No offense but if you or anyone thinks that Fletcher is better than Essien you either know nothing about the game or are unable to see passed your bias. Not only is Essien the best defensive mid but he is also got the passing ability somewhere near to Xavi and Gerrard etc. Not only that he scores a number of goals. Essien is world class Fletcher is not. I'll put it this way; Chelsea are a different team without Essien and are no where near as good. Flecher doesn't make us better despite how good he's been for us.

 well as they say in philosophy, your statement about essien and fletcher would be classed as conceptual fallacy. Why? fletcher is box to box and essien is defensive midfielder. therefore, they are not in the same mould.

 Essien is certainly a wonderdul player and athlete!!! Very physical I think SAF even wanted to sign him, But I think fletcher is better than him, he has determination and fighting spirit typical man utd player, so with all respect to essien I think fletcher is bit better than him!

Essien is quite simply the best Defensive Mid. out there. Fletcher isn't in the same mould as him, but as always said Fletcher is a big-game performer. It would be good to have him back for this Chelsea match as we need that extra aggression. Without Rooney we could be overpowered as Chelski are a big team.

With a good formation, balance in the team and possession, there's no need for "anti-football". Chelsea are weak at set-pieces and crosses. Giggs on the wing and Berbatov upfront with Owen with 3 very active midfielders, we'll take them by storm.

 

These players are in the same mould?! Who would you say is the better player?

I also would like to know (because I have been out of it for a while) what exactly happened with Essien and Chelsea and United. Did he sign for us and what is the story behind him not playing for United.  He is a top player and is apparently a United fan, like some Chelsea players (cough Terry)

United v Chelsea is scaring me for the reason they are a physical team. When we played Liverpool last week, they were hungry for the win, they didnt necessarily out play us I dont think, but they were more agressive, they appealed for everything, shoved us off the ball, fight for everything type of mentality, win at all costs. We didnt do any of this which I think is a crucial part of games and thats why I pray Fletcher comes back for the Chelsea game as I know he will be like that an agressor or Anti football as our fellow gunner mr Wenger would call it. An example is the Carragher tackle on Carrick in the box, not one United player complained, appealed, there was no fight. I hope this changes for the Chelsea match. I play football for my local team and when battling a player and for example the ball goes our for a throw in, even if it comes off me I am appealing and fighting so my team can have possession. Doesnt always work, but sometimes it works and we keep possession. A fighters spirit, never die down even when you know you're wrong. It's not cheating, its competing! United need to get this back, we have too many passive players in the team. If Roy Keane was still playing, I am sure we would be more amped up. Lets pray Fletcher gets fit for that game.

Anyways enough of the rant, whats the deal with Essien, I wish we had signed him, his ball control and qualities are amazing. I hope for some reason he misses the match on Sunday