Chelsea star Michael Essien is one of the best central midfielders in the Premiership. He is right up there with Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard, Manchester United’s Paul Scholes and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas or even Samir Nasri amongst others. He gives drive to the Chelsea midfield, typifying what it means to be a box-to-box midfielder. He’s Chelsea’s creative force in the middle of the park, chips in with some spectacular goals and is not afraid to get stuck in. However, it is this last point that leaves some question marks surrounding Essien.
Is Michael Essien a dirty player? Against Tottenham at White Hart Lane he made a dubious challenge on Gareth Bale, planting his studs right on to the winger’s shin. The commentator was quick to point out that Essien has history as far as nasty challenges are concerned, but surely this is part and parcel of being a tenacious midfielder? You’re unlikely to go a season without making a bad challenge, just ask Paul Scholes, he seems to be dishing them out every week!
Just because Essien is a great player, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t identify the negative parts of his game. Whether he has a nasty streak only Essien himself really knows, but I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt for all he brings to the Premier League. He should watch his tackles, though, as it doesn’t take much to earn a reputation as a dirty player, something commentators are already starting to pick up on, and another bad challenge in the coming weeks would see more criticism come the midfielder’s way.
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However, I’d much rather focus on the other side of Michael Essien, the side that makes him a great player. He was by far Chelsea’s stand out performer on Sunday, as he is for the Blues week-in week-out, and was at the centre of much of the Premier League Champions’ play. Right from the off he was spraying the ball around the park and struck a couple of early shots as clean as a whistle. His stats from the match were something to behold, too!
Essien was the highest Picklive points scorer by far in the Tottenham v Chelsea Premiership encounter. His 86 points included 81 completed passes, almost twice as many as any other Chelsea player, five shots on target and ten interceptions (you can see the Picklive stats in full here). His all-round game makes him one of the first name on Carlo Ancelotti’s team sheet, as he should be on yours when playing the LIVE fantasy football phenomenon that is Picklive.
There are undoubtedly two sides to Michael Essien. The Chelsea midfielder is one of the shining lights of his generation, yet the Ghanaian international lets himself down from time to time with bad challenges. Removing the nasty strike from Essien, though, may well make him a lesser player, and personally as long as he keeps his bad tackles to a minimum, I think his outstanding play more than makes up for it.
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