London Calling is weekly column covering football in the English capital
Time please Didier
by Scott Nicholls
I remember Saturday May 19th like it was yesterday. I was kneeling on the ground, hands clasped around my mouth, barely breathing, watching the 2012 Champions League Final. Bayern Munich had been all over Chelsea for most of the game, so it was of no surprise to me when Thomas Muller popped up and put Bayern ahead in the 83rd minute. It had been coming.
In truth I had never imagined Chelsea would make it this far into the tournament, yet I was so deflated. I did, however, hold on to some kind of hope. In the 88th minute Didier Drogba rose above everybody in what seemed like slow motion, and headed in emphatically for the equalizing goal… and then came the final penalty of the penalty shoot-out.
There was only ever one man that was going to take that penalty for Chelsea. It was Drogba. A Didier Drogba who had given everything he had to Chelsea Football Club, won Chelsea Football Club Championships, FA Cups, you name it, seemingly on his own.
At that very moment Didier Drogba became Chelsea Football Club.
“Drogba now, having headed the equalizer close to the end of the normal 90 minutes, could score… could win the Champions League on what will surely be his last performance for Chelsea. He’s [got]just a couple of yards of run-up, Neuer bouncing on his line. Drogba to win it — come on Didier! AND HE’S DONE IT, HE’S DONE IT, CHELSEA ARE CHAMPIONS OF EUROPE AND DROGBA, THE BIG MAN FOR THE BIGGEST OCCASION, HAS SEALED A FANTASTIC VICTORY.” – Alan Green, for BBC Radio.
It was like a Hollywood blockbuster. Stuff like this doesn’t happen in real life, does it? Surely we were all dreaming: A legendary star for a soccer team playing in his last ever game for the club puts in a gargantuan performance to, first, score the equalizing goal in the dying minutes of the game and then, secondly, to keep his cool under immense pressure to slot home the winning penalty making his team Champions of Europe for the first time.
It was the perfect way for Drogba to leave Stamford Bridge, to cement in Chelsea fans’ memory everything that he embodied at his best. Drogba should have retired after the final in Munich a hero to Chelsea fans, and a legend to the rest of there footballing world.
But he didn’t.
I was skeptical about Drogba coming back to Chelsea. I am an unabashed Chelsea fan, I love Didier Drogba like he’s a member of my family, but could he really be the same Drogba that left on May 19th as a legend? I was sure it could only end badly.
So far, I’ve been proven right.
Drogba moved to China and played for Shanghai Shenhua and was a huge success, scoring 8 goals in 11 games but never really settled. It was upon leaving China to join Turkish giants Galatasaray, however, that seemed to signal the beginning of the end for the once magisterial Ivorian.
During Drogba’s career at Chelsea he was averaging a goal every other game and if you include his strike rate for Shanghai Shenhua, this rate jumps to 0.59 goals per game. Since his move to Turkey, and subsequently back to Chelsea, his strike rate between the two teams is at an all time low: 0.29 goals per game.
He is capable of such wonderful things with a ball at his feet. He can pick a pass from anywhere on the pitch when he wants, shoot from forty yards and score a goal, pull off a cheeky flick to set himself up for a shot on goal, he can even take free kicks and corners.
But then there are the times where he would try and do too much, the times where he would give away the ball, the times where he would try and run through somebody instead of around them, the times where he would go down far far too easily to get a free kick and waste an opportunity.
Drogba watches as Ivory Coast win AFCON
Didier Drogba instagram
Drogba is undeniably a legend at Chelsea and in world soccer too, his arrival totally hanging a World Cup game in Recife when Ivory Coast were trailing to Japan.
Unfortunately, all Didier Drogba has done by coming back to Chelsea is remind the world how frustrating it used to be to watch him play when he wasn’t in form, except now his strike rate has diminished significantly, his impact on games is far less, and most notably Chelsea no longer play a style of football that Drogba thrives under.
He’s no longer athletic enough to keep up with the pace of Jose Mourinho’s new-look, fast-paced Chelsea side.
As a Chelsea fan I would love for Didier Drogba to retire a Chelsea player, it’s the only scenario in which I can imagine him leaving the game of soccer.
But the swan song that Chelsea fans were hoping for will never come — Drogba’s best days are well, well behind him and Chelsea fans should have hoped he would retire immediately after resigning.
When Drogba put together that other-worldly performance in the 2012 Champions League Final, he elevated himself above the rest of the players who played that night. He cemented his status as a legend. By coming back for a second attempt he becomes just another player in that team who won the Champions League.
The longer the Didier Drogba: Part II experiment goes on, the longer his legacy at Chelsea will continue to deteriorate.
Also See:
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