Mikel Obi has to reinvent himself

John Mikel Obi has endured some difficult times in his career particularly
at the early stage. Where his proposed move from Lyn Oslo of Norway
to Manchester United in April 2005 collapsed shortly after he was
unveiled in Norway. But ownership issues scuppered the deal.
Eventually he had a stellar Under 20 World Cup in Holland, where he
single handedly conducted the orchestra from midfield as Nigeria
lost narrowly to Lionel Messi's inspired Argentina in 2005. Yet his
future was still unresolved.
Austin Eguaveon surprisingly included him in the Super Eagles squad to
the 2006 African Cup of Nations in Egypt where he scored his first
ever international goal for the Super Eagles in a group stage match.
Yet his unresolved future rumbled on.
Finally, succour came his way when Chelsea agreed a deal of 16 million
pounds to secure his services in the summer of 2006. That eventually
settled the lingering battle for one of Nigeria's talented footballers.
His early days in Chelsea's colour saw him make few appearances, but Jose
Mourinho in his first spell as Chelsea's Manager converted Mikel to a
defensive midfielder and with Claude Makalele, he learnt his trade
from the master. Yet the question remains was this conversion of
benefit to his overall football abilities?
He has played under several coaches in Chelsea's hire and fire regime
of Roman Abramovich. With Chelsea's triumph in the 2012 European
Champions league being one of his finest moments. Together with
Nigeria's triumph at the 2013 African Cup of Nations.

Mikel Obi though has not really reinvented himself by adding more
attacking verve to his game. He has two goals this season which by his
own standard is a remarkable return of goals.
His position in the National team, the Super Eagles, is always
assured, with the added incentive of playing further forward, a
testament to this was the goal he scored against Uruguay in 2013
Confederations Cup in Brazil.
However, the real issue lies with his club future especially with the
arrival of Nemanja Matic for 21 millions pound from Benfica, Mikel
Obi will have to adapt his game completely to make himself an all
round midfielder by increasing is goal tally so that he will not
suffer from the dying breed of pure defensive midfielders. Where the
vogue now is now deep lying play makers in the mode of Xabi Alonso
and Arturo Vidal.
Only time will tell how is journey continues at Chelsea as competition
for his position becomes fierce.