Six players who can replace http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-c25261 Essien at Chelsea – English Premier League (Part 1)
Michael Essien’s injury troubles mean that http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Chelsea-c38786 are struggling once again, the Ghanaian midfielder was the heart and soul of the Blues’ midfield when they embarked on their two consecutive title winning run from 2004-2005 and
then from 2005-2006 in the English Premier League. Manchester United have now overhauled the Londoners and now Chelsea are struggling to keep pace with the Red Devils. Under Jose Mourinho, Chelsea’s team was built around the prolific nature of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Frank-Lampard-c14097
and the drive and determination provided by Michael Essien.
Essien’s dynamic approach was complimented by the industrious nature of Makelele as Chelsea turned into a European powerhouse. In 2008 when Chelsea made it to the final, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Essien-c25294 was forced to play at right back where he
was dominated by http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Cristiano-Ronaldo-c9629. It was a moment of humbling for the midfielder whose form and fitness dwindled after Jose Mourinho parted ways with Chelsea at the start of the 2006-2007 season. Chelsea’s title charge last season depended a lot on Essien
who looked to be a fully fit player after struggling with knee injury in the summer of 2010 when he was forced to miss out on Ghana’s FIFA 2010 World Cup adventure.
Nonetheless, Essien’s attempts to rebuild himself failed as he struggled to find his true form. Now in the summer transfer window of 2011, Chelsea are rebuilding as a club. With a new manager, Andres Villas Boas the Blues are working
towards reinvigorating their squad in the summer transfer window as they will once again attempt to wrestle back the English Premier League title from Manchester United.
Their efforts to do so have been dealt a huge blow as the club recently confirmed that Essien has been ruled out of action for another six months due to a knee injury. Again the Ghanaian midfielder’s knees are troubling him which
does not bode well for his professional career at Chelsea. Now the Blues need to find a replacement for Essien who can provide them with the same drive and determination. Some names have already been thrown around by the tabloids but let’s take a look at the
possible replacements for the former Lyon man...
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Arturo-Vidal-c6760
Vidal was at the heart of Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga season last time around. In the 2010-2011 season, he dominated the midfield region for Leverkusen and made it difficult for the veteran midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Michael-Ballack-c25270 to stake
a permanent claim in the German club’s starting line up. Vidal will be ideal for Chelsea. The young Chilean midfielder has been impressive in the 2011 Copa http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/America-c38390 so far and his box to box game suits the Chelsea game.
He can easily fill in for the Ghanaian midfielder but upon Essien’s return, Vidal can be shifted back to a defensive midfielder’s role, something that he has come comfortable with at Leverkusen as well as the Chilean national team.
In the 2010-2011 Bundesliga season, Vidal scored ten and assisted nine goals in 40 appearances. He has no history of injury troubles which makes him a safe investment for Villas Boas and co. With just a year left on his contract, Vidal’s transfer fee would
be a financially affordable one for Chelsea around about the 13-14 million pound mark.
To be continued in part 2...
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