Madmax

Michael Essien Born near the capital city of Accra in his native Ghana, Michael Essien has followed in the footsteps of his famous countryman - Marcel Desailly, in his rise to the very pinnacle of the list of world class footballing exports from Africa. After starting his career at local club Liberty Professionals, 'Ess' caught the attention of several European clubs during Ghana's run to a 3rd place finish in the 1999 u-17 World Cup. An unsuccessful trial at Manchester United followed (it would later be famously revealed that he was considered 'too small' to make it as a footballer), and the promising starlet was snapped up by France's SC Bastia. Not yet a regular starter, young Michael was required to fill in whenever injuries struck his teammates, a practice that saw him deployed everywhere in defence. Another such positional shuffle to centre midfield would fortuitously result in the world getting it's first glimpse of the Essien we all know and love today. 3 seasons at Bastia highlighted by a French Cup final appearance in 2002, culminated into a 7.8 million Euro move to one of the French and European giants,Olympique Lyonnais. Interestingly, Paris St Germain had initially won the race to sign the tenacious midfielder, only for Essien to reject personal terms in favour of Lyon. The move catapulted Essien into the big time and his abilities came to the fore as Lyon raced away to consecutive league titles in 2004 and 05. Playing alongside the likes of Juninho Pernambucano, Edmilson and Mahamadou Diarra, Michael established himself as a permanent fixture in the midfield. A more defensive role at his new club required him to put on show his physical qualities, and one of the worst disciplinary records in the French Ligue Un remained the only botch on his trophy-littered short spell there, crowned by the award for the French Player of The Year 2005. Summer of that year brought with it speculation of a move abroad, with much of the interest coming from across the English Channel. Newly crowned league champions Chelsea and perennial contenders Manchester United (the club who had originally rejected him as a 17 year old), did battle for his signature. A bitter and lengthy transfer saga ensued, and Chelsea got their man in August for a whopping 24.4 million £ - the club's record signing at the time, and was handed the number 5 shirt upon his arrival Manager Jose Mourinho obviously knew what he was looking for, because Essien didn't take much time at all while slotting into his new side. He made his debut as a second half substitute in a 1-0 victory against Arsenal, and a full debut followed against West Brom in the league. His disciplinary problems however followed him to these new shores, a situation that saw him collect several yellow cards and also a UCL suspension - something that proved costly when Chelsea were eliminated by Barcelona in the Round of 16 tie. 2006 saw him score his first of many for the club and it was all the more sweeter considering the goal came in a win against arch local rivals Tottenham. His first season in England was fruitful on personal as well as team level. Chelsea successfully retained their league title and Essien picked up BBC's African Footballer of the Year award. The following year really established Essien as a part of the Chelsea 'spine'. While his drive, ferocity, energy and battling qualities in midfield remained intact, he also developed the knack of scoring important goals - none more so than a stunning long range late equaliser against Arsenal at home, an effort that served to maintain Chelsea's impressive unbeaten home record. Another crucial effort away against Valencia took Chelsea through to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. His importance to the club was underlined when he was voted the Chelsea Player of the Year for 2007 by the fans. The dramatic goal against Arsenal was voted Goal of the Season for 2007. The following year ended on disappointing note for all connected with Chelsea Football Club. Early season was witness to charismatic manager Jose Mourinho parting ways with the club, while end season saw them finish second in 3 out of 4 competitions. Essien's versatility came to the fore once again in a season ravaged by injuries. Regular appearances at centre half and right back underlined his indispensability to the club. He was famously beaten to the headed opener by Cristiano Ronaldo in the Champions League final held in Moscow. But it was a small defeat when compared to what Essien had done throughout the year. Fans of the club were delighted when Michael put pen to paper on a new 5 year contract with Chelsea in the beginning of the 2008-09 season. Unfortunately they wouldn't see much of him during the months that followed, courtesy of an anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained while on international duty. His absence was strongly felt as new manager Phil Scolari sought to embark on a successful spell. Essien returned amid much eager anticipation against Coventry in the FA Cup in March 2009. On his second game back from injury, in a Round of 16 second leg tie away at Juventus, he scored a crucial away goal just before half time and followed it up with the only goal of the game against Manchester City in the next league game. His penchant for score dramatic yet exquisite goals continued against Barcelona in the Champions League semifinal second leg tie at Stamford Bridge. The magnificent left footed volley from outside the box won him the Goal of the Season award but unfortunately proved inconsequential as Andre Iniesta's late, late leveller saw Chelsea dumped out of Europe in extremely controversial circumstances. Another season brought along another manager, this time in the form of 4 time UCL winner Carlo Ancelotti. Essien began the season in excellent form as Chelsea raced away to the top of the league in the early months. An anticipated slump in form around December saw them relinquish their lead before Essien departed for African Cup of Nations duty. It proved to be his last involvement for months to come. Yet another injury while being away with Ghana not only ended his club season while also ruling him out of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, it also reduced him to a mere spectator as Chelsea recovered from their slump to lift the Premier League trophy after a gap of 3 years and also the FA Cup - a feat that saw them become only the 7th English team of all time to celebrate the revered 'Double'. There are no two ways about it - Michael Essien is a vital cog in the Chelsea machine, and consistently energetic, driven and committed no-nonsense performances from 'The Bison' will be relied on heavily by Carlo Ancelotti as he masterminds a way back into league contention while still keeping an eye on Chelsea's final frontier - the UEFA Champions League.

He's been our most consistent midfielder for about 2-3 months now. I'd really like to see him, Mikel and Lamps in a game or two just so that his attacking side can come out more safe in the knowledge that he has Mikel behind him to mop up loose balls.

No...too much to do ourselves, and too many favours to ask for from others. Ofcourse mathematically it's possible but I think 2nd is within our grasp seeing how l'Arse are playing.

After Arsenal, Tottenham and United, now add City to the list of big games Rambo has excelled in. Big game player, anyone? I notice how the haters who lynched him upon arrival have suddenly run away with their tail between their legs. Anyway, great to see all the faith me and several others had in him is being repaid, and how!

Sign him up Carlo! Gourlay/Buck/Roman!

It's two months since Torres arrived and I'm yet to see Drogba put in a performance like we all know he can. He was one of the poorest players on the pitch against Sunderland away (2 days after Torres joined) and maybe that tells us something. It's all right to talk in the press about how competition is good and healthy and how the club is bigger than individuals but attitude out on the pitch is what really matters.

Thanks for the report Alex! This game once again demonstrated why Kalou should always play as a striker, he was our outstanding player of the first half. Player ratings : Cech (6.5), Ivanovic (6.5), Luiz (9.5), Terry (8.5), Cole (8), Essien (7.5), Ramires (9), Lampard (6), Malouda (4), Kalou (8), Torres (8), Drogba (7), Anelka (6), Zhirkov N/A.

:goodpost: I could read that for hours, cheers for posting mate!

The peaking at the right time philosophy doesn't work in a league format. Momentum is a good thing undoubtedly but it's impact isn't as pronounced in a league as much as in a knockout tournament. Hence it'll stand us in good stead in the UCL, not the Premier League, where I fear inspite of this late rally we've left ourselves too much to do and looking for too many favours from other teams. I see us taking 3rd easily from now on, and 2nd is a possibility too.

I know it is extremely early in his career, but PvA's buccaneering runs down the left are very reminiscent of Ashley.

I think we're seeing a change in Roman's policy. The summer clearout was most probably Roman's idea to cut the wage bill and he realized he'd made a mistake by not signing enough replacements. He also erred by getting rid of Wilkins and he's seen how some of his decisions have affected our season. He's shown a desire to rectify the mistakes by splashing out in Jan and I feel he's letting Carlo take charge of the team more and more now while understanding that him meddling into team affairs will never help. This will suit Carlo because let's remember he served 8 years under Berlusconi, who if anything is much more authoritarian than Roman. Carlo will enjoy the increased freedom here and hopefully that'll allow him to work without pressure and build a team of his own.

Malouda needs a bitch slap.

As long as we don't get into any trouble a la Kakuta....

No player is worth 50 million and hence there is bound to be discussion. Even more so when it's everybody's favourite hate object - Chelsea, who splash the said sum on the best player of the 'biggest English team'. It's just the way it is.

-Gonzalo Higuain.

ffs people the second leg being away is an advantage to us. If things are level after 90 mins at the theater of shite, and the 180 minutes overall (score draw or goalless draw) things go to extra time where we get 30 mins to score an away goal. It's a massive advantage. Let's think things through before proclaiming them to be better off with the draw.

We have a chance to possibly exact revenge on the winners of the past 3 seasons- United, Inter and Barca. All had to beat us on their way to the crown remember. This may just be our year finally:cfc:

Less than 20 days left...can't fucking wait...BRING IT ON!

I agree with regards to Borini. This move is a way for the club to safely run down his contract, while also giving him a chance to impress interested clubs, because league football > reserves football. What I was talking about was why academy youngsters in general are difficult to bring through at a club like ours which is hungry for trophies.

Cynical much? Wait and watch.

And I can understand why. At a club like ours where there is enormous pressure on the manager to give wins every game, giving academy players a chance is extremely difficult. Especially at Chelsea, because we have Roman here who like everybody knows doesn't ponder too much before firing managers. If I were to put myself in the manager's shoes, that's what I'd be doing as well. Because I know that a string of bad results would see me losing my job. Not that I don't care about youth development-managers crave to remembered as the guy that recognised a youngster's potential and gave him the chance to develop into a star-but, I have to remain in my job to be able to do that somewhere down the line. Know what I mean? Trophies are what matters to CFC right now, because trophies and titles will get us closer to a level pegging with the traditional 'big' European powerhouses-the likes of Bayern, Barca, Madrid, Milan, Juve, Ajax, United and Liverpool. Until that happens, whoever the manager is, the focus will be on silverware and not bringing in youngsters; unless we discover an absolute gem a la Josh. That's they way it will be, and we have to accept it, unless the fans and Roman are willing to make youth development their main aim at the cost of going a long period without success, a la Arsenal. You only have to look at the doomsday reactions from supporters a couple of months back when the results were not coming by, to know what kind of pressure Carlo is under to achieve success. Having said that, of course I'm sad to see Borini go, as I would be when any talented youngster doesn't make it here, but we have to understand that a majority of them won't. It's just the way life is at a major club.

Good to be back ZY! Have a bit of free time on hand currently

I understand that mate, it's a definite tactic by Carlo to tuck the 'wide' players inside, giving room to Cole and Bos while at the same time packing the centre of the pitch and giving support to both the strikers, as well as the defence. But I still don't want Yuri especially to be denied of his natural game. He's the closest we have to proper winger remember. Yeah I alluded to the fact that he was involved in some good plays early on. But I guess I feel disappointed because I was really expecting him to take the match by the scruff of it's neck and dominate down that left side. Massive expectations = greater chances of disappointment obviously. But remember, only a fruit laden tree is pelted with stones

Meaningless move. Bye bye Fabio

Nah mate I was trying to imitate TalkChelsea legend, Tommy10!