What does Mikel have to do to become a Club legend?

Mikel wrote: I still have more years ahead of me to play for Chelsea and make more history. I want to be one of the club’s legends.

That quote is taken from a recent Interview with him. The rest is found here.

Following Makelele and Essien makes it very difficult to become a Chelsea legend but Mikel is only 25. By having a great 5-7 years at Chelsea he could very easily be remembered as a legend, However, He would have to improve greatly in his workrate, Passing and Goal Scoring abilities.

I do believe if he had two season's where he was Vital to the team he could do it. Perhaps the next two?

Or if he scored a Vital goal for the club, E.g Gronkjaer or Ramires.

None of these situations looks very likely but you never know. What ever happens, I wish him luck in becoming a legend, I certainly won't mind if he improves and becomes one.

Mikel , I think, will be the cornerstone of your team in the future.

I don't watch Chelsea much , but what I saw from this guy in the few games I watched coming to the end of last season.

If he can repeat that type of form, defensive soundness combined with composure technique and passing I can see him becoming your most important player.

Of course I know he hasn't consistently done that , but the ability is obviously there, I mean in he first half against Bayern he was unbelievable....best 45 mins by any DM in Europe I've seen this year.

The end of last season, He and Lampard in the pivot were amazing, they played so well together and that really helped us win the CL.

I don't actually remember Mikel playing well in the CL, but then again, I barely remember any of it I was so nervous.

The other thing he will have to do is learn quick passes.

and I agree, the Ability is there, he just has to use it constantly and effectively.

If he can keep up the form he had under RDM and also improve on his goal scoring, he could very well be extremely vital to our future success and go on to be a club legend.

Anything around shades of Essien(in his prime) and Makelele would very much be welcome too.

To be honest, keeping his form, for me, would not be enough to make him a legend. Simply because Ess and Maka were better.

Trying to reach Essien is quite hard, but not that he can't do it, he is stepping into the golden years of his career and he may well up his game. But reaching Makelele is quite close to impossible, but nothing is impossible they say.

The thing is, he is not required to do a Makelele right now, he just needs to improve on his passing while keeping steady defensively. If he becomes a master of long passes, which he has shown every now and then, he can very well use the pace of Torres and Sturridge and the wingers for swift counter attacks. I don't expect goals from him, assists YES please!

Him and DL4 play the best long balls, we really should use those better.

I think he only has to reach Ess and Claude's level of Vital-ness for lack of a better word. He doesn't have to play like them, but be needed like them.

Reaching Maka level is very difficult but IMO, easy to surpass once there as Maka was really only Vital for a few seasons. Should Mikel hit that level over the next two years he could well play that well for 5 years or So.

He has a lot of football in him still. Say he is a constant starter for the next 8-10 years with 500+ appearances(at the rate he is going it is possible) for Chelsea and part of many more trophies. That would put him among the all time appearances leader at Chelsea.

So it comes down to appearances + trophies, and he doesn't need to be better then Essien or Maka but needs to be more consistent.

It is possible, will he? IDK, and probably not.

Well, Let's say he plays 40 matches a season for the next 10 years. That is 400 appearences, add 192 that he has already played to that.

That is 592 matches, More than Both JT and Lampard. (they will surely surpass that though)

I don't think he will surpass that, However, 192 matches already is a lot!

Even if we enter our most trohpy laden era, unless Mikel improves and plays vital roles in those Trophies I will still remember Maka as a better player.

I agree with your last line, I don't think, Currently, Mikel will become a legend.

To add to that, I just checked Transfermrkt. he is worth 20m pounds. If someone offered 20m pounds for him, I would take it.

He has to make GOAT performances consistently but I think for a player to become a true legend they must have some special character, a defining personality that we will remember long after they've moved on. Combine the personality with some major trophies, or special goals and he could do it.

Personally, I just don't see Mikel living up to that

Mikel isnt close to the essien build/style of play, hes taller and thiner thne essien and way to lazy to run that much, although i think his style of play is very much akin to that of maka, its just with a 4-2-3-1 he cant fully assume the role maka played in a 4-3-3

I dont think Mikel will ever reach club legend status, but he will be remembered as one of those players who played for the club for along time and always gave 100%. Having said that Mikel has 160 apperances for Chelsea at age 25, he could easily double that which would not only make him Chelseas most capped African player (Drogba has 226, so hes only 66 short of Drogba with plenty of time to close that gap) but could also take him within the top 10 all time Chelsea apperances, currently John Bumstead is 10th with 409 apperances, which would give him some degree of legend status

having said that hes a long way from being the non-British player with the most apperances, currently Cech is on 256 who im pretty sure holds the record atm

Mikel has 192 + ~46 sub, Appearences according to our official website.

But I agree with you. Even with a lot of appearences, he won't be remembered as a legend.

As i said, nothing is certain, he is just stepping into the best years.. He could have the record for most assists at least If he lives upto it ofcoz..

He is nothing like Essien.

If he can truly bring together everything I've seen from him consistently, he can be Rijkaard-ish.

He needs to stay consistent and show he's a top DM.

He needs to learn how to pass and use his brain more intelligently, also needs to work on his positioning, general awareness and shooting.

Maybe work on his legs a bit, as someone of his height could potentially be a real threat in the air and he doesn't exactly have a lanky pussy body stature like busquets.

He is a legend wasn't he grinding all over Eva In the CL final or was that Essien

that was Essien

No that was me

You wish Abra Terry n Essien on the way

Well , he could be a legend ala Giggs if he stays until he retires. Of course he would have, as many of you said, to pull out some great seasons/goals

Four years on, it looks like Mikel is finally leaving us.

Does he qualify in anyone's books as a Chelsea legend?

He's been a great servant for the club for a decade, and he is the symbol of a Mourinho 1 0 win.

I'm not sure if I would call him a legend, but he is a Chelsea hero.

This question inherently implies that we have a fixed idea of a club legend, and do we?

A club legend is someone loyal who demonstrated his commitment and passion over prolonged amount of times, but he also has to be in one way or another someone who was special, and someone that made history and left a mark on the club that will stay for decades.

John Obi IMO fits the first but not quite the second. He was always in the shadow, either benched or doing the dirty and unnoticed and unappreciated work when he was a starter. And while a reliable and solid player, he was never that good or anything close to it.

So in conclusion, yea, I agree with your assessment. He's not a Chelsea legend, but he's a Chelsea lad through and through and he deserves a lot of respect and admiration. Similar to Paulo Ferreira and Carlo Cudicini

Completely agree.

I also think Makelele and Essien are more of Chelsea legends than Mikel, while he out lasted both, but he was never as great as either.

I also think you could have a club legend who was only around for 2-3 seasons. For example, Tore Andre Flo is often regarded as a Chelsea legend, but only played for us for 3 and a third seasons. Or Jimmy Greaves who only played for 4 seasons, and later joined Spurs, yet he is still largely considered a Chelsea legend.

So I'd argue that your second point is much more important than longevity.