Didier Drogba

[Styles 9,790]

He played really well in that three months under Robbie, a lot of big performances, not just goals. But the 12 months leading up to that wasn't particularly memorable.

Yeah he really struggled for a while after the illness which is understandable.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Yeah he really struggled for a while after the illness which is understandable.

True. Forgot about the malaria. Oddly he was never really given any time by the club to go and recover and get fit despite Anelka, Kalou and then Torres being available.

[Styles 9,790]

True. Forgot about the malaria. Oddly he was never really given any time by the club to go and recover and get fit despite Anelka, Kalou and then Torres being available.

Sad thing about that (well, besides the horrible illness of course) was that Drogba started the season so well; he pretty continued his form from the previous season. I may have mentioned it on here before but Drogba's performance in the 6-0 win against Wigan is one of the best games I have seen by any player, ever. He didn't even score but he got a hattrick of assists and was unstoppable. I just wish someone made a Youtube comp of that game.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

And he's also playing in a much better team which helps. Let's be honest, the 2012 Chelsea was a shambles.

Yeah, that also is a very good point.

He played really well in that three months under Robbie, a lot of big performances, not just goals. But the 12 months leading up to that wasn't particularly memorable.

Yeah, but let's not forget that those performances were only in the big games. People forget that for over a year before he left, in regular games in the league he was often very very poor and annoyingly nonchalant.

[DavidEU 2,023]

Yeah, but let's not forget that those performances were only in the big games. People forget that for over a year before he left, in regular games in the league he was often very very poor and annoyingly nonchalant.

Yeah, without doubt. Though pretty much every game under Robbie was a 'big' game. FA Cup, Champions League and fighting for fourth. He scored in Robbie's first league match at home to Stoke which was huge at the time. I don't know what Robbie fed or said to Didier but his form changed almost instantly.

[Tomo 21,733]

Yeah, without doubt. Though pretty much every game under Robbie was a 'big' game. FA Cup, Champions League and fighting for fourth. He scored in Robbie's first league match at home to Stoke which was huge at the time. I don't know what Robbie fed or said to Didier but his form changed almost instantly.

I think the team gave up the fight for 4th fairly quickly and went all out for the CL.

Because while Robbie rallied the troops in the cups, in the league there was no real improvement to what we saw under AVB, if anything we were worse.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Yeah, without doubt. Though pretty much every game under Robbie was a 'big' game. FA Cup, Champions League and fighting for fourth. He scored in Robbie's first league match at home to Stoke which was huge at the time. I don't know what Robbie fed or said to Didier but his form changed almost instantly.

Yeah, definitely. Wasn't just him though. Everyone just took it a few notches up when Robbie was promoted. Ramires, Cahill, even Raul and Torres. He did some brilliant man management.

And I remember that Stoke game very well. One of the most boring I've seen. Absolutely zero chances for 88 minutes (IIRC) and then some absolute magic from Juan and Didier scores.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I think the team gave up the fight for 4th fairly quickly and went all out for the CL.

Because while Robbie rallied the troops in the cups, in the league there was no real improvement to what we saw under AVB, if anything we were worse.

Yeah, I distinctly remember a stat that Robbie's average points per game in those last 3 months were actually worse than AVB's!

[Tomo 21,733]

Yeah, I distinctly remember a stat that Robbie's average points per game in those last 3 months were actually worse than AVB's!

We won 5/11 IIRC and some of the performances were horrible, despite nothing riding on it that display at Anfield still scars me.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

We won 5/11 IIRC and some of the performances were horrible, despite nothing riding on it that display at Anfield still scars me.

Turnbull

And Liverpool celebrating it like they've won the league

[DavidEU 2,023]

Yeah, definitely. Wasn't just him though. Everyone just took it a few notches up when Robbie was promoted. Ramires, Cahill, even Raul and Torres. He did some brilliant man management.

And I remember that Stoke game very well. One of the most boring I've seen. Absolutely zero chances for 88 minutes (IIRC) and then some absolute magic from Juan and Didier scores.

Yep, absolutely. The whole team stepped up, but Drogba almost came back from relatively no where. Robbie didn't have many managerial qualities IMO, but he has to be seen as one of the best managerial motivators. Get the impression at times that he made the players believe things that even he himself wasn't sure we could do. And that applies to Drogba too.

Yeah, I think the goal came a bit earlier than that, around an hour, but it was a very dull game. Remember being there, and all anyone was talking about was Napoli.

[Tomo 21,733]

Yep, absolutely. The whole team stepped up, but Drogba almost came back from relatively no where. Robbie didn't have many managerial qualities IMO, but he has to be seen as one of the best managerial motivators. Get the impression at times that he made the players believe things that even he himself wasn't sure we could do. And that applies to Drogba too.

Yeah, I think the goal came a bit earlier than that, around an hour, but it was a very dull game. Remember being there, and all anyone was talking about was Napoli.

Can agree with that and that's probably why Roman had doubts about giving him the job full time.

Robbie did incredible in his interim spell, however family videos wouldn't have done the trick in a cold midweek at Reading.

As painful as it was on a sentimental level, replacing Robbie with Rafa was spot on for the evolution of the new Chelsea, Jose needed more time than usual to sort the squad out, if we kept RDM all season he would have needed longer imo, we were becoming a bigger and bigger tactical mess by the week, the game in Turin was scary.

Chelsea and Rafa was the ultimate marriage of convience, we needed an experienced high profile manager to get us 3rd and smoothen the evolution process, he needed us to recover his reputation that took such a huge dent at Inter even Villa fans were cringing at the thought of his appointment.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Can agree with that and that's probably why Roman had doubts about giving him the job full time.

Robbie did incredible in his interim spell, however family videos wouldn't have done the trick in a cold midweek at Reading.

As painful as it was on a sentimental level, replacing Robbie with Rafa was spot on for the evolution of the new Chelsea, Jose needed more time than usual to sort the squad out, if we kept RDM all season he would have needed longer imo, we were becoming a bigger and bigger tactical mess by the week, the game in Turin was scary.

Chelsea and Rafa was the ultimate marriage of convience, we needed an experienced high profile manager to get us 3rd and smoothen the evolution process, he needed us to recover his reputation that took such a huge dent at Inter even Villa fans were cringing at the thought of his appointment.

I had riots after me when I wrote exactly that at the time! I wrote an article about it before we had secured 4th and won the EL and everyone almost wanted the team to fail to do that so they could say "I told you appointing that wanker was a terrible idea"!

[Bosnian Blue 2,471]

I had riots after me when I wrote exactly that at the time! I wrote an article about it before we had secured 4th and won the EL and everyone almost wanted the team to fail to do that so they could say "I told you appointing that wanker was a terrible idea"!

Aren't you all doing the same now 'I told you it was a good idea'?? He did nothing special, nothing he should be given that much credit for baring Europa League, he was and still is a cunt.

Nobody knows what would have happened that season. You are trying to make it look like we were in relegation zone under Robbie, where in fact we were 4 points behind City with a game against them coming up at the Bridge. Also everything was made that much harder by having to play Torres week in week out which was obviously not a decision made by the manager.

I remember certain members who are now being all smartass about RDM, claiming AVB could be our Ferguson at one point. Not to mention the club giving him (RDM) the sack at 5 AM, that was the biggest embarassment of all.

on topic:

Could Didier retire after this season, that is if we win the league? I'd give him a job at the club immediately.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Aren't you all doing the same now 'I told you it was a good idea'?? He did nothing special, nothing he should be given that much credit for baring Europa League, he was and still is a cunt.

Yes, but with the slight difference that I wanted the team to do well while some people were actually hoping that Rafa, and hence Chelsea, do badly which was the whole point of that last post of mine.

Nobody knows what would have happened that season. You are trying to make it look like we were in relegation zone under Robbie, where in fact we were 4 points behind City with a game against them coming up at the Bridge. Also everything was made that much harder by having to play Torres week in week out which was obviously not a decision made by the manager.

Yes, and you can't prove that we wouldn't be winning the CL every season if I were the manager!

I really don't wish to revive ancient debates that are now meaningless, but, for me, it was never about the results and I would have said the same had we failed to win the EL, in fact the article I'm referring to was written before we even reached the semis IIRC.

It was about the evolution of the squad as whole and the key players in particular in a direction that ensures that the next manager can, with a few minor adjustments, build a team that can challenge for titles, i.e. what Jose has done. But that was not going to be possible, imo, with the tactically woeful manner the team was playing under Robbie.

I remember certain members who are now being all smartass about RDM, claiming AVB could be our Ferguson at one point. Not to mention the club giving him the sack at 5 AM, that was the biggest embarassment of all.

I completely agree that the club did act embarrassingly with a club legend. He should never have been offered the job in the first place as the board clearly didn't think he was good enough to do it. And let's not open and an even older debate about AVB and how and why he was sacked.

[Styles 9,790]

Aren't you all doing the same now 'I told you it was a good idea'?? He did nothing special, nothing he should be given that much credit for baring Europa League, he was and still is a cunt.

Nobody knows what would have happened that season. You are trying to make it look like we were in relegation zone under Robbie, where in fact we were 4 points behind City with a game against them coming up at the Bridge. Also everything was made that much harder by having to play Torres week in week out which was obviously not a decision made by the manager.

I remember certain members who are now being all smartass about RDM, claiming AVB could be our Ferguson at one point. Not to mention the club giving him (RDM) the sack at 5 AM, that was the biggest embarassment of all.

on topic:

Could Didier retire after this season, that is if we win the league? I'd give him a job at the club immediately.

I think that's the plan and I hope it works out that way - Drogba deserves to retire a champ.

[Blue-in-me-Veins 4,067]

I think that's the plan and I hope it works out that way - Drogba deserves to retire a champ.

Thats what i really wanted to see happen for Ashley Cole...hopefully AS Roma win the Serie A

[Elran 58]

Definitely the player who improved the most since the start of the season and he's 36

When we signed him back I expected him only to come on for 10 minutes at most all season. Was genuinely very worried when Costa and Remy where out and he would start against ManU; end up scoring a copy of the Munich-header. Our only goal of the match. Three days ago he was the deciding factor in the match against Spurs with a goal and an assist. And today he came on in the last 20 minutes and again he was the most dangerous man on the pitch, scoring our only goal and with a little bit more luck it would've been two.

Amazing