Would you buy Essien?

Essien doing a Kanu

As a squad player, yes.

He'd have to take a hell of a wage cut, though.

essien doesnt have average technique lol

rate him quite highly, and would take him as a squad player easily. but for 10 m not 15 or 20..

He's the best DM in the world when he's fit.

Sushi Master wrote:As a squad player, yes.

He'd have to take a hell of a wage cut, though.

squad player? he would easily bench Gustavo,Tymoschtschuk & Alaba

BAYERN_MUNICH wrote:

Sushi Master wrote:As a squad player, yes.

He'd have to take a hell of a wage cut, though.

squad player? he would easily bench Gustavo,Tymoschtschuk & Alaba

In his prime... hell yes. Right now? Not really, perhaps Tymo. Alaba ain't a DM and is miles better technically than Essien, and Gustavo is just like 20 years younger and much more energetic. Has decent technique, too.

For £20 mil, no chance

For half that, hell to the yeah

I really like him but he's too injury prone.

For 5M, yes...

I'm so tired of these he must be 50 years older because he is from Africa ... a person might look like a 20 y.o when he is 35 ... and a 20 y.o could look like a 50y.o and he might not even be African .

That said Milan will get him :lol!:

halamadrid2 wrote:most africans dont "know" their birth date, they aren't trying to cut corners or anything its just that in africa poorer people who give birth at home dont jot down the date the baby was born simply because they dont find it important.... so the people just end up "guessing" their date of birth

dude which part of Africa are you even talking about?

people's dates of birth are not jotted down? looooool I will take it you don't know what you are talking about.

hmm, another +30 player? Galliani would haggle Essien down to a 500K transfer fee with 40K in wages a week

halamadrid2 wrote:most africans dont "know" their birth date, they aren't trying to cut corners or anything its just that in africa poorer people who give birth at home dont jot down the date the baby was born simply because they dont find it important.... so the people just end up "guessing" their date of birth

Oh f**king dear

zece wrote:He's the best DM in the world when he's fit.

He's not a DM.

TO MILAN IN A HEARTBEAT! 20mil, I don't care!

Essien is class, g*d Galliani please make it happen!

Defensive Midfield: Essien - MVB - Nocerino... the back four could go take a nap and we won't concede.

I would keep him, no reason to sell him.

If he was in his prime...

Sahin-Essien

:dance:

Blue wrote:I would keep him, no reason to sell him.

What I was also thinking. We could sure use him right now.

Honestly the only top team i see using that kind of player anymore is Milan, Arsenal and Madrid when they use Lass. Everyone else has kind of taken the idea of the Barcelona central midfielder, less physical, more cerebral.

I think he would be good for any EPL team outside the top six

chinomaster182 wrote:Honestly the only top team i see using that kind of player anymore is Milan, Arsenal and Madrid when they use Lass. Everyone else has kind of taken the idea of the Barcelona central midfielder, less physical, more cerebral.

I think he would be good for any EPL team outside the top six

You trying to insinuate Real Madrid's midfield is dumb?

Also, drawing comparisons between Lass and Essien is an insult to the latter. Yes Essien is physically commanding, but also a well rounded midfielder.. passing is more than adequate and he has one of the best long-shot techniques in the game.

@TMO, African players have surprisingly good longevity well into their 30s, provided Essien stays injury free, he could be priming for the next 3 years still.

Giovanni10 wrote:

chinomaster182 wrote:Honestly the only top team i see using that kind of player anymore is Milan, Arsenal and Madrid when they use Lass. Everyone else has kind of taken the idea of the Barcelona central midfielder, less physical, more cerebral.

I think he would be good for any EPL team outside the top six

You trying to insinuate Real Madrid's midfield is dumb?

Also, drawing comparisons between Lass and Essien is an insult to the latter. Yes Essien is physically commanding, but also a well rounded midfielder.. passing is more than adequate and he has one of the best long-shot techniques in the game.

@TMO, African players have surprisingly good longevity well into their 30s, provided Essien stays injury free, he could be priming for the next 3 years still.

I wansn't my intention to say a player like Essien is dumb. My point was that a traditional physical Defensive midfielder like Essien, Mascherano, Lass, Muntari, etc. relies more on his physical edge than anything else in his game, they regularly look for the physical tackle and make use of their pace.

A holding midfielder like Sergio Busquets, Denilson, Pizarro, Pirlo are not particularly strong nor fast, yet make up for it by having good tactical awareness, good vision and good technique.

There's also midfielders who are strong but have good technique like Yaya Toure, Thiago Motta, KP Boateng, Alexandre Song.

I honestly believe there is no "superior" version of a deep lying midfielder, different playstyles compliment different teams. With that said, i believe that with the decline of the traditional number 10 most top teams have no need of a "destroyer" and are looking for a more creative deep lying midfielder.

It also worth noting that as Jose Mourinho favors a creative #10 player in the hole he also wants a hard tackling defensive midfielder. At Chelsea he put Joe Cole in the hole and brought in Essien. At Inter he brought in Sneijder and Muntari. In Madrid he brought in Ozil and revived Lass.

I honestly believe Lass is a very good, very underrated player. His technique isn't the best but he brings in so much physical presence to the Madrid midfield and i think it is felt when the play against Barcelona, i guess every team needs a scapegoat.

Edit. Costinha and Deco at Porto

The Madrid One wrote:If he was in his prime...

Sahin-Essien

:dance:

More like...

--Albiol-Sahin-Essien-Lass-Kaka--
Bench-Bench-Bench-Bench-Bench

Prime Essien=Barca Virus

chinomaster182 wrote:

Giovanni10 wrote:

chinomaster182 wrote:Honestly the only top team i see using that kind of player anymore is Milan, Arsenal and Madrid when they use Lass. Everyone else has kind of taken the idea of the Barcelona central midfielder, less physical, more cerebral.

I think he would be good for any EPL team outside the top six

You trying to insinuate Real Madrid's midfield is dumb?

Also, drawing comparisons between Lass and Essien is an insult to the latter. Yes Essien is physically commanding, but also a well rounded midfielder.. passing is more than adequate and he has one of the best long-shot techniques in the game.

@TMO, African players have surprisingly good longevity well into their 30s, provided Essien stays injury free, he could be priming for the next 3 years still.

I wansn't my intention to say a player like Essien is dumb. My point was that a traditional physical Defensive midfielder like Essien, Mascherano, Lass, Muntari, etc. relies more on his physical edge than anything else in his game, they regularly look for the physical tackle and make use of their pace.

A holding midfielder like Sergio Busquets, Denilson, Pizarro, Pirlo are not particularly strong nor fast, yet make up for it by having good tactical awareness, good vision and good technique.

There's also midfielders who are strong but have good technique like Yaya Toure, Thiago Motta, KP Boateng, Alexandre Song.

I honestly believe there is no "superior" version of a deep lying midfielder, different playstyles compliment different teams. With that said, i believe that with the decline of the traditional number 10 most top teams have no need of a "destroyer" and are looking for a more creative deep lying midfielder.

It also worth noting that as Jose Mourinho favors a creative #10 player in the hole he also wants a hard tackling defensive midfielder. At Chelsea he put Joe Cole in the hole and brought in Essien. At Inter he brought in Sneijder and Muntari. In Madrid he brought in Ozil and revived Lass.

I honestly believe Lass is a very good, very underrated player. His technique isn't the best but he brings in so much physical presence to the Madrid midfield and i think it is felt when the play against Barcelona, i guess every team needs a scapegoat.

Edit. Costinha and Deco at Porto

Although I don't necessarily think that any of the players you mentioned in the "strong but have good technique" section play exactly like the other.. I would put Essien in the group with Motta, Toure, Song and KPB

To say that Essien is a destroyer is false, you haven't watched him enough throughout the years. IMO he is more of a typical #8, a general and mostly box to box. Looking at how he has played for Ghana is also a good example of his full range of abilities.

I've always thought he has hung back and played mostly defensively in his time at Chelsea because that is the pre-existing stereotype of African players in the BPL.. that if they're big built, they can be either CBs, DMs or big bustling CF's otherwise there is no other place for them.

Africa needs to produce a new crop of Jay-Jay Okocha types to prove again that this does not have to be the case, Africa is not completely devoid of technically skilled players and Essien is definitely not only a destroyer.

So I'm going to have to disagree with you.

The Franchise wrote:I dont believe he is 29 or 30....just putting that out there.

But no, his game was built on energy and physical attiributes, which are fading fast.

Would take him instead of Keita though.

What don't you believe there ? he is not 35 or 32 in reality ..

halamadrid2 wrote:most africans dont "know" their birth date, they aren't trying to cut corners or anything its just that in africa poorer people who give birth at home dont jot down the date the baby was born simply because they dont find it important.... so the people just end up "guessing" their date of birth

Most ?!?! . Damn , you have been watching too many World Vision shows or tell me what do you read. Almost everyone in Africa know his birth date EXCEPT the ones whose country is in war for a while and the ones who live in verry isolated area.