With the exception of Makelele, all of Chelsea midfielders are massive attackers who are always running up front, so a player like Essien who can relax and break attacks and is extremely physical is the peice that chelsea needed to add to the puzzle. They have Drogba, Crespo and C. Cole playing for one spot and they just bought Shevchenko, Ballack, Solomon Kalou and Nigerian teenager Obi Mikel who are all some of the most priced players around, so its easy to say Essien will ride the bench, but really he wouldn't be on the bench. All of these players that are coming in are all 250% attacking-minded and none is as physical as Essien.