[DavidEU]

Name: Didier Drogba
Position: Forward
Number: 11
Joined From: Marseille
Fee: £24 million
Signed by: Jose Mourinho
Age: 29

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TC Profile:

Coming Soon!

[Steve.]

hope he recovers from his injury and is back into the form he is from last season cos we need some goals put away, lets also hope he doesnt want to leave at the end of this season

[Fulham Broadway]

Rats arse if true

From Irish Independent/The Times



Chelsea have been rocked by the news that Didier Drogba is facing an operation that could keep him out for several months.



The Ivory Coast striker had a scan yesterday that revealed degeneration in the meniscus of his left knee, which requires surgery. A decision on whether to operate immediately or patch him up in the hope of getting him through the Christmas period will be made in the next few days.

Chelsea's medical staff will speak to the player and examine his performance in training today before advising Avram Grant of the best course of action, although if Drogba is deemed unfit to face Sunderland at home on Saturday, they are likely to recommend him having an operation as soon as possible.

Although there is a temptation to keep Drogba going with painkilling injections until January, when he will be unavailable because of the African Cup of Nations, the 29-year-old is unwilling to sacrifice his international ambitions in such a manner and the club's medical department does not want to risk his long-term health for the sake of a few league appearances.

Drogba has been carrying the injury since he took a knock to his left knee while playing for Ivory Coast last month, which caused him to miss Chelsea's 2-0 win away to Derby County. He scored the first two goals in last week's 4-0 Champions League win over Rosenborg but said that he was short of full fitness.

A prolonged period without Drogba would be a huge blow for Chelsea. They failed to win any of the three matches that Drogba missed with a different knee injury in September and scored only one goal in the process. The minimum recovery period from surgery is between three and five weeks, not including the time necessary to regain match fitness, which would keep Drogba out until he is due to report for African Cup of Nations duty in January.

Given Drogba's international commitments, it is conceivable that he will not play for Chelsea again until February, although there could also be repercussions for his participation in the Cup of Nations. The club are adamant that Drogba will not be permitted to complete any of his rehabilitation with Ivory Coast, who begin the tournament against Nigeria on January 21, and that he will be allowed to travel only when he is deemed match-fit.

Grant has complained about the scheduling of the Cup of Nations and will resist any requests from Ivory Coast, Nigeria and Ghana for early call-ups for Drogba, Salomon Kalou, John Obi Mikel and Michael Essien. (© The Times, London).

[captainmarvel]

ahhhh!! fark it!

[EskWeston]

Well it certainly looks as if an operation is needed. But the length of time out varies depending on what paper you read.

It would be a huge blow to lose Drogba now, we needed him to get us through december before he was going off to theACN...

Lets just hope it isn't as bad as the press are making out.

[warnie_666]

I am usually not the types who would give up so easily. But this news pretty much sums up our season for me. Lets win the Champions League now.

[TrueChelseaBlue]

be even more Difficult winnin the Champs league without Didier

[EskWeston]

The fact is we can't rely on someone so heavily. Especially a club of our size, we should be able to cope without him, we need either someone to step up and really make an impact or we need to bring someone in who can do that.......

[TrueChelseaBlue]

too right.. maybe Pizarro'll get a chance to shine? who knows

[EskWeston]

TrueChelseaBlue, on Dec 6 2007, 03:06 PM, said:

too right.. maybe Pizarro'll get a chance to shine? who knows

If we do not sign a player in January then Sheva and Pizarro will have to really step up their levels. We would not completely fall apart without Drogba but there is no doubt that with Drogba we are a better team.

[Aesthetic Relic]

Just bloody typical.

I'm sorry to say but we are dependant on Drogba too much. When he was out at the start of the season along with Lampard we had absolutely nothing going forward in terms of a goal threat. Only once we got both back into the team we started to look like a team again. Although we will still have Lamps he has yet to get to the form he has showed over the past few seasons when he was banging goals in on a regular basis.

He will be massively missed, and I dont know if those we have in reserve are capable of filling his shoes. Alot of our play relies on Drogba holding the ball up for the midfield to get forward to support him. Will Sheva and Pizarro be able to carry out that job to a degree where we can continue our challenge on the title....?

This season is a bloody piss take

[bombayblue™]

cometh the hour, cometh the man...

if he is out for months, i'm sure with a long spell, one of sheva pizarro and kalou is gonna rise well to the occasion..

[TrueChelseaBlue]

spose, what will be, will be eh

[BlueLion]

I've not heard anything official yet, but if it is true it will no doubt be a loss. However, if Drogba is injured, we will need to show the depth we have in our squad.

[Stamford]

Tri-Blue, on Dec 6 2007, 03:41 PM, said:

Just bloody typical.

I'm sorry to say but we are dependant on Drogba too much. When he was out at the start of the season along with Lampard we had absolutely nothing going forward in terms of a goal threat. Only once we got both back into the team we started to look like a team again. Although we will still have Lamps he has yet to get to the form he has showed over the past few seasons when he was banging goals in on a regular basis.

He will be massively missed, and I dont know if those we have in reserve are capable of filling his shoes. Alot of our play relies on Drogba holding the ball up for the midfield to get forward to support him. Will Sheva and Pizarro be able to carry out that job to a degree where we can continue our challenge on the title....?

This season is a bloody piss take

Now that I do agree with Tri-Blue. Without Drogba we just do not look the same team. I'd love to say that Sheva,Pizarro or Kalou would step up to the plate, but hand on heart I really can't.

[changingman2000]

I think he'll be off in January anyway, First chance he gets. Also Malouda, also possibly Frank.

[misschief]

changingman2000, on Dec 6 2007, 10:08 PM, said:

I think he'll be off in January anyway, First chance he gets. Also Malouda, also possibly Frank.

Cant see us selling players like that in January, summer's the time we'll see players moving imo.

Agree with Tri-Blue about being reliant on Drogba, we've already had a taste of life without him and it aint pretty. Disagree it'll affect our title challenge though, mainly because realistically I don't think we have one this season.

[Steve.]

well it looks like its true so if we are going to miss him out for a few monthjs we need someone to step up, kalou has already suggested that he is goin got lets hope it come true and lets hope sheva and pizzaro can come good asap cos we really need it in the new few weeks.

[EskWeston]

If the stories that are going around are true then this is very bad.

Drogba wants to have the operation now so he can play in the ACN, which would mean we would miss him from now until the end of the ACN which is something like 2 months. This is not good for us and we should lay the law down, at the end of the day Chelsea pay his wages.....

[Fulham Broadway]

EskWeston, on Dec 7 2007, 08:58 AM, said:

If the stories that are going around are true then this is very bad.

Drogba wants to have the operation now so he can play in the ACN, which would mean we would miss him from now until the end of the ACN which is something like 2 months. This is not good for us and we should lay the law down, at the end of the day Chelsea pay his wages.....

Too fucking right -the old Cortisone injections that allowed Osgood, Hudson, Hutchinson to play on when fucked, did them no long term harm...

..oh hang on.