October ended with Chelsea looking imperious and pulling away from the chasing pack at the top of the Premiership. The side seemed to playing with such verve and spirit that I simply couldn’t see where any worthy challenge could come from. Manchester United were struggling to hit any real form, but continued to pick up points other sides would lose. Arsenal being Arsenal, looked amazing one week and then lost a game from nowhere. Manchester City continued to play as if expression was something to be feared.

Liverpool and Aston Villa were struggling to cope with the hangovers from summers of upheaval and Tottenham are still getting used to being involved at this end of the table. Then from nowhere, Chelsea hit the skids and suddenly, we have a title race again. November has been a hellish month for the Blues, with the Wilkins situation, Lampard’s continued absence, Terry and Alex both struggling, Essien suspended and Drogba’s illness sapping him of his strength and power. Then from nowhere Frank Arnesen announces his departure and you begin to think just what is going on at Stamford Bridge.

Crucially though Chelsea seemed to have no luck both on and off the pitch in the last four weeks. The game against Birmingham was one of the most one sides defeats I’ve seen in years. Chelsea absolutely battered Birmingham but couldn’t make the crucial breakthrough to score. When you play that well and the ball simply will not go in, then you really think things are conspiring against you. It’s unfortunate when 5 of your top stars all get sidelined for various reasons and most sides would struggle to cope with that level of disruption to their first team squad.

The Wilkins situation has, regardless of what the clubs hierarchy have said, had an effect on the dressing room and been a contributing factor. Tactical mistakes too have played their part, as the defeat to Sunderland had a lot to do with playing 3 right backs in a back four left them unbalanced and positionally unsure when defending. By not playing a recognised centre back, the impetus was offered to Steve Bruce’s side and they took full advantage playing with pomp and prowess.

The additional pain of being dislodged from the top of the table on Saturday was not only had Manchester United pulled two points clear, but by thrashing Blackburn Rovers so convincingly, goal difference had been drawn level. All of the advantages that Chelsea had, coming up to a tough December had been eaten away by a series of unfortunate injuries, suspensions and tactics.

Now Chelsea face 5 tough matches in the league, 4 against the current top 6. Visits to Tottenham and Arsenal, coupled with home games against Everton, Bolton and of course, Manchester United. At least it seems Terry and Lampard will return in the next week or so, but Alex faces a lay off for an operation and the front line is still struggling for goals. The old adage in English football is the title is usually decided at Easter, but Christmas could come early for Chelsea’s rivals if their dreadful month continues in to December. The club need to make sure that regardless of the off field problems, things need to get back to normal on the pitch.

Kalou missed a sitter to pile on the misery at Chelsea

The problems at Chelsea continue to mount as a draw in the North East allowed Manchester United to overhaul the champions at the top of the table for the first time this season.

With an important month in the title race about to begin injuries, backroom drama and poor performances have left confidence shattered at a club that has only collected four points from a possible fifteen.

Injuries and Suspensions With all the problems around the club it would be easy to forget that Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Alex and Didier Drogba have either been unavailable or not fully fit over the last month or so.

This constitutes the spine of the first team and it is clear that with the loss of Deco, Joe Cole, Ricardo Carvalho and Michael Ballack the depth is not what it needs to be for the club to overcome injury blights unaffected.

Ray Wilkins Nobody truly knows what happened and the reasoning behind the decision to axe a winning back room figure, but it will clearly have drained morale and it must be a contributing factor to recent results.

With the next month or so crucial for the first time in over a year Chelsea look vulnerable something that was unthinkable just a few months ago, when the Blues raced out of the blocks with six wins in a row. Significant changes in luck around injuries and the defining moments in games are required if Chelsea are to remain in the title race come January.

Brought to you by eChelseaFC

Reflecting on Chelsea v Arsenal’s match this past Sunday at Stamford Bridge, I was immediately reminded of one of the most amazing goals I have ever seen.

The date was December 10, 2006.  Chelsea desperately need points as they hosted Arsenal in order to keep pace with a runaway Manchester United at the top of the table.  However, in the 78th minute, the Gunners would be the first to put one on the scoresheet as Alexander Hleb’s swift passing found Mathieu Flamini who shot past Hilario into the bottom corner.

Wenger’s side looked to notch their first win against the Blues in over two years.  But then, with just five minutes before added time, one of the most formidable and dangerous midfielders in the Premier League would shake the very foundations of his home ground with a truly incredible strike…

Just as the hype and excitement for the World Cup is building to a feverish pitch, over the last two days we have had to read devastating headlines about star players (most of them Premier League stalwarts or ex-EPL stars) going down to injury in exhibition warm-up matches.

Devastating because in the World Cup you want to see the best of the best out on the pitch, that is what this tournament is about, it is what makes it so special. But in the last 48 hours, the list of those that will or may not be in South Africa has become staggering.

• Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United):  Ferdinand had replaced John Terry as England captain after the Chelsea star’s unscrupulous affairs made international headlines, and was set to appear in his fourth consecutive finals.  But a clash with Emile Heskey on the training ground on Friday has ruled him out of the Cup.  His season had been tarnished with injuries (started only 13 EPL matches) and this just puts the icing on the cake.  The only ball-playing CB for England, it will be interesting to see how the Three Lions cope without their captain.

• Didier Drogba (Chelsea): Arguably the best striker in the world, Drogba is now trying to salvage his World Cup dream through emergency surgery after dislocating his elbow in a friendly against Japan. The 37-goal striker is coming off his best season ever, and is the heart and soul of the Ivory Coast squad. If he cannot return to action for the tournament, it could bury the Elephants’ chances of getting out of their “Group of Death” featuring Brazil, Portugal and North Korea.

• Michael Essien (Chelsea): Having been plagued by injuries all season long for Chelsea, Essien tried to play his way back to get into the Ghana team, but failed to prove his fitness.  Ghana’s best player, Essien’s absence will severely hinder any hopes of Ghana returning to the knockout round where they were eliminated by Brazil in 2006.

• Michael Ballack (Chelsea): Yet another pivotal Chelsea player, Germany captain Michael Ballack was ruled out of the tournamant after a vicious tackle from Portsmouth’s Kevin-Prince Boateng (Ghana) in the FA Cup final left Ballack’s ankle in smithereens.  So productive for his national side, Ballack’s injury leaves a gaping hole in midfield for the always-dangerous Germans.

• John Obi Mikel (Chelsea): Are Chelsea footballers cursed for this World Cup?  While it was always going to be difficult for Mikel to feature for Nigeria after injuries derailed his Chelsea season in April, it has been confirmed that he will indeed not be traveling to South Africa after an undisclosed injury this morning.

• Arjen Robben (Bayern Munich, formerly Chelsea): And now the news this morning that Arjen Robben, Bayern’s wizard winger who at certain points single-handedly took the Munich giants to the Champions League final, has suffered a hamstring setback which could very well rule him out for Holland. While the Dutch have a plethora of playmakers, Robben is instrumental to their setup, and will be sorely missed this summer if he is out.

So there you have it.  The above players would make any manager’s starting lineups in the world, yet they could all be missing from world football’s biggest stage this summer.

When Argentina and Portugal were struggling to qualify, I thought to myself how tragic it would be to deprive the world of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo at the World Cup.  While not quite up to Messi and Ronaldo’s enormous stature, the players above are major international stars that will be sorely missed by not only their countries but by the whole world, because in a World Cup you want to see the very best out there in full health so that the greatest tournament possible is realized.

Sports can be so cruel sometimes.

Now that’s what I call a tournament mascot. I don’t need modern interpretations of peace, harmony and good will like the dreadful trio that South Korea and Japan gave us in 2002. Dreadful mascots and a dreadful tournament. I want giant animals or characters that can play football or playing football. This is Palanquina, who is based on the famed Angolan Giant Sable Antelope, a rare animal now only found in one region of Angola. A proper mascot if there ever was one.

Well if the first round of matches showed us anything, then it was not to take anything for granted. Whilst some semblance of order returned in the second round of games, there were still some shocks and one of the best games you will see all year and allegations of match fixing. Just a normal continental football tournament then!

So Group A saw Algeria recover to beat under-performing Mali 1-0 on Thursday to get them back on track and put Mali facing the exit, but more on that later. Angola continued there fine form with a convincing 2-0 win of Malawi, with Manucho getting another goal. This meant that all Angola and Algeria needed was a 0-0 draw today for them both to qualify, regardless of how many goals Mali scored against Malawi. Can you guess what the final score was?

Apparently, the group stages are decided on head to head results, though the irony of Algeria being involved in a dodgy result after the 1982 World Cup saw them eliminated through exactly the same thing is rather a shame. Yet, Mali have only themselves to blame, they simply never got going until it was too late.

Group B gave us only one game on Friday, but what a match it was. A clash of real international heavyweights was end to end all through the game and Ivory Coast broke the deadlock in the first half, with Gervinho getting the opener. Ghana pushed and pushed but the Ivory Coast held on until half time. 10 minutes in to the second half though, Ghana looked to have the advantage when Emmanuel Eboue was sent off for a reckless two footed challenge.

This seemed to have the opposite effect though and with Drogba in mesmerising form, Ghana were torn to shreds and found themselves 3-0 down through Tiene and Drogba and the lack of real experience and quality in the Ghana side was compounded. Saturday brought further bad news and not just for the Black Stars, when Michael Essien was ruled out for the rest of the competition.With him on crutches, Chelsea will be hopeful that the knee injury is not too serious.

Ghana play Burkina Faso tomorrow knowing a win is the only thing that will get them through the group.

Group C saw Egypt continue with their remarkable from so far in Angola 2010, with another 2-0 win though it was a tough game at times, but another great game of football. Unfancied Mozambique had chances to score before conceding a harsh own goal, then missed chances to draw themselves level before Egypt finished them off with a superb turn and volley from Mohamed Gedo. The Pharoahs are looking good once again.

Nigeria, still hurting from their opening game loss against Egypt struggled to beat Benin 1-0, thanks to a Yakubu penalty in the 42nd minute. Despite all the experience, they looked sluggish and were also hit with an injury to key defender Joseph Yobo. If Benin had been more ruthless in front of goal, the Nigerians would be going home. Instead, a point against Mozambique will see them through.

Finally in Group D, Cameroon huffed and puffed after their humiliating defeat against Gabon to win 3-2 against Zambia despite being a goal down until the 68th minute. Geremi equalised and Eto’o put them 2-1 up but Zambia came back again to equalise with an 82nd minute penalty. To the rescue rode Idrissou with a late header to steal the win and keep Cameroon’s disappointing tournament on track. They need to get going soon because someone is going to take them apart if they’re not careful.

In the final game, surprise package, Gabon, battled to a fine 0-0 draw with Tunisia to keep themselves on track to reach the quarter finals. Tunisia meanwhile now know that the only way they’ll be through to the next stage is to beat Cameroon on Thursday. Now that is a game I’m looking forward to.

So there you have it, a bit of scandal, top Premiership players injured, unfancied Premiership players such as Daniel Cousin and Manucho doing their countries proud and a couple of big surprises. The next 3 days will be very interesting indeed and its been a great tournament so far. I’ll be back with another round up after Sunday’s first Quarter finals.

Qualified for Quarter Finals: Algeria, Angola, Egypt

Out and heading home: Mali and Malawi

On the edge of elimination: Ghana and Cameroon. Ghana have to win, Cameroon have to not lose.

So, if the only time you’ve ever come across this tournament is when certain Premiership managers whine about it, let me welcome to you to one of World Football’s best kept secrets. Over the years, the African Cup Of Nations has grown and grown to be one of the most respected tournaments in World Football. So, as the tournament kicks off in Angola on Sunday, welcome to an overview for the 27th competition.

The influx into European football of African players over the last 20 years has seen the profile of this once derided competition rise far above what even the most biased supporter of African football could have hoped for. My first experience of seeing an African side was Algeria’s incredible defeat of West Germany in 1982 and as I’ve watched football, its reputation has grown and grown. Now it’s a fantastic tournament and one you really need to catch so here’s who to look out for in my first article about it.

This year’s tournament is being held in Angola for the first time and as such will give us the first glimpse of some of the teams who have also qualified for the World Cup in June this year.16 teams participate in the finals, drawn in to groups of four, with quarter finals, semi finals, a 3rd/4th play off and the final.Running over 20 days, this looks set to be the biggest African Cup of Nations yet.

The qualification for this years tournament also doubled up as qualification for the World Cup, which saw the odd spectacle of South Africa entered even though they’re the World Cup hosts along with Angola to try and earn a double qualification. Ironically, Angola haven’t qualified for the World Cup and South Africa failed to reach the African Cup of Nations.

Favourites for the second tournament in a row are of course Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast but in 2008 they were humiliated in the semi final by Egypt 4-1. They’ll be desperate to try and add to their solitary title won in 1992.With a squad featuring the Toure brothers, Drogba, Eboue, Zakora and Dindane, they’ll certainly be there or there abouts, The Elephants will be certainly one of the teams to beat. Drawn in Group B they’ll be one of the two fancied teams in that group.

The other side in Group B with ambitions to win the tournament will be the Black Stars of Ghana. Ghana are a team that we should have seen so much more of over the last 20 years, especially as they gave us one of the greatest ever African players of all time, in Abedi Pele, who like George Weah of Liberia never made it to a World Cup. They finished 3rd last time, so they’ll be desperate to go at least one better but they lack a clinical striker.  With Michael Essien, John Mensah, Kingson, Addo and Amoah in the squad they’ll try and cope with the loss of talismanic captain Stephen Appiah and Sulley Muntari’s enforced passing over.

Group A should be a walk in the park for one of England’s forthcoming World Cup opponents, Algeria. With a fine international pedigree, they’ll be in with an outside shout of getting to the last four this time round. Since bursting on to the world stage in the 1982 World Cup, Algeria have lost their way a little since following it up with qualification for the 1986 World Cup and winning the A.C.O.N in 1990.

Since winning that title, they’ve been disqualified once, gone out in the first round three times and failed to qualify since 2004. Familiar names to watch out for in the Desert Foxes team are Hassan Yebda and Nadir Belhadj of Portsmouth, Kamel Ghilas of Hull City, Hamuer Bouazza formerly of Fulham and Madjid Bougherra of Rangers. They need a good tournament to reaffirm their place in African football.

Group C sees the power of African football, Egypt and the former star, Nigeria drawn together. Egypt who were pipped for World Cup qualification by Algeria, which saw such scenes of sportsmanship for them, have a lot to live up to . As defending champions since 2006, it remains to be seen just how much of a hangover they’ve retained from missing out on South Africa. Yet, without the injured Amr Zaki and the unpicked Mido, Egypt would seem to have it all to do to retain the trophy. Spurs fans will certainly remember Hossan Ghaly and Dortmunds Mohamed Zidan is one to watch for the Pharaohs.

Nigeria qualified for both Angola and South Africa, but they are not the side they once were. The Super Eagles were one of the key sides in African football’s modern growth but the generation that got them there are slowly retiring. Yet the squad is still packed with familiar names. Yobo, Yakubu, Kanu, Obi-Mikel, Martins, Shittu, Taiwo, Etuhu and Olofinjana will all be in the squad and will be looking to try and re-affirm their place at the head of modern African football. An outside chance of winning the title certainly.

Which leads us to another favourite, the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon. Lead by one of the worlds greatest strikers, Samuel Eto’o, Cameroon have been one of Africa’s leading lights over the last two decades. After missing out for the 2006 World Cup, they were in danger of missing out on both tournaments this year, but after sacking the manager, former Rangers, Lyon and Paris Saint Germain manager Paul Le Guen rode to the rescue.

Surprisingly though, Le Guen has opted not to pick the impressive Sebastain Bassong for the tournament but joining Eto’o will be Rigobert Song, Geremi, Alexandre Song, Jean Makoun and Andre Bikey. If they can keep Eto’o up the field, then anything can happen and after the 2006 penalty shoot out marathon against Ivory Coast and losing the last A.C.O.N final on penalties, they’ll be hoping to avoid more shootout heartache.IN Carlos Kameni, they’ve probably got the best goalkeeper in Africa. He could be key.

So they’re the main 6 contenders, but there are two outsiders that may catch the eye. Imagine a team with a midfield of Seydou Keita of Barcelona, Real Madrid’s Mahamadou Diarra and Juventus’s Momo Sissoko with Freddie Kanoute upfront. Well, that’s Mali’s main foursome and with a squad with a wealth of European experience and the Eagles have a team with bags of potential still unfulfilled. Of course, Togo also qualified and whilst the side seem to lack quality overall, if a certain Emmanuel Adebayor fancies it, then the Sparrow Hawks could cause some real shocks.

So there you have it. Over here in Europe, Eurosport will be showing every match, with the BBC disappointingly only showing the semi finals and final this time. If you’ve never watched it before, I recommend it highly and it’ll give you a real taste of what’s to come in June this year when the World Cup gets underway. I’ll be dropping another more articles throughout the month for you to keep up to speed with the tournament, so feel free to leave me your comments and questions.

Carlo Ancelotti has certainly stamped his mark on Chelsea early in the season so far. A Community Shield victory, coupled with 3 Premiership wins on the bounce has seen Chelsea rise to the top end of the table. So far, so what then? Nothing surprising in that in itself, would we expect the any of the big four to not already be putting markers down for the early running. What did make me sit up and take notice was Michael Essien being placed on the bench so early.

Ancelotti said after yesterdays game that he wanted to rest Essien as he was tired after his efforts in the midweek win at Sunderland. Two weeks in to the season and rotation is already being seen in Chelsea’s team selection. In the two games since the opening day win against Hull, Ancelotti has changed 4 players in both starting line-ups, with only 6 players starting all 3 games.

Cech, Cole, Boswinga, Terry, Lampard and Drogba are the the six in question with only Lampard retaining his place in Ancelotti’s much discussed midfield diamond formation. Perhaps this is the managers way of dealing with the fragile ego’s that modern footballers display on a daily basis by showing that match time is available to as many of the players as possible. Yet, Lampard has been moved around the midfield diamond, starting on the right against Hull, on the left hand side against Sunderland and then at the forward point against Fulham.

Against Fulham, Lampard was consistently further forward throughout the game than I’d seen in a long time. Whilst there is no doubt that Lampard remains the most potent and consistent attacking midfielder in the Premiership, his position often saw him playing alongside Drogba and Anelka at Craven Cottage.I’ve only ever seen him playing so offensively in cup matches against lower league opposition but Fulham never got to grips with Lampard positioning. Chelsea’s were then able to control the ball and Fulham never looked likely to stop the flow through to the strikers.

Perhaps this is a part of the new midfield system that Ancelotti is trying to instill into the Chelsea midfield. By rotating the starting positions of the midfield, especially with such experienced international players keeps their opponents guessing. It seems designed to confuse teams that will be looking to specify defensive midfielders to do a man marking job on Lampard. Clever players can always cope with these systems, that seem to allow the midfield to rotate fluidly throughout the match.

It’s certainly given Chelsea a little bit more mystery when they play. Against Sunderland, they were constantly breaking in waves, pouring forward from the midfield but seemingly taking turns to lead the charge. Deco would go, then Ballack, then Lampard, occasionally Essien would burst forward confusing the opponents even more. Perhaps he’s already trying to work out how things will shape up when the African Cup Of Nations kicks off in January.

I’ve been very impressed with Ancelotti’s work so far, but the first real test will in October when the Blues entertain Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.Once we see this fluid diamond formation come up against top class midfielders trying to dismantle it, it will interesting to see if still works as well.

So Chelsea have one foot in the semi-finals of the Champions League after the marvellous 3-1 win at Anfield last week and Saturdays 4-3 win against Bolton was probably the kick up the backside the Blues needed. It’s easy to fall for the fallacy that Liverpool can’t overturn the deficit that they’ve given themselves from the first leg.

For me, there are 3 teams in Europe that you should never bet against overturning improbable results, Liverpool, Manchester United and Barcelona. Liverpool, especially in Europe have a history of doing the impossible, not just in 2005, but throughout their European campaigns going back to the 1960′s. Manchester United can always dig their way out of most holes and Barca have always had a player or two that can turn any game on it’s head but for Liverpool to pull this back would be a footballing miracle.

Hiddink’s been saying the right things since Saturday’s scare against Bolton, he knows that the worst thing for his players to think tonight is that they’re already in the semi-finals. That would play straight into Liverpool’s hands, though the fact Gerrard isn’t fit enough to even make the bench shows the size of the task ahead of them, yet with a player of Torres’ abilities and explosive finishing, an early goal could cause shock waves through Stamford Bridge.

Look at both of Torres’ goals on Saturday against Blackburn, the first an inspired half volley, the second was a towering header that saw him out jump the man mountain of Christoph Samba. Both finishes oozed class and panache and those goals will have shown Hiddink and his players that they cannot take the result for granted tonight.Torres can destroy Chelsea’s dreams if he gets any space at all.

Yet, let’s not do Chelsea down, they were magnificent at Anfield, Essien and Lampard inspired in midfield and Drogba was back to his bustling busy self. Hell, Hiddink’s even got Malouda playing somewhere near the form he showed for Lyon for so long. Lucky Guus, as his odd nickname in Holland shows, has been around far too long for him to take anything for granted. He’s shown throughout his career an ability to create sides that were much better than the sum of their parts, from PSV in the 80′s to Holland at France 98, South Korea in the 2002 World Cup and finally got Australia back to a World Cup after nearly 40 years.

He thrives on upsetting apple carts and throwing curve balls to the opposition and he has an eye on the prize of the glamour tie against Barcelona, who face a similar battle against complacency in Munich tonight. He knows that to get there, they have to navigate this tie tonight and he will have instilled in his team the need to keep fighting as if the game was 0-0. Nothing derails tactics more than a team thinking about the game after the one they are playing and that is the only thing that can stop the Blues taking their place in the semi-finals.

Liverpool have to come and go for it, they have nothing to lose and need to either win by 3 goals or score at least 4 with a 2 goal margin of victory. The task facing Liverpool is enormous but Hiddink will take nothing for granted. Let’s just hope it’s a cracking match and may the best team take the spoils.

Guus Hiddink and Chelsea saw the magic come to a deflating end against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday, as a Luka Modric’s  strike in the 50th minute put a serious dent in the West London club’s title chances.  After the improvement in form that always seems to come with a change in managers, Chelsea had won four straight, pulling themselves back into the title race in the process.  Events around the league conspired to make Chelsea’s match with Tottenham their most critical to date, and Guus Hiddink’s first loss as manager could not have come at a worse time.

Hiddink, despite rampant speculation about his future at both Chelsea and as the Russia manager, managed to bring his club to life over the past month.  After showing every indication of fading from the race under Scolari, Chelsea seemed dead in the water, more likely to play for position in the top four than for a shot at the Premiership title.

Enter the Dutchman, and suddenly everything seemed right again.  Players who had chafed under the Brazilian came to life under Hiddink, and while catching front-runners Manchester United seemed somewhat unlikely, Chelsea put themselves in position to capitalize on any points dropped by their northern rivals.   The winning streak gave them hope, with a strong title push possible thanks to a remaining schedule littered with bottom half and relegation zone clubs.

More significant than the arrival of Hiddink, however, was the return of midfield stalwart Michael Essien.  Chelsea never seemed quite right without Essien patrolling the middle of the pitch, and his insertion back into the starting lineup after a lengthy injury stint was just the tonic Chelsea needed.  A new manager and the resulting dressing-room enthusiam, the return of a midfield workhorse, and a gap to the top that remained within reach despite the premature coronation of Manchester United: everything Chelsea could have wanted seemed ready for the taking.

Add the knowledge, thanks to a late start caused by a suspicious vehicle at White Hart Lane, that United was struggling against mid-table side Fulham, and Chelsea should have been primed to jump on a golden opportunity.  Instead, Spurs shut down Chelsea’s vaunted midfield, frustrated strikers Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba, and made the lone goal of the match stand up.

So what went wrong?

Perhaps Chelsea simply locked up, simply froze in the face of the opportunity presented them by United’s simultaneous struggles at Craven Cottage.   Perhaps Hiddink forgot himself and let his mind wander to Russia’s upcoming World Cup qualifier against Azerbaijan.  Perhaps Spurs were just better, and Harry Redknapp’s own magic rose up to aid Tottenham’s effort.

Regardless, Chelsea let a chance to join Liverpool on sixty-four points, just one point behind leaders United, slip through their collective fingers.  Liverpool’s thrashing of Aston Villa, combined with United’s meltdown against Fulham, created intrigue at the top of the table when it appeared that there would be none.  If Chelsea had seized their opportunity the way that Liverpool did, two clubs would be hot on the heels of the leaders, a situation that could only make for a more dramatic finish to the season.   While United still have a game in hand, and therefore control their own destiny, the pressure is now on.

Just not from Chelsea.

Why is Michael Essien so underrated is a mystery to me. I must admit that I was nonplussed about him as a player, knowing next to nothing about him when he signed for Chelsea from Lyon in August 2005 for £24 million. That was in the dark days before I had Setanta and could immerse myself in French football as often as I wished. Yet, it took next to no time for me to be impressed by his dynamic style and work rate, for me he’s easily one of the best midfielders in world football and this season has shown just how important he is for Chelsea.

His performances in the three games he’s played since returning from the damaged cruciate ligament he picked up playing for Ghana against Libya have been sensational, I consider him a swashbuckling player, dynamic runs, powerful in the tackle, yet a lovely range of passing, good in the air and the positional adaptability that all managers would adore to have in their team. His goal against Juventus showed that he wasn’t held back by his injury as some players can be on their return. By throwing himself at the ball and the imposing figure of Gianluigi Buffon, without a care about his knee showed he wanted to score over anything else, he just wanted to drag his team level and also evaporate any doubts over his long term fitness.Against Manchester City yesterday, he could have had a hatrick.

Essien has shown in those games just how important he is and yet he knows he has to push the continual development of his game. When he first joined, the only thing about his game that I thought he lacked was his goalscoring, only getting two in his debut season at Chelsea. He’s certainly added that to his game since though, and his two goals in Chelsea’s last two games were massive, massive goals. The goal against Juventus, coming when it did, was such a crucial strike. If Chelsea had gone in at half time one nil down, especially scoring a goal that the referee and linesman missed, they’d be out of Europe now, no question about it. The dreadful decision would have weighed down on them and I don’t think they’d have been able to pick themselves up enough in the second half, but Essien saved the day.

His return to fitness couldn’t come at a better time for the Blues and Guus Hiddink as we reach the final furlong in European football. The Premiership is too far out of reach, regardless of Liverpool’s destruction of Manchester United on Saturday, but with Chelsea still in the F.A.Cup and Champions League, the possibility of having two cracks at silverware is tantalising close. Essien will be crucial in this run in now, his drive and effervescence, matchless in Chelsea’s engine room.

With sounds emanating from Stamford Bridge that Chelsea look likely to have a major clear out in the Summer, Essien, along with Lampard and Anelka, would be top of the list of players to keep hold of with no question of selling any of that trio and building the new Chelsea around them for a serious assault on four fronts. Essien has to be the fulcrum, the pivot that allows the team to move freely. Get that balance right and Chelsea can look to scale the heights they achieved under Mourinho once again next year.