10 hours ago, axman2526 said:

As in he killed an opposition midfield?

Put it this way, Mikel was the #10

49 minutes ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

We should keep him in the role he played yesterday if it means we can get him, Enzo and Lavia all on the pitch. Added bonus it stops us having to see Gusto stood next to Palmer in possession. 

Early on he was covering Cucurella when he was bombing on, then moving back up to midfield when we didnt have the ball, I guess that was part of the thinking behind the role, 

1 hour ago, PloKoon13 said:

Put it this way, Mikel was the #10

A role he fulfilled for Nigeria very well mind you.

3 hours ago, axman2526 said:

A role he fulfilled for Nigeria very well mind you.

Underrated, I would say

15 hours ago, axman2526 said:

I would normally say I respectfully disagree, however in this case I will just disagree with you.

Pre injury Essien was phenomenal.

There was an element of tongue in cheek at the time, as @SydneyChelsea has alluded to, but a midfield of Essien, Mikel, Ballack and Makalele was, at best, prosaic. 

 

3 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

Underrated, I would say

Not by you in any case. Do you remember "Mikel of the Match"?

50 minutes ago, Liam said:

Not by you in any case. Do you remember "Mikel of the Match"?

Now I can't be blamed for Mikel fleetingly receiving the recognition he deserved. He won the World Youth Championship Silver Ball don't you know (second only to Messi)?

In any case, I received ample karmic retribution in having to put up with Jorginho for four-and-a-half years.

I liked Mikel a lot! Malouda even used to pass to him!

I think if you asked fans from any team in the PL which position was most associated with Chelsea over the last 25 years it would have to be defensive midfield. We’ve had two who redefined the position in Makelele and Kante. Essian was widely acknowledged as one of the best all round midfielders in the world pre injury. Add to that Ballack, Fabregas and even Matic who all played a version of the position. Now we have Caicedo who looks like he might be better than any of them given how young he is.

Liverpool always unearth strikers, Utd’s number 7 has a big kudos to it (present company excepted perhaps) but we’ve had DM locked down for a long long time

39 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

In any case, I received ample karmic retribution in having to put up with Jorginho for four-and-a-half years.

This is genuinely one of my favourite The Shed End character arcs

2 hours ago, Liam said:

There was an element of tongue in cheek at the time, as @SydneyChelsea has alluded to, but a midfield of Essien, Mikel, Ballack and Makalele was, at best, prosaic. 

 

Has to be, pound for pound, our strongest midfield line up. By that I mean by strength. 4 strong blokes there.

 

Was that before Essien had suffered some of his injuries?

28 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Has to be, pound for pound, our strongest midfield line up. By that I mean by strength. 4 strong blokes there.

 

Was that before Essien had suffered some of his injuries?

Yes, 06/07. He did his cruciate in 08.

I agree on the strength, but I always valued a bit of guile. 

1 hour ago, Liam said:

Yes, 06/07. He did his cruciate in 08.

I agree on the strength, but I always valued a bit of guile. 

Really though Essien and Ballack were so technically gifted too. 

I know Mikel took a bit of time to fond his feet as our DM, had to wait for Maka to move on more or less, but Ballack and Essien had such great vision, determination and were equally good with both feet.

We were spoiled with Lamps. He rightly overshadowed everyone else.

7 hours ago, Liam said:

Yes, 06/07. He did his cruciate in 08.

I agree on the strength, but I always valued a bit of guile. 

You were Deco's biggest fan as I recall.

Have blue tinted nostalgic glasses, but prime Essien dominated midfield. Physically players couldn’t touch him, and technically he was superb. One of my favorite players. 

We’ve had some gems in recent years. Maka, Essien, Ballack, Lamps and Kante always take the crown. Mikel and Ramires very effective, and the purple patches for Matic and Cesc were great. 

Nothing holding Caicedo back from being an all time great in midfield for us. What a player. 

Was trying to work out if Caciedo is a rolls royce or a 4x4 lambo... mentioned it before but he has the grace of Dessailly on the ball, really like what we're watching with him and he seems to fall into the Kante school of humility. 

10 minutes ago, bluetrooper said:

Was trying to work out if Caciedo is a rolls royce or a 4x4 lambo... mentioned it before but he has the grace of Dessailly on the ball, really like what we're watching with him and he seems to fall into the Kante school of humility. 

A few months ago he was a bull in a China shop/donkey.. Always on the edge of getting sent off and giving away constant free kicks around our box.. Amazing turn around.  Last game he made two beautiful tackles but the ref gave free kicks to the oppo, maybe that was his previous reputation. He is  Excellent now. 🙂 🙂 

17 hours ago, PloKoon13 said:

You were Deco's biggest fan as I recall.

Always had a soft spot for a little lad.

15 hours ago, guddy69 said:

A few months ago he was a bull in a China shop/donkey.. Always on the edge of getting sent off and giving away constant free kicks around our box.. Amazing turn around.  Last game he made two beautiful tackles but the ref gave free kicks to the oppo, maybe that was his previous reputation. He is  Excellent now. 🙂 🙂 

I was very critical of him before this season. Couldn't believe we had spunked over £100m on what appeared to be a bang average player and thought Brighton had mugged us.

Am happy to eat humble pie now as he is starting to look like the player we all hoped we were signing. He has been absolute quality as has Cucurella. What a turnaround for both players and currently two of the first names on the team sheet, after Palmer.

2 hours ago, Nibs said:

I was very critical of him before this season. Couldn't believe we had spunked over £100m on what appeared to be a bang average player and thought Brighton had mugged us.

Am happy to eat humble pie now as he is starting to look like the player we all hoped we were signing. He has been absolute quality as has Cucurella. What a turnaround for both players and currently two of the first names on the team sheet, after Palmer.

Shows what a good coach does to top players.

Edited December 4, 20241 yr by El regreso

21 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

Have blue tinted nostalgic glasses, but prime Essien dominated midfield. Physically players couldn’t touch him, and technically he was superb. One of my favorite players. 

We’ve had some gems in recent years. Maka, Essien, Ballack, Lamps and Kante always take the crown. Mikel and Ramires very effective, and the purple patches for Matic and Cesc were great. 

Nothing holding Caicedo back from being an all time great in midfield for us. What a player. 

Physically he was one of the GOATs but I don't agree he was THAT good technically, that's why he declined so badly (to the point Robbie wouldn't even bring him on a sub vs Barca and Bayern) when injuries stripped him of his agility and lateral movement.

12 hours ago, Liam said:

Always had a soft spot for a little lad.

You may want to rephrase that.

23 minutes ago, Argo said:

Physically he was one of the GOATs but I don't agree he was THAT good technically, that's why he declined so badly (to the point Robbie wouldn't even bring him on a sub vs Barca and Bayern) when injuries stripped him of his agility and lateral movement.

I think thats harsh, he was excellent on the ball, had very good passing ability and an eye for it, excellent shooting and had a very good first touch. I see him very much in the Dennis Wise type player, an mongrel after the ball, getting stuck in and their actual footballing quality often underrated.

'Now I understand why Jose got angry' - Essien on life as a coach

 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cev9rrdrd14o

Edited December 4, 20241 yr by Simplymo

On 01/12/2024 at 16:43, OriginalS said:

but generally speaking I don't want him away from our midfield at any point during games. He's too good for that and we did struggle at times in the first half when he was locked down as a rightback.

Please just keep him in midfield from here on Maresca. Rectified his mistake at the break but we are stronger side with Caicedo patrolling the central areas at all times.