English Premier League: Essien and Mikel close to Chelsea return
Michael Essien and John Obi Mikel are set to be fit for the start of Chelsea season, as the London club will be looking to retain the Premiership crown which they won back from Manchester United last season.
For a major part of their title winning campaign last season, Chelsea were without their star midfielder Michael Essien. Essien sustained a knee injury while he was away on international duty with his country, Ghana. Ghanaian born midfielder is famous for his tough tackling style and his impressive shot power. He has been known to be a little hot tempered as well while on the field. Essien joined Chelsea in 2005 and quickly became an important part of blues starting eleven.
John Obi Mikel, who is also a central part of Chelsea’s squad plays as a defensive midfielder for the blues. He also sustained a knee injury before the 2010 World Cup and failed to play any matches for his country Nigeria, during the World Cup.
Both of Chelsea’s African stars are now almost back to full fitness. Ray Wilkins, Chelsea’s assistant coach said that both the players are back on track as far as their injury recovery is concerned because they are training with the rest of the squad at blues' Cobham training ground.
He also said that John Obi Mikel is currently ahead of Essien in terms of recovery but both of them will be fit for Chelsea’s opening game of the coming season against West Bromwich Albion on 14th of August. He said in an interview on Chelsea’s official website that Essien and Obi Mikel had been putting in double training hours to get back to full fitness. He reiterated that the Chelsea medical squad will bring them back to full fitness before Chelsea’s opening game.
Ray Wilkins also stated that the World Cup can result in some players burning out by the month of December if they are not eased back into club football. He signaled that some of Chelsea’s World Cup stars must be rested so that they can regain their full fitness.
He also added that it is important for the club to look after such players so that their fitness levels are where the club wants them to be. He went on to say that the players currently at the club need to be fully fit because Chelsea might not be able to use all of their World Cup stars in the starting matches of the 2010-2011 English Premier League season.
Commenting on Yossi Benayoun who has been signed by Chelsea from their rivals Liverpool, Ray Wilkins said that the Israeli midfielder is doing great; he also added that pre-season training at Chelsea is very different from Liverpool, he went onto explain that Liverpool don’t even use a football in their pre-season training regimes.
He elaborated that Liverpool’s pre-season training techniques included a lot of sprinting. He told the website that at Chelsea, football itself plays an important role in preparing for the new season. He concluded by saying that Yossi Benayoun is enjoying himself in Chelsea’s pre-season training.
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