his squad as the Blues won their third round FA Cup game against Derby
County on Sunday.
The Blues were late in scoring before the Nigerian's header in the
second half put them on their way to winning 2-0.
Mikel was given the captain's armband by Ghanaian Michael Essien
instead of Ashley Cole and he went on to make great impact afterwards
scoring his fourth ever Chelsea goal on the day he made his
300thappearance for the club.
"I never recognise his ability to score goals," Mourinho told the
club's website.
"I recognise his ability to play as an anchorman, to play that
position in a very comfortable way, with no mistakes. He reads the
game well, plays in an intelligent and safe way, but I never recognise
his goal scoring appetite.
"There was a smile on my face [when he scored]. For some reason Essien
gave him the armband, normally it should go to Ashley Cole, so maybe
it made him believe he was a goal scorer!
"It was important for us, we were dominating and dominating, creating
and creating but the goal was not arriving. It was like the winning
goal.'
Mikel is in the running for the 2013 Caf African Player of the Year
award that will be announced on Thursday January 9 at a gala to be
held in Lagos. He is contesting against Ivoirians Yaya Toure and
Didier Drogba.
He has seen support for him rise in recent days with Nigeria coach
Stephen Keshi stating: "It will boost the team and Mikel and all
Nigerians because it has been a long time since we last won the award
and I know we deserve to win this year."
No comments:
Post a Comment