retired_lyriclemelodee

Would expect Mikel to be better than Hargreaves/Carrick in two/three years. Haven't seen enough of Anderson to comment, but from what I have seen he's much more of a 'flair' player than Obi, so they would hardly be competing for the same slot.

Like you say though, withnScholes/Hargreaves/Anderson/Carrick/Fletcher your hardly desperate for a central midfielder. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Oh and fwiw I don't think Carrick is any better than Mikel even now, Hargreaves marginally infront.

runronnirun

'everything in his game' such a cliché, and clearly wrong.

Mikel a good player, could/should become very good. better than Hargreaves in two years? debatable, especially at the role we'd want a midfielder alongside Anderson to play, and in our system.

fully expecting poyples to come in and cry about all this again.

retired_jessicadon

I mistook Anderson for more of a flair player before he arrived. Seems to be more of a solid, foraging creative mid from what i've seen. Nick better placed to say like.

If you're expecting Mikel to be better than Hargreaves in a few years, I can safely assume 4 of our current midfielders will tbh. Which i don't.

retired_lyriclemelodee

I really like Hargreaves, but for me, whilst he's a very good player, I don't think he's world-class. Just a notch below the likes of Cesc/Essien etc. I think Mikel has the potential to be that good. Just hope he makes the most of it.

runronnirun

well Hargreaves an entirely different player to Cesc/Essien really, especially Cesc. not many better in the world at the role Hargreaves plays, and as i've said, no way is Mikel ever becoming better at that role than him. as we'll have Anderson pulling all the strings as well as getting forward more, no need for Mikel.

retired_lyriclemelodee

Obviously you know more about Arsenal's many many talented youngsters.

However, barring Cesc how many have them have been a huge part in a side fighting for honours on four fronts, as Mikel was for us, in the last five/six months of the season? How many consistently stood out against teams like Liverpool/Valencia and put it arguably MotM peformances? I know Mikel did.

retired_lyriclemelodee

well Hargreaves an entirely different player to Cesc/Essien really, especially Cesc. not many better in the world at the role Hargreaves plays, and as i've said, no way is Mikel ever becoming better at that role than him. as we'll have Anderson pulling all the strings as well as getting forward more, no need for Mikel. </BLOCKQUOTE>

Again, wish I had seen more of Anderson, but see no reason why Mikel/Anderson couldn't play together. Mikel can play deep effectively, although he's not really a 'harrier' like Hargreaves.

retired_amadhani

He does have everything in his game, i think he has the ability to be the best midfielder in the world at some stage. Thats just my opinion, obviously but just did a great job today, he has a better range of passing than I thought aswell.

I think Essien-Mikel will be far superior to Anderson-Hargreaves.

runronnirun

pretty much spot on. hard to say whether that's a misconception on our part or whether he's just adapted extremely well and significantly changed his style of play though - everyone who's seen him regularly play before in Portugal and Brazil seems very surprised at the role he's been playing for us.

think there's more flair there lurking underneath that we'll see as he grows into the team and english football, but his passing and vision are certainly his stand-out attributes on this season's evidence.

retired_jessicadon

I think i'm entirely missing this Mikel thing then. Chelsea fans tried to tell me he was outstanding today. A game in which West Ham controlled the midfield for long period and he contributed very little.

Our young players haven't been able to get in our side because up until this season, Gilberto and Cesc were consistently MotM against any f**kers we'd play.