Michael Essien set to feature for the Reserve team today
by Stephen Schmidt on Jan 9, 2012 12:26 PM GMT
in Chelsea FC: Players
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According to the Daily Mail, Michael Essien will be featuring for the reserve team in some capacity as they host West Bromwich Albion today. The game will take place at 2 PM London time. Unfortunately ChelseaTV will not be airing the game, so you'll have to follow twitter for updates. For those of you not familiar with the midfielders situation, Essien suffered a very serious knee injury very shortly after the squad resumed training this summer and has not played a minute yet this season. How he'll fit into AVB's long term plans is probably a bit unclear as he didn't even get to feature in the preseason. For now it's just exciting to have more options in the center of the pitch.
The timing of the return seems perfect for Chelsea as Essien seems to be regaining fitness just after the ACoN robs the Premier League of it's top African talent. While I'm sure he'll be watching the tournament with some interest, Essien will not be able to participate this season and will instead focus on helping the blues solidify a top four place. Essien's return also probably means an imminent loan move for Josh McEachran as the additional depth provided by the bison should pretty much bury young Josh on the depth chart. A good Spring from Essien could probably hasten the exit of Frank Lampard this summer as I'm sure his playing time will be somewhat negatively affected by this. Regardless of what it does to the rotation however, it will be great to see Essien on the pitch again. Welcome back Michael...
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lets hope
hes better than he was last season, he was pretty dissapointing
by blue_is_the_colour on Jan 9, 2012 1:04 PM GMT reply actions
Good to see him back
Hope his knee hold’s out for the rest of the season. Depending on what kind of impact he has when he comes back, I can see him being sold in the summer. Unless Romeu goes home.
Completely off-topic - Malouda's hair
But in the game thread yesterday someone mentioned that FloMo would only play well if he had changed his hair style, well it seems he did: 
Personally I think he should concentrate on his football and not be worrying about his hairstyle.
He’ll have plenty time for that when he’s retired
With Essien back, what would our best MF be? (assuming Essien regains some form)
…..Romeu
Rambo-Essien
That would be our best mid triangle in my opinion. Looks uncreative, but Essien is more than capable of switching places with Mata on the left to give us more creativity in the middle, and more speed out wide.
I think our best midfield would be
4231
Essien Ramires
Sturridge Mata Malouda
That would allow Lamps to cover Mata
Lamps, Meireles, Romeu, Mikel could all play in the double pivot.
When playing against team that counter fast but aren’t very good play Romeu/Mikel, behind Ramires/Essien and Lampard/ Meireles.
I’d like a better left winger than Malouda though.
EPLTransfers
Essien back is like having a new signing again – apart from Cahill, don’t think we need anyone else this January
Essien
Got through 75mins. Excellent
by G Paine on Jan 9, 2012 4:03 PM GMT via Android app reply actions
And reserves lost 3-2
Late Goldsmith goal. PvA with 2 assists. Mellis and Lalvokic with the goals for us.
by G Paine on Jan 9, 2012 4:08 PM GMT via Android app reply actions
The results matter less, although nice to see Lalko get another goal
Very happy to hear Essien’s got through most of the game without any major problems. Couple more weeks of rehab to regain match fitness and he’ll be like another new signing!
Finally some great news!
Ess back is gonna be awesome. He’ll shore up our midfield and give it a bit of bite too. Though he shouldn’t be played as the defensive mid. I really think Mikel plays better with Ess in the 11…Mikel can take the holding role,Rami and Ess the two midfield spots…Raul too if he plays 4 midfielders.
by Avinash Mohan on Jan 9, 2012 5:21 PM GMT via mobile reply actions
Strange, a Mikel supporter...
I had come to believe that everyone on WAGNH was a Romeu fan boy and disliked Mikel. Nice to see I’m not alone…
The Nigerian Perspective!
You aren't
I love Mikel, I really don’t understand how he’s earned scapegoat status. I’d probably be starting Romeu over him at this point but I still like Mikel on the squad.
by Stephen Schmidt on Jan 9, 2012 7:07 PM GMT up reply actions
Well right now we have 5 Central midfielders
If we start playing the 4 2 3 1 with Mata or another player in the hole isn’t that a bit too much?
Surely Mikel would leave as he’d most likely become 5th choice after Lamps, Essien, Rami, Meireles and Romeu?
I'd doubt it. He only really competes with Romeu for the DM spot (Mikel is our man marker).
If we play a double pivot his competition would be Essien, Rambo, and Romeu.
He was absolutely brilliant to start last year, had the highest pass % in the PL
and was still getting savaged by people. I don’t think he’s lived up to expectations, but he’s definitely a very solid player.
I just think Mikel has a better passing range for the holding role than Romeu at the moment,though we haven’t seen that part of his game yet. Mikel seems to play a lot more freely with Essien around…again,Essien needs to play as a normal midfielder and not the defensive mid…people keep confusing him to be a defensive mid.
by Avinash Mohan on Jan 10, 2012 4:17 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
There are a few of us, the brave and the bold, the Rebels, who stand by Obi-Wan Mikenobi
He’s not our last hope though.
He’s just the current scapegoat. Sometimes he shares that distinction with Kalou, Bosingwa, Luiz even…but he’s the constant. The one and only.
It’s hard out there for a pimp.
I'm with ya!
He seems to be made the scapegoat way too much. He’s a much better player than he’s given credit for…though I wish he’d be given a more advanced role,just to try his playmaking. Maybe even play him along with Essien,with Romeu behind them. I’m full of ideas! :P
by Avinash Mohan on Jan 10, 2012 4:25 PM GMT via mobile up reply actions
comes out to essieeeennnnn!!!!
:)
by Jimm Bmore on Jan 9, 2012 5:50 PM GMT via Android app reply actions
I can't be the only one who wasted half an hour watching Essien highlights on youtube
He’s probably my favorite Chelsea player. With he and Ramires, we’ll have two nice box-to-box options, with Romeu/Mikel and Lampard/Meireles at the other two central slots. I would like to see if he could play a bit of right back; I’d rather not sit Ramires considering the form he’s been in this year.
I'm glad to see Essien getting back on track
But I also have to worry about his place on the team. Where would he fit? I know he’s not fully fit (yet), but still, will AVB bench Meireles in favor of Essien in the future? I think employing a 4-2-3-1 (something everyone is doing at the moment) would be a good option too.
1970 - 1984 - 2010
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Eu sou do clube tantas vezes campeão!
Vim pra torcer, vim pra gritar
E por você a vida inteira vou cantar!"
Do we still have a foreign player spot
available for Essien to take?
If he is back, he could be a solid contender for a spot, and this only can benefit all participants. I’ve started to feel Raul needs a little push, he wasn’t stellar recently, even though I still like him. But we are getting ahead of ourselves, aren’t we? Last year Michael’s return was a pure dissapointment. I wish him better luck/better fitness this time around. He used to be just a really fantastic player, so for him it’s a tall order to match his own benchmark
I also feel and hope can can get more familiar with "born-again" Ramirez and link up with him well
by covering Rami’ runs forward (God, I just love those!)
He doesn't need to take a spot.
He’s been on the list all year, I believe. He was supposed to be back in December, so he needed a spot for the first half of the season.
Author and Official Fernando Torres Apologist for We Ain't Got No History!
by Kevin Kostka on Jan 10, 2012 1:30 AM GMT up reply actions
That's correct
He’s already been occupying one
by Stephen Schmidt on Jan 10, 2012 6:50 PM GMT up reply actions
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