Chelsea Fc - 8 seasons 1 striker

[Badboy 1,526]

We've nearly gone a whole decade with Drogba as our only competent striker, we've had others come in fits and starts like Crespo for one season but Drogba is the only striker in the Roman era to have survived for the long term. I do believe that the formation we have used has helped but I just find it mind boggling that we've gone this long with one effective striker. Anelka only played one season as a striker and that was the season he won the golden boot funnily enough.

[capriccioso 2,545]

One striker, one chance, one shot, one goal.

Problem?

More seriously, our reliance on him is still nothing compared to how much other teams, e.g. Arsenal, rely on one player.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

^^

That is a good point. Yes we've had one strier, but we always had in everyone in the team (except mikel, of course ) and our midfield usually scores more than our forwards. In that sense, we have relied more on Lamps than drogba in the last decade.

[capriccioso 2,545]

We paid 24 million for a relatively unknown guy and he's given us 19.625 goals a season on average for 8 years:

04/05- 16

05/06- 16

06/07- 33

07/08- 15

08/09- 14

09/10- 37

10/11- 13 (+17 assists)

11/12- 13 and counting.

That doesn't make us a one man team/attack by any stretch of the imagination. Wayne Rooney has averaged 22 goals a season in 8 years, you wouldn't say United had one striker for the past decade.

[Beirut_Blues 306]

Ya hopefully we're able to make up for that when he's eventually gone...

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

Big man deserves a massive amount of respect.

[Badboy 1,526]

@Capriccioso Man Utd have had Tevez, Berbatov, Hernandez, and a few other strikers who have played upfront for them and scored goals. I think that is what has made them win more leagues since Roman arrived to be honest, they've had that cutting edge in the final third. I really thought it was going to be our time when we won back to back titles but it just didn't happen.

[didierforever 7,349]

we HAVE HAD just one striker but in no way are we a one man team. i am sure if nando had started yesterday we would have tried to play differently. but drogba is well..... DROGBA, one of a kind

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Indeed, it's been the case that no matter who we bring in as a forward, Drogba will always shine above them. He did a great service to replace Hasselbaink, who I will always maintain left a season or 2 too early.

But what the Hasselbaink-Drogba senario does show is it is capable to replace a great striker like this, providing the former is no longer at the club. Drogba will go down as a club legend through the ages.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Hasselbaink-Drogba-Lukaku?

[Madmax 9,219]

Top Drog Forever™

[Kojo 4,676]

Lukaku is a different player to Drogba, i think Lukaku will grow up to be a better goal scorer than Drogba, but he will never be as good as Drogba in my opinion. Drogba is an all round forward, great link up play, passing, crossing everything had a great technical abillity what also went with how phsyical he was, he could bully defenders and hold the ball up. Where as Lukaku his technical abillity is poor, it's like a league 1 player, he can barely pass a ball or cross it, i think his movement and his instinct to get goals is special though. But i am still yet to see it in the premier league because we wont fucking play him!.

[Tomo 21,751]

Our reliance on Drogba has always been over-rated.

Everton away last season on the last day was the first time we lost a league match without Drogba playing for nearly 3 years (when Arsenal beat us 2-1 at The Bridge), infact we only lost one match in all comps without him playing in between those 2 games (Newcastle CC defeat).

In the double season we won every single game Drogba didn't play in.

The only season we genuinely felt Drogba's absence when he didn't play was 06/07.

[Liquidator 5,176]

Lukaku is a different player to Drogba, i think Lukaku will grow up to be a better goal scorer than Drogba, but he will never be as good as Drogba in my opinion. Drogba is an all round forward, great link up play, passing, crossing everything had a great technical abillity what also went with how phsyical he was, he could bully defenders and hold the ball up. Where as Lukaku his technical abillity is poor, it's like a league 1 player, he can barely pass a ball or cross it, i think his movement and his instinct to get goals is special though. But i am still yet to see it in the premier league because we wont fucking play him!.

He is only 18 and Drogba was a very late developer, he didn't make a real breakthrough until he was about 23. If Lukaku gets the chance then I am convinced that he will be better than Drogba because he seems to have a natural head start learning from Drogba and physically he is more or less the finished article. Like you say though, he has not been given a chance in the PL yet

[bluephoenix 1,131]

i stand by what I said many months ago !!! I want DD to retire in blue shirt