Andrew Kipp's Sports Blog

A Case for Michael Essien

"Michael Essien might be the best overall player on Chelsea," said Leif Kothe as we sat in front of my 46 inch flat screen LCD, staring in disbelief at the replay of Michael Essien's 35 yard rocket vs. Blackburn. I heard what Leif said, and I couldn't disagree, but the words didn't really sink in until today.

    At 26, Michael Kojo Essien is in the prime of his career.  The Ghanaian international was signed away from Lyon by Chelsea for 24.4 million pounds in 2005, and has been a fixture in Chelsea's midfield ever since. 

    There aren't any weaknesses in Essien's game. He is big (5 ft. 10, 187 lbs.), more importantly strong, and deceptively fast. He is versatile and can play any one of the four positions in Chelsea's diamond midfield, which consists of a rotation betwen Deco, Lampard, Ballack, Essien, and Obi Mikel.

    Essien has 12 goals in 111 appearances for Chelsea. A fair amount considering his holding/defensive role in most games. But what is truly impressive is the magnitude of most of Essien's goals, almost all of which are worth their weight in gold.  His dramatic equalising goal against Arsenal was voted as Chelsea Goal of the Season for 2006–07. On August 13, 2007 Essien scored a game-winner vs. Birmingham City.  The victory set an English Premier League record for most consecutive unbeaten league matches at home.  His vital away goal vs. Juventus in the 08/09 Champion's League allowed Chelsea to advance past the round of 16 on aggregate 3-2.  But most will agree that Essien's most spectacular goal came against Barcelona in the 08/09 Champion's League semi-finals (see bottom of article for video).

    Essien's exceptional play hasn't gone unnoticed.  He was twice nominated for FIFA World Player of the Year (2006/2007 - 2007/2008), finished 3rd in African Footballer of the Year voting in 2006, and was voted Chelsea player of the year in 06/07.

    Essien's size, strength and speed make him a nightmare for opposing midfielders.  His ability to run up and down the length of the field for 90 minutes, and his strength on the ball, make him a very rare talent.  His defensive capabilities allow fellow Midfielder's Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack to get forward and participate in the attack, and his ability to score in clutch situations makes an already potent Chelsea attack even more formidable.  For all these reasons and more I think its safe to say that in 2009, Michael Essien is Chelsea's best overall player.

Essien's volley against Barcelona in the second leg of the 08/09 Champion's League Semi-Final electrified the crowd at Stamford Bridge.  A goal in stoppage time by Barcelona's Andres Iniesta made the goal all for naught.

2009/2010 English Premiership Table
			Overall							Home						Away
RK		TEAM	P	W	D	L	GS	GA		W	D	L	GS	GA		W	D	L	GS	GA		GD	Pts
1		Chelsea	10	8	0	2	24	8		5	0	0	15	1		3	0	2	9	7		16	24
2		Manchester United	10	7	1	2	21	11		4	1	0	11	7		3	0	2	10	4		10	22
3		Arsenal	9	6	1	2	29	13		4	0	0	17	4		2	1	2	12	9		16	19
4		Tottenham Hotspur	10	6	1	3	21	14		3	0	2	10	6		3	1	1	11	8		7	19
5		Liverpool	10	6	0	4	24	13		4	0	1	17	4		2	0	3	7	9		11	18
6		Manchester City	9	5	3	1	18	11		3	1	0	10	5		2	2	1	8	6		7	18
7		Aston Villa	9	5	2	2	13	8		3	1	1	7	4		2	1	1	6	4		5	17
8		Sunderland	10	5	1	4	18	15		4	0	1	13	7		1	1	3	5	8		3	16
9		Stoke City	10	4	3	3	9	11		3	0	2	6	5		1	3	1	3	6		-2	15
10		Wigan Athletic	10	4	1	5	12	17		2	1	2	5	8		2	0	3	7	9		-5	13
11		Burnley	10	4	0	6	10	22		4	0	1	8	5		0	0	5	2	17		-12	12
12		Bolton Wanderers	9	3	2	4	14	15		1	2	2	8	9		2	0	2	6	6		-1	11
13		Fulham	9	3	2	4	10	12		2	0	2	4	4		1	2	2	6	8		-2	11
14		Everton	9	3	2	4	12	15		2	2	1	8	9		1	0	3	4	6		-3	11
15		Birmingham	10	3	1	6	8	12		2	1	2	4	4		1	0	4	4	8		-4	10
16		Blackburn Rovers	9	3	1	5	11	22		3	1	1	8	6		0	0	4	3	16		-11	10
17		Wolverhampton Wanderers	10	2	3	5	9	16		1	2	2	4	6		1	1	3	5	10		-7	9
18		Hull City	10	2	2	6	8	22		2	1	2	4	7		0	1	4	4	15		-14	8
19		West Ham United	9	1	3	5	11	15		0	2	2	7	9		1	1	3	4	6		-4	6
20		Portsmouth	10	1	1	8	5	15		0	0	5	3	8		1	1	3	2	7		-10	4

Chelsea Blank Blackburn 5-0, Take Sole Possession of First Place in EPL

    Chelsea beat down Blackburn 5-0 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday to bring their record to 8-0-2, and took back sole possession of first place in the English Premier League. Chelsea currently sits 2 pts. above Manchester United, and 5 points ahead of fellow London sides Arsenal and Tottenham.  The scoring summary was as follows: Givet (own goal) 20, Lampard 48, Essien 52, Lampard (penalty) 59, and Drogba 64.

    The Chelsea victory was made certain when Michael Essien found himself alone near midfield and ripped a curling/dipping shot past Blackburn keeper Paul Robinson from 35 yards.  After this goal the Chelsea players looked like sharks with blood in the water and poor Blackburn didn't stand a chance. 

    Perhaps the most encouraging thing Chelsea can take away from this bludgening was their improvement both finishing set pieces and defending against them.  They allowed Blackburn 0 goals, and practically 0 opportunites after allowing Aston Villa to score twice on set pieces last Saturday.  Didier Drogba's header goal in the 64 minute came off a Lampard corner kick. Also of note, Joe Cole, returning from injury, made his first start since January vs. Manchester United and played well.

    The win makes it 2-0 for Chelsea in their last two contests domestically and in Europe combined.  In those two matches they outscored their opponents 9-0.  

 

'Super Frankie' buries a penalty kick in the midst of Chelsea's romp over Blackburn on Saturday.

Still my favorite goal of all time. enjoy...

Chelsea Rebound from EPL Loss to Aston Villa, Crush Atletico Madrid in Champions League Match

    Chelsea rebounded from a 2-1 English Premier League loss at Aston Villa to crush Spanish Primera side Atletico Madrid 4-0 at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday.  The victory improves Chelsea's Champions League record to 3-0-0, and they remain at the top of Group D with 9 points. 

Group D Standings:

Group D	Pld	Pts
Chelsea	3	9
Porto	3	6
APOEL	3	1
Atlético	3	1

    The Blues got two goals from Ivorian striker Soloman Kalou, who started in place of suspended fellow countryman Didier Drogba.  Frank Lampard tucked away Chelsea's third goal in the 69' minute with a a perfectly placed near-post shot from 20 yards.  Florent Malouda's dangerous inswinging free kick resulted in an own goal header by Atletico's Perea in the 90' minute.

Chelsea play host to Blackburn today at 12:30 ET.

Frank Lampard and Salomon Kalou celebrate. Photograph: Kieran Doherty/Reuters

Roethlisberger, Ward, Lead NFL in Passing and Receiving

RECEIVING YARDS		YDS
Hines Ward	1. Hines Ward, PIT	599
	2. Andre Johnson, HOU	572
	3. Steve Smith, NYG	525
	4. Randy Moss, NE	496
	5. Reggie Wayne, IND	459

Steelers Defeat Browns 27-14 and Claim Top Spot in AFC North

    The Steelers cruised to 27-14 victory over division rival Cleveland (1-5) on Sunday afternoon at Heinz Field.  The win makes the Steelers a perfect 3-0 at home this season and places them atop the AFC North Division alongside the Cincinnati Bengals (4-2).  The Bengals currently hold the tiebreaker over the Steelers with a head-to-head victory in week 3.

    The Steelers dominated the Browns in every phase of the game on Sunday, but red zone fumbles on consecutive series in the 3rd quarter by Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall prevented what should have been a 41-14 blowout.  Instead the Steelers cruised to a comfortable win while holding Cleveland RB Jamal Lewis to just 21 yards on 11 carries. 

    The majority of the Brown's offensive plays were run out of the wildcat formation with Joshua Cribbs under center.  Cribbs, by far the Brown's most dangerous player, played quarterback at Kent State, and has the ability to run and throw.  The former college quarterback ran 6 times out of the wildcat gaining 45 yards, and threw two passes, one of which resulted in a costly red zone INT by Troy Polamalu.  Cribbs also returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown.

    The Steelers held Cleveland QB Derek Anderson to 122 yards on just 9 completions.  Anderson threw a touchdown pass to FB Lawrence Vickers in the 3rd quarter and was picked off by safety Ryan Clark late in the game. 

    The Browns offense looked more effective than it has at any point during the 2009/2010 season. It wouldn't surprise me if Eric Mangini continues to experiment with the wildcat offense in the future.  If Joshua Cribbs can develop into a semi-decent passer, the Browns might be able to score more than one offensive touchdown per game.  If I were Mangini, I'd also take a page from the Miami Dolphins playbook.

    While the Steeler's defense was solid on Sunday, it was the offense that continued to impress.  Ben Roethlisberger threw for over 400 yards for just the second time in his career and threw touchdown passes to Heath Miller and Hines Ward.  Rashard Mendenhall knotched 62 yards on 17 carries and scored on a two yard touchdown run.  The offense racked up 543 total yards.  Both Ward and Santonio Holmes finished with over 100 yards receiving.  Willie Parker made his return after missing the past 2 weeks with turf toe, and carried the rock 7 times for 26 yards.  Roethlisberger's 417 yards passing were the most by any quarterback this season.

    The Steelers will play host to the undefeated Minnesota Vikings this Sunday at 1:00 PM.

    Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers Lawrence Timmons, left,and James Farrior (51) sack Cleveland Browns quarterback Derek Anderson (3), causing a fumble, during the third quarter of an NFL football game Sunday, Oct. 18, 2009. Pittsburgh won 27-14. (AP Photo/Don Wright)

   

Just in case anyone forgot, the two best safeties in the NFL play in the AFC North

AFC North Standings

AFC North Team	W	L	T	Pct	PF	PA	Net Pts	TD	Home	Road	Div	Pct	Conf	Pct	Non-Conf	Streak	Last 5
Cincinnati Bengals	4	1	0	.800	101	90	11	13	1-1	3-0	3-0	1.000	3-1	.750	1-0	4W	4-1
Baltimore Ravens	3	2	0	.600	138	97	41	18	2-1	1-1	1-1	.500	3-2	.600	0-0	2L	3-2
Pittsburgh Steelers	3	2	0	.600	113	98	15	14	2-0	1-2	0-1	.000	2-1	.667	1-1	2W	3-2
Cleveland Browns	1	4	0	.200	55	121	-66	4	0-2	1-2	0-2	.000	1-3	.250	0-1	1W	1-4

Steelers put back to back victories together with 28-20 win over Lions

    The Steelers won back-to-back games for the first time this season with a 28-20 win over the Detroit Lions.  Ben Roethlisberger threw three touchdown passes to Heath Miller, Hines Ward, and Mike Wallace.  Rashard Mendenhall scored the Steelers first touchdown of the game on a 7 yard scammper around the right end.  It was the young RB's third touchdown in his last two games as a starter.  Mendenhall finished with 77 yards rushing on 15 carries, caught two passes for 16 yards, and continues to make his case for a starting position.

    The Steelers went up 28-13 following Roethlisberger's 47 yard pass to Mike Wallace.  Detroit responded with a 5 minute drive which ended with a 25 yard strike from Dante Culpepper to WR Dennis Northcutt bringing them to within 8.  On their following possession the Steelers went three-and-out giving the ball back to the Lions with 3:07 remaining in the game.  After allowing the Lions to drive to their 21 yard line, the Steelers D' finally buckled down and sacked Culpepper on three consecutive plays to seal the victory.  The Steeler D sacked Culpepper 7 times on the day.  James Harrison had 3 sacks bringing his season total to 6; Lamarr Woodley had 1.5 sacks on the day, his first sack of the year; William gay had 1.5 sacks, and Lawrence Timmons had 1.

    It was encouraging to see the defense tighten up at the end of the game.  I think Defensive Coordinator Dick Labeau finally realized he needs to be more aggressive at the end of games.  He dialed up four consecutive blitzes, and brought CB William Gay on a blitz two consecutive plays.

    The final score was closer than most of the experts predicted it would be, but a win is a win, and the Steelers will be happy to be tied with the Baltimore Ravens at 3-2, and only 1 game behind the division leading Cincinnatti Bengals (4-1).

    Big Ben looked like his usual self completing 23 of 30 passes for 277 yards, 3 TD's and 1 INT. However, the INT was a costly one.  Roethlisberger was intercepted by Lion's CB William James who ran the ball back 38 yards for a touchdown.  James read Big Ben's out pass intended for Mike Wallace and jumped on the route.  Just a few plays earlier Wallace dropped what would surely have been a 71 yard TD reception.  The INT was the second Ben has had returned for a touchdown.  If the Steelers are going to continue to win games, they need to avoid plays that absolutely destroy their momentum.

    The Steelers will host the Cleveland Browns this Sunday and look to push their winning streak to 3 games.  RB Willie Parker and Pro Bowl Safety Troy Polamalu are slated to return to the lineup.  It will be interesting to see how Mike Tomlin rotates Parker and Mendenhall, and how much playing time he will give Polamalu.  I expect Polamalu will be gradually rotated in just as LB Lawrence Timmons was versus the Titans in the season opener.

Tight End Heath Miller scores on a 15 yard screen pass against the Detroit Lions on Sunday. Miller has caught 3 touchdowns in the last two games, and was on pace to catch 94 passes this season coming into the contest.