Michael Essien, better known as the Bison was once one of the best defensive midfielders in the world and has always been a fan favorite at the Bridge. Essien was bought by Jose Mourinho in his first spell at the club and has played under him at Real Madrid (on loan). However, his career took a turn for the worse with his injury problems, especially his knee. Now that Essien and Mourinho are both back at Chelsea, we wonder – does Essien have what it takes? Is he good enough anymore?
It’s a tricky question and there’s no clear-cut choice for an answer, but one would have to believe that his “father-son” relationship with Mourinho will play a big part in this upcoming season for the Bison. Whether or not the “father-son” relationship played a part in Essien playing 34 matches for the Los Blancos remains unknown, but the Bison certainly wasn’t that bad in his time at the Bernabeu.
He played 34 games in all competitions and scored 2 goals along the way, including one on Mourinho’s last game as Real Madrid manager. Fans at Chelsea certainly are divided regarding Essien and during his time at Real Madrid, we saw many fans either calling for his exit or his return. I was undecided for most of the season on him, feeling as if he would be a useful asset as a substitute come this season, but towards the end I realized, Essien still can offer a lot, whether he’s a starter or utility player. Why, you may ask?
It’s his tough tackling style, boundless energy and physical presence on the pitch. He is a midfielder who can play multiple midfield roles (defensively and offensively) but is most effective when asked to man mark an opponent out of the game. At Chelsea, his versatility as a player has been put to effective use in various roles. He has often been deployed as a defensive midfielder, but has also played as a centre midfielder, a right-sided lateral defender or a right-sided midfielder. For the Ghana national football team, Essien has played primarily in a central midfield role, with combined opportunities to go forward or support defensive play. He also has a good eye for goal and has on occasion scored important, sometimes breath-taking goals for both club and country. One of his trademark abilities is to hit a shot from distance. His strength is possibly his strongest asset (no pun intended), Essien can muscle off just about anyone off the ball and is nearly impossible to get off the ball.
My favorite example of his strength is below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxx_aYm5BU8
While Messi isn’t as strong as Essien, he’s faster and Essien keeps up with him well before throwing, arguably, the world’s best player (at the moment) off the ball cleanly and efficiently.
Essien is also capable of scoring the wonder-goal and look no further than Barcelona 09 and Arsenal 06 just to witness his tremendous ability to strike the ball. You can see them both below:
http://youtu.be/ODxuMH0_M5M?t=2m38s
Some might say that Essien is washed up and not good enough, but if you look at some of his performances from this past season, you’ll realize that he still has it. His 3 best games of this past season :
- Galatasaray (H) 3-0.
- Osasuna (H) 4-2.
- Borussia Dortmund (H) 2-0.
Essien was absolutely fantastic in all 3 of these matches. He showed signs of his old-self while delivering an all-around impressive and consistent performance. If you look at his highlights from those games, I’m sure you’ll be persuaded to believe that Essien still has a future at Chelsea.
Essien can be used for many things this upcoming season, he can provide cover in defense as a left-back, right-back or center-back and he can always be used in defensive midfield. Essien could come in handy for the next 2 seasons as van Ginkel and Romeu get more chances to develop and there’s no better tutor for them than Michael Essien and that’s why I think that Essien can still offer a lot for Chelsea this upcoming season.
