The Los Angeles Galaxy's plans to hand David Beckham a prestigious debut against Chelsea on Saturday are set to be dashed with the former England captain still struggling to shrug off the ankle ligament injury suffered towards the end of his final season at Real Madrid.
Beckham has been unable to train with his new team-mates since being unveiled as a Galaxy player last Friday and sat out last night's opening game of the World Series of Football against Mexico's Tigres UANL. His involvement has been limited to minor ball-work, with Galaxy concerned his rehabilitation could be put back by off-the-pitch duties.
The former England captain is due to fly to Denver tomorrow to be presented to the crowd at the Major League Soccer All-Star game against Celtic at the Colorado Rapids' Dick's Sporting Goods Park. Although he was never due to play in the match, the game is an 18,000 sell-out, with many of the tickets sold on the basis Beckham would be present. However, there are concerns the flight to Denver could worsen the swelling on the ankle and endanger the midfielder's availability beyond Saturday.
The Galaxy are second bottom of the western standings, with the league due to resume later this month. Ticket sales for their remaining 18 matches have been swollen dramatically by the American public's desire to see Beckham play.
Meanwhile, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho wants Michael Essien to be the rock in his new-look midfield, leaving just one place up for grabs in the middle of the park. Mourinho has already signalled his intent to revert to two wingers as the Blues bid to regain the Premier League title.
His decision has a big influence on the make-up of his central midfield options with Essien, Michael Ballack, Frank Lampard, Claude Makelele and Steve Sidwell among the big names vying for places.
With Florent Malouda and Arjen Robben on either flank in Mourinho's perfect scenario, the Chelsea coach believes Essien is the third piece in his midfield jigsaw. "Michael was one of the best players last season," Mourinho said. "For bad reasons he was playing as a central defender but he is a midfield player and he is the kind of midfield player we need. We want to play with people wide so there will be one less man in the centre of midfield and for that we need him."
With Ballack still in England recovering from surgery, Mourinho was planning to pair Essien with Lampard in central midfield for the first half of their match against Korean side Suwon Bluewings last night.
The Chelsea coach said he was looking forward to seeing them play together but most of all he is keen to see Essien develop into an even better player. "He's so strong that 90 minutes is not enough for him," Mourinho said. "He's very, very powerful as everyone knows but I think his quality is improving so much."
Mourinho again spoke of his satisfaction with the make-up of his squad heading into his fourth campaign at Stamford Bridge.
"I think I am a happy coach with this kind of group. People think because they are big guys and big names in football sometimes it's not too difficult to get these guys but Michael (Essien) is just one example, the others are not much different.
"I am very, very happy to work with them, it's one of the reasons why I'm in my fourth season in the club. I wish to stay for a long time because I enjoy working with these kind of people because they love to work.
