Didier Drogba: An Eccentric Legend

Didier Drogba: Never short of emotions and entertainment

A man who has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows during his stay at Chelsea, and continues to divide opinion in every aspect, we present to you the one and only; Didier Drogba.

The man often termed as the African King has for his charitable work in the African subcontinent, particularly in his homeland, has often been painted as a muddy picture by the media and the fans alike.

Didier Drogba was one of the first signings when Jose Mourinho arrived back in 2004. Whilst he was initially reluctant to join at first due to his love for Marseille, but was soon convinced to join the Blue revolution in a then record £24m deal.

His first two seasons weren’t the best in terms of goal returns, but still he made an impact on the team, although the general conception was made that he is a diver, a reputation which was to haunt him for time to come.

Many of the pundits didn’t rate him much at the time and were considering whether he was worth the huge amount of money that was paid for him.

But his brilliant performances during the 2006-07 season, a year in which he scored 33 goals in all competitions, meant that we could assume that the first two years were only the settling in years for him and the best was yet to come.

He was the first Chelsea player to break the 30 goal barrier since Kerry Dixon, and the year got even better for him as he won the African Player of the year for the first time and also collected the Golden Boot award in the Premier League with 20 goals.

But just as he was expected to kick-on, the departure of Jose Mourinho early in the season shook him badly and question marks were raised over his future as media reports came in about him wanting to leave Chelsea. An injury in training didn’t really help as he was forced to miss action for more than four weeks, but he soon got back to his best as he helped the club to reach within touching distance of the treble of League, Champions League and Carling Cup.

His contribution in the league was highly diminished due to a combination of injuries and African Cup of Nations, but he played his part on the road to the Champions League final, as we finally got over the Liverpool jinx, with Didier getting two goals in the semi-final win.

The heroism and gallantry that was bestowed upon him for helping us reach the final soon turned into vicious criticism after his petulance in the Champions League final, which Chelsea went on to lose on penalties on that horrible, horrible night in Moscow.

Many of the fans partly blamed him for the loss and there were calls for him to be sold, many did expect him to leave, but it wasn’t to be the case.

Soon came along Luiz Felipe Scolari, the former Brazil and Portugal manager didn’t get off on the right foot with Drogba, and when the Ivorian returned from his injury lay-off he was out-of-favour with Big Phil, meaning there was some discontent in the dressing room.

As the results started to go pear-shaped, Roman Abramovich took matters into his own hands, as he so often does and asked his friend, Guus Hiddink, for a favour, with the Champions League qualification now at stake.

The arrival of the Dutchman revitalised the Blues and with it Didier Drogba as well, as the mercurial striker went on to score crucial goals in the Champions League and FA Cup.

As has always been the case with Didier, the controversy and criticism wasn’t far off. In the semi-final 2nd leg at Stamford Bridge against Barcelona, he once again lost his composure in the backdrop of the referring controversy as his public outburst in lieu of the embarrassing decisions was repeated as many times as the Zidane head-butt in the 2006 World Cup final.

Most of the general public and Chelsea fans initially took it as a very deplorable act, although many of them would have done the same if they were in the same position, much like most of the Chelsea fans in the ground, but the media always forgets that players are after all human beings who sometimes let their emotions flow.

As he has always shown, after every low point he comes back harder and rises up to the challenge in front of him.

Didier Drogba began the 2009-10 season in great fashion with four goals in the first three games, as he went to pass the 100 goal mark for Chelsea during the season. The Blues went on to win our first double in our history with Didier playing an essential part in it; scoring 29 goals in the league and also the only goal in the final against Portsmouth.

It was Didier’s third Premier League and FA Cup winner’s medal, making him an integral part of this golden period for Chelsea Football Club.

The season gone by wasn’t the best for him, but playing through malaria and getting the most assists isn’t a bad return during a season of utter turmoil for us.

He has scored in three FA Cup finals as well as four goals in League Cup finals, any other player who has achieved so much for one club would go down as a Legend without a shadow of a doubt, but not Didier, he will be as much remembered for the winning goals in the finals as he would be for the petulance he has shown in a Blue shirt.

He has been loved and hated in equal regards, but it’s hard to argue that he has been one of the best who have played for Chelsea over the years, and could be easily be considered in the world-class category.

Another manager has come and gone, but Didier is still growing strong, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s right up the on the scoring charts come at the end of the new season.

A person who is no stranger to rough times, Didier just needs an arm around the shoulder and he would do all he can for you, and if the new manager realises this, he will have a great asset in his armoury.

A great player, a good human being, a philanthropist; ladies and gentleman, it’s the Chelsea legend: Didier Drogba.