During Michael Essien’s illustrious career as a box-to-box midfielder, he built up a great relationship with fans of each club he played for and in particular, Chelsea fans. The Ghanaian maestro played over 250 matches for the Blues and scored 25 goals with a couple of absolute screamers. He has since been involved with the club in a number of ways and has had a few things to say about the team.
In the last few days, the former AC Milan midfielder has said that it is important for Chelsea fans to stop criticising their new signing, Tiemoue Bakayoko. The French player has come under a lot of fire since he signed for the West London club back in July and Essien feels as though it isn’t justified at all. He also said that an adjustment period is needed for Bakayoko as he is still a young player at just 23 years of age.
The ex-Monaco man had a shocking performance in midweek in the Champions League against Atletico as he made a number of mistakes in Chelsea’s 1-1 draw. However, the worst thing for young footballers is for them to receive added pressure on top of the pressure they will undoubtedly be placing on themselves, and this will often show in the way they play. This may have been one of the contributing factors to Bakayoko’s poor showing.
It’s not just Essien who has had something to say about the unfair critique of Tiemoue Bakayoko; Antonio Conte has also urged Chelsea fans to lay off from targeting their new boy as the side’s scapegoat when they don’t perform. He isn’t going to produce world-class performances right from the start and a fine example of a player who struggled in his first season in the Premier League is Paul Pogba. Bakayoko’s French teammate found it very hard to adapt to life in the top flight but is now one of the league’s best players. It just goes to show that Blues fans shouldn’t be so harsh on their £40 million midfielder in this early stage of his Premier League career.
Header image: “Chelsea 0 Manchester City 1” (CC BY-SA 2.0) by cfcunofficial
