Michael Essien reveals coaching decision was to avoid depression

Michael Essien has revealed that his decision to pursue a coaching career was motivated by a desire to avoid post-career depression.

The former Chelsea midfielder, who won the Champions League in 2012, acknowledged that depression is a real challenge for retired players and wanted to ensure he didn’t fall victim to it.

Essien is currently an assistant coach at Danish club Nordsjaelland, although he admitted coaching wasn’t initially part of his plans.

The former Ghana international earned his UEFA A and UEFA Elite Youth A licenses in 2023 and has been active on the sidelines since.

“When I was playing, if you asked me if I wanted to go into coaching, I would say no,” he said to Joy Sports.

“But as time passed, I started thinking: I’ve been in football all my life; why not take up coaching and acquire my license to still stay in football and be around the players?”

“I took this decision to go into coaching because I didn’t want to be one of these ex-players who finish their careers, go home, and start thinking about what they want to do, only to get into depression.”

Despite being linked with the Black Stars coaching job, Essien has no current plans to take on a head coach role.

“For now, I am not thinking about being a head coach; it is too stressful. I like to be behind the scenes, away from these media duties and cameras in my face. But you never know; maybe at some point,” he explained.

Essien made 59 appearances for the Black Stars, scoring nine goals despite battling injuries throughout his international career.

At the club level, Essien made over 500 appearances and netted 58 goals, with many coming during his successful spell at Chelsea. He also impressed at Lyon, Real Madrid, AC Milan, Panathinaikos, and Persib Bandung before retiring at Sabail.

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