Chelsea what ifs: Michael Ballack and Michael Essien hold up

The midfield of Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, and Frank Lampard is regarded as Chelsea’s best ever. What if the former two stayed healthy?

Michael Essien wins the ball back. Michael Ballack makes an inch perfect pass. Frank Lampard bangs it into the top corner. That is the stuff Chelsea dreams are made of.

Technically, the three spent four seasons together. Realistically, it was really only about two seasons where the three were all fully fit enough to solidify their legacy together. Injuries and age created concerns and Ballack was allowed to leave for free and Essien was bounced around on loan before the same happened to him.

What if those two had stayed healthy and stayed at Chelsea? Would the Blues’ greatest ever midfield trio have become something even greater?

The first thing that comes to mind is the Liverpool ghost goal semifinals. Essien missed one leg and Ballack missed both. With both playing in both legs, Liverpool do not get the luck they got in reality. Chelsea advance, though they unfortunately lose to Milan in the final.

Chelsea also keeps the pressure on at the end of the season. The five draws that saw the Blues lose out on the title turn into wins with Ballack in play. Chelsea lifts the Premier League title once again with Jose Mourinho. Those trophies are enough to see Mourinho stay through the turmoil of the following season as the board is more willing to stick by him.

Chelsea pushes on with Mourinho, Ballack, Essien, and Lampard through the next season. They ultimately win the Premier League and the Champions League, prompting Mourinho to resign at the top after a tetchy year with the board. Carlo Ancelotti is hired and once again the Blues replicate his impressive first season with what would then be their fifth Premier League title in a row.

Ancelotti’s second season does remain a struggle and it replicates real life in his sacking in the tunnel. By this point, Chelsea is seemingly too big to risk it on Andre Villas-Boas. The club reaches out to Pep Guardiola but it goes nowhere, especially after the semifinal tie stolen by Barcelona reflects real life. Guus Hiddink is hired as a placeholder in the short term.

Hiddink’s hands off management style works for Chelsea. The Blues spend the 2011/2012 season pushing up the table. Though they are unable to win the Champions League as they did in reality, they are able to regain the Premier League title that season with Hiddink in charge. Hiddink stays on for one more season, but goes trophy less in 2012/2013.

At this point, the trio of Ballack, Essien, and Lampard is broken up. Ballack departs for free in 2013. Lampard and Essien leave one year later. The trio, when all fit, brought a dynasty into the Premier League and won the biggest competition in Europe along the way.

Unfortunately, reality did not turn out as well as fantasy, but there is a reason why those three are considered Chelsea’s greatest ever midfield trio. Even if not totally, their four seasons together offered Chelsea something they have been unable to capture ever since.