Last Monday saw Chelsea confirm yet another lengthy lay-off for Michael Essien due to cruciate knee ligament damage sustained in the first day of pre-season training. The Ghanaian is expected to be out of action for around six months and with two similar injuries in the previous three seasons, the midfielder’s ability to fully recover has come under question.

Certainly, Essien’s performances last season were fairly lacklustre in comparison to his usual barnstorming standards and his absence looks set to prompt Andre Villas-Boas’ first foray into this summer’s transfer market. Rumours are circulating of a move for last season’s Football Writer’s Player of the Year Scott Parker, with a departure from West Ham looking likely, following their drop to the Championship.

West Ham
Parker stood head and shoulders above any other West Ham player last season and demonstrated a consistency sadly lacking in his team mates in their doomed 2010/11 campaign. A look at his stats compared to the other most-used members of the Hammers midfield highlight just how high he set his standards:

Defensive Stats
Over 32 appearances, Parker averaged a fantastic 3.8 tackles per game, virtually the same as Mark Noble (2.2) and Thomas Hitzlsperger (1.7) combined. The next best first-team member was centre-half James Tomkins, on 2.6 tackles, and with West Ham making 21 Tackles per match, this means Parker made 18% of his team’s challenges every game.

Parker’s 2.6 Interceptions were also considerably higher than any of the other West Ham midfielders- Noble was next best on 2, with Luis Boa Morte edging Hitzlsperger 1.5 to 1.4. Again, this was best of the squad, with Tomkins next on 2.4.

He was also best for Clearances here, with 1.4 per game, and although his foul count of 1.4 per game is the least impressive along with Boa Morte, the latter’s tally came from 2.2 Tackles and 1.5 Interceptions per game, compared to Parker’s 3.8 & 2.6, suggesting a greater discipline.

In Possession
His reading of the game meant Avram Grant tended to field Parker in a slightly deeper position than the others, allowing the likes of Hitzlsperger to flourish going forward. This shows in Parker’s 1.3 Key Passes compared to Hitzlsperger’s 3.1 or Noble’s 1.8, but an 83% Pass Accuracy indicates his tendency to keep ball distribution simple and risk-free in the middle of the pitch.

Parker’s ability to take a man on sees him as joint-top with Noble (0.9) for Successful Dribbles and although his 0.9 Shots per game was better than only Boa Morte, Parker’s finishing was the best of all West Ham midfielders. He scored 5 goals from 29 shots, or 1 goal per 5.8 shots. Noble scored 1 goal with every 7.25 shots, Hitzlsperger -despite averaging 2 shots per game- scored 1 goal with every 11 shots.

Overall, only Parker’s creative talents fare worse-off here, though again this was down to how Grant utilised him. Both defensively and as a goal threat he shone, and any move away from Upton Park will leave a huge void for new Hammers boss Sam Allardyce to fill.


Could a Chelsea Return Prove Successful for Scott Parker?

 

Chelsea
Similar to previous Chelsea managers, Villas-Boas’ preferred formation is 4-3-3, though his interpretation of the system is more attack-minded than the majority of his predecessors. His midfield three will have one sitting deeper than the other two -a position that seems tailor-made for John Obi Mikel- though the two more attacking midfielders need to offer plenty of industry in addition to flair and creative menace.

For the purpose of this analysis, we shall look at the stats of the players Parker would most likely be vying for a place in the first-team with, Essien included.

Defensive Stats
Essien’s Tackles per game, in comparison to the others, is noticeably poor for a player renowned for his dynamic performances in the middle of the field; he made just 1.5 Tackles per game, half of Ramires’ 3. Parker’s 3.8 Tackles stand up particularly well against Mikel (1.9); both played more defensive roles than the others, yet Parker made twice the number of challenges.

For Interceptions, Mikel leads the way for the Chelsea trio with 2 per game, and this is indicative of his position, picking up possession and breaking up attacks in front of the back-four. Parker, with 2.6, was once again superior. Parker (1.4) was best for clearances too, with Ramires and Essien tying on 1 for Chelsea. Mikel, with 0.9, made 0.5 less clearances per game than Parker.

As the Hammers had just 44% average possession to Chelsea‘s 58%, the fact they were on the defensive more often during games should indicate they made more challenges, but this is not the case. Although they had far more of the ball, Chelsea made 20 Tackles and 16 Interceptions per game, compared to West Ham’s 21 and 15 respectively, an indication of their superior work-rate. With such a similar number of tackles and interceptions, a comparison of Parker’s defensive performances is particularly relevant here.


In Possession
Creatively, Parker stands up to analysis here, too; despite his deep role, 1 .3 Key Passes is greater than any of the Chelsea trio and although he’s bottom for Pass Accuracy, there’s very little in it. Mikel’s 90% is the stand- out here, but his 0.8 Key Passes shows just how little risks he took with the ball.

In terms of goal threat, Essien was the best here with 1.7 shots per game but with a total of 56 shots, he found the net just 3 times, a ratio of 1 goal every 18.6 shots. Mikel failed to score at all and Ramires’ 2 goals from 20 shots in 1 goal per 10 attempts. Parker, with 5 goals, 1 per 5.8 is far more clinical with his finishing.

While both Essien and Ramires impress with 1.5 and 1.4 Successful Dribbles respectively, Villas-Boas’ need for a skilful playmaker that will do a job for him similar to that of Joao Moutinho at Porto last season, means the Blues will be looking beyond Parker for a playmaker. A second bid for Luka Modric has been knocked back and Moutinho himself may come into the frame if Chelsea are priced out of a move for the Spurs man.

Parker’s stats, on the other hand, suggest an adaptability; he looks capable of doing a job either in the deeper central position -giving Chelsea an alternative to Mikel in front of the back-four- or alongside a playmaker, indicating he’d give Ramires a run for his money.

Whether the player would relish a return to a club that gave him just 15 league appearances from 2003-2005, however, is another matter entirely. At 30 years of age, the last thing Parker will want is to become nothing more than a squad member at Stamford Bridge all over again.