Look at Chelsea’s mid-field. They already have Ballack, Lampard, Mikel and Makelele. The former two are playmakers who are specialists at passing. The latter two are holding mid-fielders who are specialists at breaking down attacks and retaining/attaining possession. At passing or front sweeping, Essien is no better than the specialists his team already have for those positions. He is sort of the jack in both the trades. If Chelsea played a 4-4-2 more often, I doubt I’d use him. Harsh? Shocking?

It is said that matches are won and lost in the center of the mid-field area. I have seen so many matches where Chelsea start off assigning the holding role to Essien. He is not efficient enough. Chelsea don’t dominate possession, don’t control the game, only to bring Mikel on at half time and turn things around. Also, sometimes, due to injuries, Chelsea play Essien in a more advanced role, as the playmaker. His passing is inconsistent. He seldom gets long balls accurately. He often times his late runs into the box poorly. No doubt, any team would be delighted to have a Michael Essien in their team. But he is probably not the finished article yet. Mikel, who is much younger to him, seems much more natural at the holding role.

So if Chelsea have everyone fit, would I drop Essien? Or is there a better position for him?

What Essien does possess though is good ball skill, very good athleticism, and infinite stamina. I have seen Essien play at right back for Chelsea many a time, and he has looked nothing short of at home there. Belletti at the moment is probably a better attacking wing back than Essien would be. Besides being a Brazilian, Belletti possesses very good crossing and long passing ability to go with good pace and passing exchange moves. But on a day when Chelsea are out to contain, Essien would perfectly fit the bill.

Also, when Chelsea play the 4-5-1 with three in central mid-field, the formation is made for Essien if not made around him. Lampard/Ballack can attack without worrying too much about tracking back, while Mikel/Makelele can defend without worrying about having to add numbers to the attack, thanks to Essien.

To conclude, if I were to change the momentum of a match to very attacking, then I’d be changing to a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 from a 4-5-1 in the case of Chelsea. And the one player, I’d to my own surprise find hard and yet sensible to remove, would be Michael Essien; be it from Central Mid-field or Right Back, to be replaced by a second striker or Belletti respectively.

Having said all that, I must suggest that if Essien worked on either roles, and managed to improve on the corresponding skills, then he’d be a greater asset to the team than either of the other four and would become an indispensable part of the Chelsea spine that I am currently reluctant to include him in.