Michael Essien says that Chelsea will travel to Manchester United for Sunday\u2019s Premier League championship decider \u201cup for it\u201d and full of confidence, having gone from strength to strength in recent weeks as they have breathed fresh life into the defence of their title.<\/strong><\/p>\nThe Ghana midfielder admitted his own confidence and that of his team-mates had suffered so badly during the club\u2019s mid-season slump that he laboured over making a simple pass.<\/p>\n
But, for reasons that he cannot fully explain, something \u201csuddenly clicked\u201d and the team have been able to piece together the run of form that has put the destiny of the title back in their own hands.<\/p>\n
They trailed United by 15 points on 28 February, albeit having played a game fewer, but they beat them at Stamford Bridge on 1 March and they have now taken 25 points from a possible 27.<\/p>\n
If they were to win at Old Trafford, as they did decisively last season, they would go above United on goal difference at the top of the table, with only two matches to play.<\/p>\n
Chelsea\u2019s final games are against Newcastle United (home) and Everton (away) while United must play two relegation-threatened teams, Blackburn Rovers (away) and Blackpool (home).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford this weekend to ensure we are in the driving seat and I can assure you we are up for it,\u201d Essien said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team is playing well and I have no doubt we will give it everything we have to beat Man United.\u201d<\/p>\n
Essien described his own season as \u201csweet and sour\u201d and he reflected on the period when it \u201cjust wasn\u2019t coming off\u201d for his team.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was asked by friends many times what I felt the problem was and I couldn\u2019t explain,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I can say is when you hit a bad patch, you think about everything too much. The simplest pass becomes a difficult task because you spend time thinking rather than just letting things flow.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you are on form, you receive a pass and just let it go but when you are down you think too much and lose possession. I am glad to say after many weeks working hard on the training pitch it suddenly clicked and now we are in with a chance. Maybe it\u2019s a confidence thing \u2013 who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/p>\n
See the original article here:
\nChelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Welcome to Ghanasoccernet.com, Ghana’s most authoritative football news website. Chelsea’s Michael Essien is relishing Sunday’s title decider against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Michael Essien says that Chelsea will travel to Manchester United for Sunday\u2019s Premier League championship decider \u201cup for it\u201d and full of confidence, having gone from strength to strength in recent weeks as they have breathed fresh life into the defence of their title<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":418289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-418287","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment"},"yoast_head":"\n
Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Welcome to Ghanasoccernet.com, Ghana's most authoritative football news website. Chelsea's Michael Essien is relishing Sunday's title decider against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Michael Essien says that Chelsea will travel to Manchester United for Sunday\u2019s Premier League championship decider \u201cup for it\u201d and full of confidence, having gone from strength to strength in recent weeks as they have breathed fresh life into the defence of their title\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ghanamma\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"\",\"@id\":\"\"},\"headline\":\"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-05T19:08:21+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":447,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"articleSection\":[\"Entertainment\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/\",\"name\":\"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-05-05T19:08:21+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/05\\\/05\\\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"\",\"contentUrl\":\"\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/\",\"name\":\"Ghanamma.com\",\"description\":\"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.ghanamma.com\\\/2011\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com","twitter_description":"Welcome to Ghanasoccernet.com, Ghana's most authoritative football news website. Chelsea's Michael Essien is relishing Sunday's title decider against Manchester United at Old Trafford. Michael Essien says that Chelsea will travel to Manchester United for Sunday\u2019s Premier League championship decider \u201cup for it\u201d and full of confidence, having gone from strength to strength in recent weeks as they have breathed fresh life into the defence of their title","twitter_creator":"@ghanamma","twitter_site":"@ghanamma","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/"},"author":{"name":"","@id":""},"headline":"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash","datePublished":"2011-05-05T19:08:21+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/"},"wordCount":447,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","articleSection":["Entertainment"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/","name":"Chelsea Star Michael Essien Warns Manchester United Ahead Of Key Clash - Ghanamma.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"","datePublished":"2011-05-05T19:08:21+00:00","author":{"@id":""},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/05\/05\/chelsea-star-michael-essien-warns-manchester-united-ahead-of-key-clash\/#primaryimage","url":"","contentUrl":""},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/","name":"Ghanamma.com","description":"News In Ghana - Latest Ghana News Headlines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418287\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ghanamma.com\/2011\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Michael](\"http:\/\/www.ghanasoccernet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/05\/Michael-Essien-007.jpg\" "\\"Chelsea")
<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n