Didier Drogba

[BlueLion. 21,491]

3rd choice striker, shouldn't be starting games. Starting him in these sorts of games will ruin his legacy quicker than anything, you need to be smart and use him at the right times. Sadly he isn't the player he was but we all knew that and so did Jose, surely. Head scratching all round that he started and even more for not coming off sooner. Mourinho needs to be ruthless as he has been in the past, when a player is playing that badly, regardless of their club status, they have to come off.

Agreed. Remy should have been starting today. Drogba doesn't look anywhere near match fit at the moment. There is a time and a place to play your third-choice striker. For instance in a home tie against a Championship side in the League Cup, have we got any games like those coming up soon?

[Tomo 21,681]

At least he works hard though, Drogba seems like he can't even press anymore. Basically now his job is nothing but to score goals, if he can't do that aka Torres he at least need to compensate in other ways, but he cannot do anything else apart from heading away corners.

I don't want to get in a Torres debate again but he barely worked hard for us, his attitude most of the time was an absolute disgrace. This Torres worked hard myth is the biggest fantasy/excuse ever.

[BlueLion. 21,491]

not admitting HE Jose FUCKED UP BIG TIME

Because José played such a big role in all those missed chances... absolutely nothing to do with him.

The team he put out today had the ability to beat Schalke 6-0, but instead the team were complacent and missed some glorious chances to kill the game off before we'd even played for an hour.

[Fulham Broadway 16,383]

Thought he did a decent job myself, probably more than any of last season's would have offered. It was tough asking him to start up there on his own with lack of match fitness etc. and completely new style to adapt to.

Would personally have either started him alongside Remy or brought him on with 20/25 mins to go

[zolayes 14,489]

Because José played such a big role in all those missed chances... absolutely nothing to do with him.

The team he put out today had the ability to beat Schalke 6-0, but instead the team were complacent and missed some glorious chances to kill the game off before we'd even played for an hour.

if ANYONE else had played like Drog they wouldn't have got 70 minutes

[Fulham Broadway 16,383]

Plenty of life left in the old Drog yet, hes only played 70 mins ffs!

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Was awful. Normally, I think small sample sizes are absurd to look at it, but in this case, there is reason for concern. If a player looks out of rhythm or mistiming things, that is very often down to just lack of gameplay, but Drogba this is pretty much how he can be expected to play. He is 36 YO and has not been a top striker in about 5 years. He was declining quickly even with Chelsea, becoming effective in only a handful of games in his last couple of years with us. Look at it this way, had Drogba stayed after the CL win what would have happened? Almost certainly one more year of continued decline before Chelsea not offering him another contract and him going on his way. Because he left Chelsea, people didn't see that decline, but it was there. We have a much worse player than the one who was mediocre for us 3 years ago. (16 goals in 60 league games the last 2 years at Chelsea).

I've been thinking a lot about Drogba. Drogba has been a great servant to Chelsea, seems like a genuinely good human being, was a real pleasure to watch, and was key to a lot we did , but his legacy is going to get seriously re-examined the further we get away from the emotions of winning the CL. He was a very good player playing mostly on great teams but not really close to being one of the best Premier-League strikers or the best Chelsea player ever. This is a player who scored over 16 goals in a season only twice with Chelsea and only more than 12 in the league twice. These are not particularly high benchmarks and are fairly low benchmarks on what was a high scoring team.. Wayne Rooney has done 16+ goals 10 straight years. Henry had 7 straight seasons of at least 22 goals. Van Persie has done 16 5 out of the last 6 years. Hassailbank did it 8 times.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Was awful. Normally, I think small sample sizes are absurd to look at it, but in this case, there is reason for concern. If a player looks out of rhythm or mistiming things, that is very often down to just lack of gameplay, but Drogba this is pretty much how he can be expected to play. He is 36 YO and has not been a top striker in about 5 years. He was declining quickly even with Chelsea, becoming effective in only a handful of games in his last couple of years with us. Look at it this way, had Drogba stayed after the CL win what would have happened? Almost certainly one more year of continued decline before Chelsea not offering him another contract and him going on his way. Because he left Chelsea, people didn't see that decline, but it was there. We have a much worse player than the one who was mediocre for us 3 years ago. (16 goals in 60 league games the last 2 years at Chelsea).

I've been thinking a lot about Drogba. Drogba has been a great servant to Chelsea, seems like a genuinely good human being, was a real pleasure to watch, and was key to a lot we did , but his legacy is going to get seriously re-examined the further we get away from the emotions of winning the CL. He was a very good player playing mostly on great teams but not really close to being one of the best Premier-League strikers or the best Chelsea player ever. This is a player who scored over 16 goals in a season only twice with Chelsea and only more than 12 in the league twice. These are not particularly high benchmarks and are fairly low benchmarks on what was a high scoring team.. Wayne Rooney has done 16+ goals 10 straight years. Henry had 7 straight seasons of at least 22 goals. Van Persie has done 16 5 out of the last 6 years. Hassailbank did it 8 times.

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. While it's true Drogba was not the most prolific striker in the history of the PL, he was arguably the most influential to his team, alongside Henry. When he wasn't scoring goals, he was a nightmare for defenders to defend against, occupying entire back four's with his incredible hold up play and physical, direct style. He was much more than just goals and a pound for pound superior player to what van Persie and Rooney ever where. He was also not our regular penalty taker like those other players you mentioned (except Jimmy). And he also had seasons were he fell out with some managers/managers fell out with him which affected his scoring numbers. Also, when was Chelsea ever a high scoring team when Drogba was in his prime here? Apart from the season under Ancelotti, we were one of the lowest scorers among the "big 4" clubs.

To say Drogba was not a PL great and was "not close to being our greatest ever player" shows how completely clueless you are about:

(1) Drogba's contribution to Chelsea.

(2) The history of Chelsea FC.

The fact that that is a "popular" post worries me. Seriously, have a word with yourself son.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

I realize it was a dogshit performance but I didn't expect Chelsea fans to start marginalizing Drogba's status as a one of the great PL forwards. You'd think Chelsea fans of all people wouldn't forget Drogba that quickly.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I'm not sure what you're getting at here. While it's true Drogba was not the most prolific striker in the history of the PL, he was arguably the most influential to his team, alongside Henry. When he wasn't scoring goals, he was a nightmare for defenders to defend against, occupying entire back four's with his incredible hold up play and physical, direct style. He was much more than just goals and a pound for pound superior player to what van Persie and Rooney ever where. He was also not our regular penalty taker like those other players you mentioned (except Jimmy). And he also had seasons were he fell out with some managers/managers fell out with him which affected his scoring numbers. Also, when was Chelsea ever a high scoring team when Drogba was in his prime here? Apart from the season under Ancelotti, we were one of the lowest scorers among the "big 4" clubs.

To say Drogba was not a PL great and was "not close to being our greatest ever player" shows how completely clueless you are about:

(1) Drogba's contribution to Chelsea.

(2) The history of Chelsea FC.

The fact that that is a "popular" post worries me. Seriously, have a word with yourself son.

So, explain why Drogba is close to being one of the greatest Chelsea players please. TWO years of 12+ goals in the league. Apart from those two seasons, he had a pretty mediocre goal-scoring record for the other 6 (87 goals in 237 games is not good). He was a very good striker who had two fantastic seasons and happened to play on fantastic teams so he had a lot of big game moments (he also had a lot of bad moments in big games which is normal) . We have had a lot of very good strikers but none have ever been on teams like Drogba was so never had the opportunity to have those massive games in front of the world. Chelsea have had a lot of very good strikers. Bentley, Osgood, Dixon, Tambling, Greaves. What makes Drogba stand apart from any of those players except that he played on better teams and was able to play and score in big games? By and large, those players played for longer for Chelsea and were more consistent. You look at someone like Lampard or Terry who were excellent players for Chelsea every single year for about a decade on the same team. I'm not saying Drogba was not a great player overall, just that because of his big-game moments, many Chelsea supporters have elevated him to a status he doesn't belong to.

As for belonging to the best of PL forward, there's not really a serious case. Henry is the best Premier League striker ever IMO (but Shearer is very close). Henry got UEFA team of the year 5 times in 6 years (he scored 26+ goals 6 times). Wayne Rooney has scored more than 16 goals in 10 straight years. Hassailbank did it 7 times. Fowler did it 6 times, Shearer did it an amazing 11 times. Michael Owen did it 7 times. Van Nistelrooy did it 5 times in 5 years. Van Persie has done it 5 times. Drogba did it twice. You're comparing a player who had two excellent seasons with players who were excellent for 5-10 years.

Hassailbank is a good comparison to Drogba because they both played 9 years in the Premier League (and both played with Chelsea.) Here is where Drogba finished in the EPL scoring race in his career in the EPL. 16, 10, 1, 24, 54, 1, 12, 59, X. Compare that to Hassailbank who finished 4, 1, 1, 2, 14, 13, 4, 14, 113 in his Premier League time. You don't see the difference? Hassailbank was a top-5 scorer in the league 5 times. He was a top-15 striker in the league 8 straight years. Drogba finished top-5 in the league in scoring twice. He was top-15, 4 times in 8 years (and won't be this season either obviously). Hassailbank also had a year in there with Atletico where he finished second in the league in scoring in Spain (24 goals in 34 games). You don't think if Hassailbank played on the slightly later Chelsea teams, he also would have scored lots of big goals in big games? Of course he would have. Drogba was a great player but not an all-time great.

[stroey 2,525]

So, explain why Drogba is close to being one of the greatest Chelsea players please. TWO years of 12+ goals in the league. Apart from those two seasons, he had a pretty mediocre goal-scoring record for the other 6 (87 goals in 237 games is not good). He was a very good striker who had two fantastic seasons and happened to play on fantastic teams so he had a lot of big game moments (he also had a lot of bad moments in big games which is normal) . We have had a lot of very good strikers but none have ever been on teams like Drogba was so never had the opportunity to have those massive games in front of the world. Chelsea have had a lot of very good strikers. Bentley, Osgood, Dixon, Tambling, Greaves. What makes Drogba stand apart from any of those players except that he played on better teams and was able to play and score in big games? By and large, those players played for longer for Chelsea and were more consistent. You look at someone like Lampard or Terry who were excellent players for Chelsea every single year for about a decade on the same team. I'm not saying Drogba was not a great player overall, just that because of his big-game moments, many Chelsea supporters have elevated him to a status he doesn't belong to.

As for belonging to the best of PL forward, there's not really a serious case. Henry is the best Premier League striker ever IMO (but Shearer is very close). Henry got UEFA team of the year 5 times in 6 years (he scored 26+ goals 6 times). Wayne Rooney has scored more than 16 goals in 10 straight years. Hassailbank did it 7 times. Fowler did it 6 times, Shearer did it an amazing 11 times. Michael Owen did it 7 times. Van Nistelrooy did it 5 times in 5 years. Van Persie has done it 5 times. Drogba did it twice. You're comparing a player who had two excellent seasons with players who were excellent for 5-10 years.

Hassailbank is a good comparison to Drogba because they both played 9 years in the Premier League (and both played with Chelsea.) Here is where Drogba finished in the EPL scoring race in his career in the EPL. 16, 10, 1, 24, 54, 1, 12, 59, X. Compare that to Hassailbank who finished 4, 1, 1, 2, 14, 13, 4, 14, 113 in his Premier League time. You don't see the difference? Hassailbank was a top-5 scorer in the league 5 times. He was a top-15 striker in the league 8 straight years. Drogba finished top-5 in the league in scoring twice. He was top-15, 4 times in 8 years (and won't be this season either obviously). Hassailbank also had a year in there with Atletico where he finished second in the league in scoring in Spain (24 goals in 34 games). You don't think if Hassailbank played on the slightly later Chelsea teams, he also would have scored lots of big goals in big games? Of course he would have. Drogba was a great player but not an all-time great.

Lol, you're clearly a wikipedia analyst.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

When we signed Drogba, I was afraid of precisely this happening: that Jose would let his emotions affect him and play Drogba when he shouldn't. If it was anyone but Drogba, Jose wouldn't have done it. Playing a 36-year-old striker well past his prime in a CL game when we have 2 better strikers doesn't make any sense. Disappointed with Jose, but maybe he needed this lesson. It's a good thing it happened so early in the season.

[Jase 43,479]

I realize it was a dogshit performance but I didn't expect Chelsea fans to start marginalizing Drogba's status as a one of the great PL forwards. You'd think Chelsea fans of all people wouldn't forget Drogba that quickly.

Considering the world we live in these days, it's not surprising. Has happened with few other players previously after all.

[Tomo 21,681]

When we signed Drogba, I was afraid of precisely this happening: that Jose would let his emotions affect him and play Drogba when he shouldn't. If it was anyone but Drogba, Jose wouldn't have done it. Playing a 36-year-old striker well past his prime in a CL game when we have 2 better strikers doesn't make any sense. Disappointed with Jose, but maybe he needed this lesson. It's a good thing it happened so early in the season.

At Real he basically told Carvalho to fuck off, within a year back here he has let go Essien, Lamps, Cole and dropped Cech.

Jose doesn't let emotions get the better of him, he made a mistake keeping Didier on so long, but it has nothing to do with chasing 2005.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

At Real he basically told Carvalho to fuck off, within a year back here he has let go Essien, Lamps, Cole and dropped Cech.

Jose doesn't let emotions get the better of him, he made a mistake keeping Didier on so long, but it has nothing to do with chasing 2005.

I don't buy it. His decision to start Drogba and keep him for as long as he did wasn't rational. Jose is a great manager and it was a silly mistake, so I believe his emotions did get the better of him.

We don't know his true relationship with Essien, Lamps, Cole and Cech. He might have been less attached to them than to Drogba.

[DH1988 1,193]

As soon as I saw him on the line up starting I thought "Shit." - he just doesn't have it anymore, does that bother me? not really, does it affect his status as a legend? nope, should he only really be used in the last 10-15 minutes of a game to lump it up or a corner? yeah probably, should he continue to be the leader in the squad along with JT etc.? yes please.

Carry on Drogs, carry on.. just try not to start too many matches ahead of Remy.

[Tomo 21,681]

I don't buy it. His decision to start Drogba and keep him for as long as he did wasn't rational. Jose is a great manager and it was a silly mistake, so I believe his emotions did get the better of him.

We don't know his true relationship with Essien, Lamps, Cole and Cech. He might have been less attached to them than to Drogba.

I think it's pretty obvious Jose was attached to Lamps and Essien. He also dropped Pepe shortly after kissing him on the head while he leaves the field.

Jose is one of the few managers that would happily ditch his favorites for results, on a personal level he's sentimental ill give you that, professionally is a completely different matter.

[Blue Traveler 256]

With regards to Sunday match i think Jose made the right decision to play Drogba. He is not fit enough i say but we couldn't play Costa and play him on Sunday again. Remy just arrived without any experience in CL nights. i would've played Drogba ahead of Remy/Costa.

The problem was we didn't take our chances. That Cesc clear cut chance in the 1st half should've been in the back of the net 100 percent. We were a little complacent and shaky at the back and Hazard was a lil selfish in this game.