment of his game. I for one have always defended Mikel and have had much appreciation for the way he has been able to learn a new role different from what made him a star as a teenager. 

I have always maintained that Mikel's coming out party was around the corner, from African Cup of Nations 2008, to African Cup of Nations 2010 and finally the no-show of World Cup 2010, but am still waiting for the break out dominance. The one point I've always tried to overlook is how Chelsea has developed him into the player Nigeria doesn't need. 

      With Essien in and out of the midfield and Lampard also out I have expected Mikel to grab that midfield by the neck and show new boy Ramires the Chelsea way of midfield dominance, but this hasnt happened. I watched a woeful midfield display from Chelsea today in a 1-1 draw with New Castle. Most people are pinning the current poor form on Ramires' slow acclimatisation to Chelsea's play, but I blame ma boy Mikel. At this point I am acknowledging how much his play has let me down and I bow down in shame as I don't see any development both offensively and defensively. His statistic without either Essien or Lampard are unacceptable regarding Chelsea's win percentage. The most shocking stat of all is his goal output on a senior level for both club and country 

Chelsea 158 games : 2 goals

Nigeria 30 games : 2 goals

      This is unacceptable even for a defensive midfielder. Those who want to blame Chelsea go ahead. Those who want to blame the "Special 1" go ahead. Those who want to blame Nigeria go ahead, but I blame the kid himself. At 23 he still has a lot of time to make right of what has gone wrong with a much hyped and promised career, but I don't see it.

The Crows have landed again, TP Mazembe

SQUAD

TP Mazembe

 

    It been 10 years since I really did justice to following the CAF Champions league from start to finish. Back in 2000 my beloved home club Accra Hearts of Oak conquered the continent in spectacular fashion with great away performances and the heroics of the then supernatural goalkeeping by Sammy Adjei as well as the the great partnership between Ishmael Addo and Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour.
    In the 10 years of my exile from this incredibly difficult tournament, an old power on the African continental scene has woken from almost 40 years of hibernation and re-established its dominance. The great Congolese team that dominated the continent in the late 60s are back and are looking unstoppable. With 4 straight trips to the finals of the competition from 1967 to 1970, their might was unparalleled but as with many things in Africa somebody had to go and ruin it.
    I knew TP Mazembe won the competing in 2009 but I didn't follow the competition in depth. I haven't followed it this year either but I decided to at least watch the finals which I know are usually late in the year. Not only are these bad boys back in the final, they have already won the first leg 5-0. That is done and dusted if you ask me, so should I even bother watching the second leg? Of course I should, why would I miss an opportunity of history being rewritten. Having said that Esperance are no mugs and have dominated this same competition in the past, so I expect them to give a good account of themselves in redeeming some respect for the 0-5 away embarrassment.
     I look forward to seeing how a giant from 40 years ago becomes a giant in the modern era with the following thoughts in mind:
What does the success of TP Mazembe mean for Congolese football?
Will the Congo National team be able to break this Egypt-West African strong hold on the Nations Cup?
Are we about to see the next big African name in Europe break the recent trend?
Which players will stand out?
Can the grab the opportunity to shine in the FIFA World Club Cup?
Anything else to look out for.................?

Ps. Hope all can see the striking identification with the Old Lady in Turin

CAF Orange African Champions League Final Second Leg
November 13th 2010
Esperance (Tunisia) - TP Mazembe (Congo)

Asamoah Jet flying; John rock laying flat on his back

This was an interesting weekend for the African footballer in Europe. I had a free weekend so I managed to watch quite a number of games. Some completely, others partially. Combined I watched included:

Bologna - Lecce

Inter-Brecia

Sunderland-Stoke

Rennes-Lyon

Arsenal-New Castle

West Brom-ManCity

Liverpool-Chelsea

Bari-Milan

Juve-Cesena

Lazio-Roma

PSG-Marseille

Porto-Benfica

All these games in an effort to keep track of the field performance of our African boys in the diaspora looking to make a name for themselves and make their mark. Asamoah Gyan in particular managed to achieve some of this on Saturday with an outstanding performance against Stoke City. Now although Stoke might not be one of the more sexier teams in England, they are one of the more physically astute with numerous 6 footers and tough tacklers. We ll all hope that this form continues and he improves with more playing time.

In the same game, the sight of John Mensah struggling to remain vertical through out the game was pathetic, his injury record is a mystery and a shame . I dont watch a lot of Sunderland matches, in the past 2 years, this was my third time watching Sunderland Mensah didn't play in 1 of the 3, but in the other 2 including today he had to be subbed due to an injury, I hope Blackstar followers have prepared to move on with out "The Rock of Gibralta".

Elsewhere, Chelsea's win ratio without Essien continues to be mediocre...........more to come this week