Mourinho’s Essien fear

Tuesday 20 December, 2005

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho believes that clubs are trying to take advantage of Michael Essien’s bad-boy image.

The former Lyon midfielder has twice caught the eye for dangerous tackles this season, including a horror-challenge on Liverpool's Dietmar Hamann that earned him a two-game suspension from UEFA.

And he was at the centre of things again at Highbury on Sunday when he appeared to catch Arsenal defender Lauren with an elbow, sparking a 20-man brawl – however, Mourinho believes his player is the one who is being targeted.

“The incident I saw was 10 players jumping on him,” said Mourinho. “It was like a strategy to use the image Essien has at the moment.

“He made his mistake and was punished for that and has a suspension for the Champions' League. Now I think he deserves to be looked at as a great player and be careful of other teams' reactions in relation to him. That for me is the negative point.”