Chelsea

It seems that for all Chelsea’s efforts, the issue of Michael Essien’s sickening tackle on Liverpool’s Dietmar Hamann will not go away. Now there’s a surprise.

In the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s European Champions League clash, the Special One claimed not to have seen it (perhaps because he was concentrating on offering gratuitous advice to the Liverpool management), Essien did not apologise and the club offered no statement.

Almost 72 hours later, however, after EUFA had announced that ‘disciplinary proceedings’ had been instigated against the player, a Chelsea spokesman is alleged to have declared that “Michael has spoken to Dietmar by telephone this evening. He apologised to Dietmar, assured him the tackle was accidental and that there was no malicious intent.”

So Essien has apologised after three days. What kept him? And what is it about this tackle that marks it as ‘accidental’ and devoid of ‘malicious intent’?

Whichever way you look at it, this is hardly what might be construed as remorse – especially from a player who, according to an article in the News of the World, is described by Paul Le Guen (the man who took him to Lyon) as one who suffers from “the red mist”, “loses control” and “can go over the top”.

Elsewhere in the Sunday papers, Essien is quoted as saying, by way of self-justification, that football is “not ballet”.

Not the way he plays it isn’t.

Perhaps Mr Essien has never heard of Thierry Henry.