Drogba Q&A
HOW much will he be missed?
Didier Drogba is probably the finest big-game player in the world right now. Even Barcelona’s defenders were scared stiff of him in last month’s Champions League semis — and his record of nine goals in nine cup finals for Chelsea will probably never be matched.
What was his greatest Chelsea moment?
The veteran striker has provided the Chelsea fans with so many magical memories but none better than Saturday’s Champions League final, when he headed a magnificent late equaliser before stroking home the winning penalty in the shootout.
Is he Chelsea’s best-ever centre-forward?
Peter Osgood is still revered as The King, while Bobby Tambling and Kerry Dixon both scored more Chelsea goals. But 157 goals in eight seasons at the very highest level of the game marks Drogba out as the best of the lot.
Should the club have done more to keep him?
At 34, Drogba is a physical freak who shows no sign of deterioration. But it was not realistic to expect even Roman Abramovich to match the £200,000-a-week offers the player has had to move to China for the next two years.
Who can replace him?
Nobody. As his team-mates admitted after Munich, he is irreplaceable. Chelsea will have to change their style of play to accommodate Fernando Torres next season and sign someone like Radamel Falcao from Atletico Madrid to partner him.
Where will he go?
The Ivorian has had offers from all over the world but is not interested in a move to Europe.
He will go where he is offered most money, with Shanghai Shenhua currently the highest bidders.
The Spanish striker was furious at not being in the starting line-up for Saturday’s Champions League final in Munich.
But Drogba, who is leaving Chelsea after eight trophy-laden years, believes the one-time Liverpool golden boy will come good.
The Ivory Coast star said: “Everybody knows Fernando is a very good player, an international player.
“He’s been through difficult moments here but it happens to everyone.
“The good thing is he has our support. He always has and I know next season he’s going to improve.
“My first few seasons here were difficult for me. I can’t complain but it’s not easy to play for Chelsea.
“Chelsea is in good hands with Fernando. Of course, we will need new strikers but Torres will do the job. He will do it, no doubt.”
As Drogba looked back on his Chelsea career he paid tribute to former boss Jose Mourinho, now in charge of Real Madrid, who he credits with turning him into a winner.
Drog added: “Everybody knows the man who gave me the strength and who I’ve learned a lot from was Jose — as a human being and as a manager.
“He gave me this winning attitude, this desire to make history. He’s a winner and we have it in our DNA now.
“It would have been nice to win it for him — we tried so many times.”
Drogba, 34, and his fellow oldies have delivered just before they are over the hill. It is a period of time which will go down in club history.
He added: “I would not say we created Chelsea but we started a new era and we were lucky to be part of this from eight years ago.
“Now we go everywhere in the world and everyone knows about Chelsea.
“You go to Africa and people speak about Chelsea. I see kids wearing shirts in the streets in India and everywhere. Chelsea is a brand and we are very proud to have achieved what we have.
“But none of this would have been possible without the big boss, Roman Abramovich. If he had not been here, there would have been less chance for me to be at this club. So the best way to repay him was to win the Champions League.
“But this trophy is for all the managers who have been here chasing this trophy.”
The transformation in Chelsea’s fortunes this season came when Andre Villas-Boas was sacked in February and Roberto Di Matteo took over as interim boss. Drogba said: “I speak about Jose because he was obviously very important to me. But the one who spent less time as a manager here, is the one who won the Champions League.
“He is a Chelsea legend. The way he managed to change the attitude and the mentality of the players is enormous. You can put a player on the pitch and give him 30 games but if he doesn’t feel the belief or communication is right he will never perform.
“It was the worst season and, for the old players, it was very difficult to accept that.
“For the new players coming and seeing this situation, knowing that Chelsea were always in the first two or three in the League, it was difficult as well. Everybody had to change the way we behaved and our attitude for the good of the group.
“Even a few weeks ago I would have described this season as the worst of my Chelsea career.
“I got a knock on my head as well back in August against Norwich which was very hard to recover from.
“But in football the good thing is things can change in a second.
“For example in the Moscow Champions League final against Manchester in 2008, I hit the post just before extra-time and after that I got the red card and we lost on penalties.
“This year two minutes before the end I scored a header and we went to extra-time. In football it can change very quickly.
“So from the worst season in my Chelsea career we got to the best ever. It was like a movie.
“Even today I still want to be in Munich in that stadium, cheering and celebrating with the fans. It was too quick, I wanted it to be longer.”
So would he like to return as manager of Chelsea one day?
“Yes, why not,” he smiled. “I would come back and cut the grass if they asked me.”
