If you missed Part 1 or Part 2, read them first.
The 2009-10 season as usual started with Michael Essien playing under a new manager. With Roman Abramovich still craving attacking football, having been teased and tortured by the glimpse of Pep Guardiola’s Tika-Taka during that fateful Champions League encounter earlier that year, Carlo Ancelotti was the new name in the Stamford Bridge hot-seat.
After returning to full fitness in pre-season, Essien was back in the starting line-up for the opening match of the season, playing in central midfield in a surprise 4-3-1-2 formation as Ancelotti looked to keep his myriad of midfielder options happy, whilst fielding the strongest possible team. Essien continued to rotate between his preferred defensive midfield and central midfield roles, sometimes deployed in a 4-2-3-1 alongside Ballack to dictate play. Besides missing the win against Fulham, Essien went the distance for 7 of his first 8 Premier League appearances.
Chelsea won 7 of the opening 9 games before Blackburn made the trip down South to London. This was the first match where Ancelotti’s Chelsea really started to show their attacking potential as they scored four times in the second half to turn the nervy 1-0 half time lead into a handsome win. Essien grabbed his first Premier League goal of the season against the Rovers, and in typical stunning fashion.
Receiving a pass just a few yards from the centre-circle, Essien took one touch before smacking a low curving strike that dipped wickedly into the far corner, giving Paul Robinson no chance.
Essien continued to play an integral role in the centre of midfield as Chelsea continued to dominate matches and dispatch opponents with ease. For 5 matches, starting with the drubbing of Blackburn and ending with Chelsea once again beating Arsenal by 3 goals, the Blues scored 17 goals without reply, keeping clean sheets against their London rivals and Manchester United in the process. During this spell, Essien once again stole the headlines with a superb performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Despite being deployed in a deeper role alongside Obi Mikel and Joe Cole, Essien’s controlled performance was capped off with a brace against the Black County outfit. The first was an emphatic header at the near post, rising highest to nod home which seemed to surprise and delight many. The second was more typical – the Ghanaian received the ball 25 yards out and fizzed a right-footed drive underneath and through Wayne Hennessey. Frustratingly, the Welshman would make a much more accomplished save late on – as Essien peppered the goal with shots searching for a first ever hat-trick for Chelsea. The closest effort was tipped on the bar and the keeper got lucky as it bounced onto the roof of the net, rather than bouncing down.
This period probably marked the end of Essien’s so-called peak at Chelsea. His pace, power and sheer dominance from the midfield was key early on in allowing Ancelotti to experiment in the midfield as he searched for the key combinations to get the best out of all of the talent at his disposal. There were games when his attacking intent was curtailed, such as the Arsenal match. Essien was deployed on the right side of the midfield diamond to occupy Arshavin and prevent him linking up to Eduardo, or receiving the ball from Fabregas.
Even when Vela, Rosicky and Walcott were substituted on as Arsenal chased the comeback, Essien and Ivanovic continued to dominate the wing forcing Arsenal to try and exploit the other side. This led to Ashley Cole bombing forward to take advantage of the new space.
Essien missed a number of matches in December with thigh problems and his chequered injury record once again came to the fore. Did the midfielder push himself too far again? As he pushed valiantly to get back to fitness, he left on international duty for the African Cup of Nations.
Unfortunately, tragedy once again would curtail the Ghana star’s season. Essien’s Black Stars took on Didier Drogba’s Ivory Coast in Angola in January 2010 but Essien only lasted 45 minutes. With his team trailing to a Gervinho goal, Essien was substituted at half time, clutching his leg. Muscular issues and more critically, meniscus damage in the knee ended his season. Although Chelsea would go on to record a memorable double, Essien did not play a single minute more for the Blues. He missed over half the Premier League season due to the injury and the now 28-year-old, who should have been enjoying his prime once again faced a battle to return to fitness. He missed Ghana’s 2010 World Cup campaign as he recuperated and extended his Chelsea deal until 2015.
The next season began with a whirlwind of changes as Chelsea refreshed their squad. Belletti, Ballack, Deco and Joe Cole departed with Yossi Benayoun and Ramires replacing them. There was a feeling that Ramires was signed with the intention of replacing Essien in the longer term, rather than competing with the Ghanaian.
Despite this, Essien enjoyed something of a resurgence. Now purely playing centrally or as the defensive midfielder, he grabbed an assist as Chelsea routed West Brom, notched a brace of headers as Chelsea beat London rivals West Ham in a fiery derby, and opened the scoring against MSK Zilina in the Champions League, arriving late in the box to slot home. He missed the November clash against Liverpool due to niggling injury concerns before scoring the only goal of the game against Fulham, again with his head. Essien’s afternoon ended in disappointment, however, as he was sent off against the Cottagers.
Amazingly, this would be Essien’s final goal in the Premier League for Chelsea. Another injury kept him out for the remainder of November and start of December. His form suffered after his injury, and the Blues suffered too – they were never the same after Essien’s latest blow, only winning 1 game in 9 with the Ghanaian absent.
Essien returned to the starting line-up and played at least 80 minutes for 17 Premier League match-days in a row. However, by this point Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League, out of the FA Cup and chasing Manchester United in vain in the league. Essien played 90 minutes 3 times in the final 7 matches. By this point, his injuries were beginning to take a real toll. The explosiveness and power was fading and often Essien was being caught out of position, relying on the more mobile Obi Mikel and Ramires to cover for him. He still managed 44 appearances in all competitions for Chelsea.
Essien’s final full season at Chelsea, the 2011-12 season started with another injury crisis. The Bison, now stunted and snapped to pieces on a regular basis once more suffered a recurrence of his old injuries. In pre-season, he would rupture his meniscus and anterior cruciate ligament. Although surgery in July was successful, he was predicted to miss six months at a minimum. In truth, this was the straw that broke the Bison’s back.
With new manager Andre Villas-Boas already trying to rely on a more youthful look to his starting eleven, and due to his injury record, Essien struggled to gain favour under AVB. Essien for his part deserves credit. Now aged 30, his prime had been completely shot to pieces by the constant niggling injuries and inability to stay fit, but he worked his way back in time to play against Sunderland in January 2012. This was his 150th appearance in the Premier League.
In addition, AVB had brought in his own lieutenant in fellow Portuguese Raul Meireles pushing Essien down the pecking order. Reduced to fits and starts under AVB as he edged back to fitness, he made his first start in the topsy-turvy 3-3 draw against Manchester United, where the Red Devils came back to claim a point thanks to a stunning display from the referee.
However, Essien’s most important impact would come from him being on the bench. He, Lampard and Ashley Cole were all not selected to start as Chelsea crashed 1-3 away in Naples against a rampant Napoli side spearheaded by Hamsik, Lavezzi and Cavani. Abramovich demanded answers and the thin ice under AVB cracked after a poor loss against West Brom. By this point, it was clear Essien was no longer capable of playing 90 minutes week-in, week-out. The injuries had robbed him of a lot of pace and power, which was so crucial to his game at the top level.
Essien was expected to have a renaissance under interim manager Roberto Di Matteo who turned to experience to try and salvage Chelsea’s campaign. Essien played 120 minutes in the stunning comeback against SSC Napoli, but was only used sparingly through the rest of the campaign.
Despite playing the full game for 4 of the final 5 Premier League matchdays, Essien’s importance had waned. He was amongst the substitutes in the FA Cup Semi Finals and Final, as well as remaining on the bench for the Champions League clashes against Benfica, Barcelona and Bayern Munich as Chelsea stunned the world to become Champions of Europe.
The summer brought the end of Essien’s time at Stamford Bridge. The Bison met up with his favourite manager, Jose Mourinho in Madrid and the mutual admiration was compounded in his introductory press conference calling his Portuguese Manager “Daddy” in reference to Jose calling him his son. A transfer masterstroke to get him a dressing room lieutenant in one of the most demanding environments in the world.
Essien scored his second goal for Real Madrid in the final game of his loan deal in Spain and dedicated the goal to his ‘father’.
Although Essien stayed at Chelsea as Jose returned to London with him, he only made 9 appearances in his final season in London, only completing 90 once in the Premier League. Injuries had sapped Essien’s stamina and consistency, and Chelsea had moved onto new options.
In all competitions, Essien made 256 appearances for Chelsea, scoring 25 times and grabbing 18 assists.
After leaving Chelsea, Essien has had spells in Italy (AC Milan), Greece (Panathinaikos) and Indonesia (Persib Bandung). Even aged 37, the Ghana superstar still plays for Sabail in the Azerbaijan Premier League and also coaches the U19s.
Internationally, Essien played for the Black Stars from 2002 to 2014, making 58 appearances for his country and scoring 9 times.
Overall, Essien’s Chelsea career should be remembered for so much more. He was a man that at his best, could do anything in the midfield. Endlessly durable, he could slot into the defence when required and had physicality, stamina and strength to match any midfielder in the world. His nickname, ‘The Bison’ due to his pure determination and power perfectly typifies his early Chelsea career as Jose Mourinho’s team swept everyone aside.
From 2006-2008, it’s hard to think of a better midfield player in world football who could offer as broad a skillset as the Ghanaian. He could play for sure, but as a fulcrum in Chelsea’s midfield, he could just utterly dominate opponents and shut them down from being able to play.
The injuries ultimately really affected him, and his most famous Chelsea moment will forever be tarnished due to the disgrace surrounding it. Although fans rightly point to the likes of Ramires and John Obi Mikel as cult heroes for a Chelsea squad that won everything that England has to offer, one can’t help but feel that Michael Essien should certainly trump them both. The Bison at his best was as good as anyone in the world and although his fitness faded, there was a never a question about his attitude and willpower.
Written by Robert Pratley
Edited by Ross-John (RJ) Bonaccorsi