Captain of the Super Eagles of Nigeria John Obi Mikel has weigh in on the debate regarding his role on the pitch for the Nigerian team after many questioned his performance in the number ten role in Nigeria’s 0-2 loss to Croatia on Saturday.
His former manager at Chelsea Jose Mourinho, who groomed Mikel into a defensive midfielder was among those who criticise the decision of coach Gernot Rohr to play him as the creative midfielder in the Nigerian team.
Mikel spent ten and half seasons at Chelsea playing as a defensive midfielder but since the employment of coach Rohr he has played mainly as a creative midfielder, a slightly different role from the one he plays for his team in China.
Rohr defended his decision to play him in the playmaker role by saying he has been impressive in the role, and was not too spectacular against Croatia because he was up against some of the best midfielders in the world
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Speaking at the press conference of the team ahead of their game on Friday against Iceland, the Tianjin Teda midfielder said he is willing to play in any position if it will help the team to win games.
“I am the captain of this team. If I have to sacrifice for this team to progress, I will. If I have to sacrifice a position, go play wherever, I will do that for this team to win games”, he said.
Samuel Thompson
