a écrit le 12 août 2005 à 16h03 Je partarge a 1000% l' avis de John COllins
Ex-Monaco star Collins: Chelsea paying far too much for Essien
tribalfootball.com - August 12, 2005
Former Fulham and AS Monaco star John Collins says Chelsea are crazy to be paying £23million for Lyon star Michael Essien.
Collins said: "Michael Essien is a good player, but from what I've seen of him in French football and in the Champions League, I'm not convinced he's a great player.
"He's certainly not a Zinedine Zidane or a Ronaldinho, the sort of player that is absolutely pivotal to a team. But he has become flavour of the month, being linked with a number of top European clubs - and Chelsea's interest has only served to inflate his transfer fee.
"For me, it would be a bit of a strange signing if he went to Chelsea. Not only because Essien would cost so much money, but also because he is not quite a holding player in the mould of Claude Makelele.
"Neither is he as good as Frank Lampard in getting forward and scoring goals. Added to that, I couldn't see Jose Mourinho deploying him on the right of midfield now that Shaun Wright-Phillips has signed.
"The plus points are that Essien is very quick, very strong and has very good technique.
"He is also a very good team player, but I wouldn't say I've seen him play a lot of games where he has been exceptional for Lyon.
"He's never dominated a game in the way that a Zidane or Ronaldinho is capable of doing. I don't think Lyon will struggle without him.
"Essien would be taking a gamble in moving to Chelsea ahead of the World Cup. He'd be well paid but likely to spend some time on the bench."
Ex-Monaco star Collins: Chelsea paying far too much for Essien
tribalfootball.com - August 12, 2005
Former Fulham and AS Monaco star John Collins says Chelsea are crazy to be paying £23million for Lyon star Michael Essien.
Collins said: "Michael Essien is a good player, but from what I've seen of him in French football and in the Champions League, I'm not convinced he's a great player.
"He's certainly not a Zinedine Zidane or a Ronaldinho, the sort of player that is absolutely pivotal to a team. But he has become flavour of the month, being linked with a number of top European clubs - and Chelsea's interest has only served to inflate his transfer fee.
"For me, it would be a bit of a strange signing if he went to Chelsea. Not only because Essien would cost so much money, but also because he is not quite a holding player in the mould of Claude Makelele.
"Neither is he as good as Frank Lampard in getting forward and scoring goals. Added to that, I couldn't see Jose Mourinho deploying him on the right of midfield now that Shaun Wright-Phillips has signed.
"The plus points are that Essien is very quick, very strong and has very good technique.
"He is also a very good team player, but I wouldn't say I've seen him play a lot of games where he has been exceptional for Lyon.
"He's never dominated a game in the way that a Zidane or Ronaldinho is capable of doing. I don't think Lyon will struggle without him.
"Essien would be taking a gamble in moving to Chelsea ahead of the World Cup. He'd be well paid but likely to spend some time on the bench."
