Source: Telegraph
Chelsea's Michael Essien vital to treble trophy challenge says Guus Hiddink
Essien has missed most of the season with a serious knee injury, but has scored in consecutive games on his return to partially support Luiz Felipe Scolari's theory that he will be like having "five new players".
Hiddink also agreed about the importance of Essien's versatility. "It's not important that I'm pleased," he said. "It was important for the team and the crowd that he came back after a long period of recovery.
"We played him at Juventus and he did a good job, not just by scoring but by being in the team gives him and us a lot of confidence, and that's good to see.
"I knew before he's very strong, and he gives a lot to the team as well. Plus, it gives me tactically some options to play differently with other players as well. When we go to the end of the season, being in three competitions, having him available is important.
"We can improve. We were solid defensively against Manchester City and weren't under threat, but I'd liked us to have finished it off in the first half. If we'd scored the second, it might have been a 4-0 game. But that's the only thing. We have to finish them off. That's the only criticism we can have."
Hiddink, though, fears he might be without Deco until the end of the season.
"He was fit and worked hard, but after 20 or 25 minutes he had this problem again, so he will be out again for a while," he said. "I think Deco will not be recovered very shortly. When he comes back, he'll have to be very fit to come back. I have my doubts to be honest (about this season), but let's see what happens."
