By Steven Yates
The best centre forward in the Premier League - or a diving,
whinging, theatrical cheat who uses his elbows as much as his
feet? Didier Drogba certainly polarises opinions.
There is no doubt that, when he’s really on his game, Drogba
can completely overpower and dominate even the best central
defenders. Physically strong, excellent in the air, able to
strike a dead ball ferociously and with a true predatory
instinct inside the penalty area, he embodies everything that a
true ‘centre forward’ should possess - and he certainly has that
little bit of ‘devil’ in him as well.
Although born on the Ivory Coast in 1978, much of Drogba’s
early life was spent in France and, although always a
footballer, he didn’t get his first professional contract until
he was 21 years of age. Having represented Le Mans and
Guingamp, it was a big money transfer to Olympique de Marseille
in 2003 that made the player familiar to a wider audience,
especially as they reached the UEFA Cup Final at the end of his
only season with the club. It is a mark of the impact he made,
though, that, even after just one season there, his name is
still sung by the local ultras and his shirt is framed in the
local cathedral.
Since signing for Chelsea in the summer of 2004, Drogba has
scored, at the time of writing, 109 goals in 234 games in all
competitions - a highly impressive scoring ratio approaching a
goal every other game. Things haven’t always been easy for him
at the club, though. Clearly the departure of José Mourinho in
2007 had a hugely negative impact on him and he was often quoted
as saying that he would leave the club. The arrival of,
firstly, Gus Hiddink and, more recently, Carlo Ancelotti
completely revitalised his attitude, however, and his admiration
of the new coach and his methods has been genuinely expressed.
Just as another Italian coach proved that Lampard and Gerrard
could, in fact, play successfully together in an England side,
so Chelsea’s Italian has had no difficulties in combining Drogba
and Nicolas Anelka, who had previously been regarded as
incompatible.
Despite his obvious talent, Drogba has no shortage of
detractors amongst spectators and pundits in England. His
apparent willingness to tumble theatrically in the penalty area
with, sometimes, the bare minimum of contact, combined with an
aggression that occasionally makes spectators shudder both mean
that opposition fans can always be relied upon to give the
player a hostile welcome to their part of the pitch. Such is
his competitive nature that, as after the infamous end of the
Champions League semi-final against Barcelona last season, he
can find himself in disciplinary trouble.
Away from Chelsea, Didier Drogba has scored an outstanding 41
goals in 61 games for the Ivory Coast, for whom he is captain.
Ivorian Player of the Year twice, as well as African Footballer
of the Year in2006, he has played a significant rôle in the
development of football in the country as well as working hard
as a United Nations Development Programme ‘Goodwill Ambassador’.
Like so many modern players, Drogba does much unheralded work
for charity, mainly through his own Didier Drogba Foundation.
It was recently announced that the player was giving the whole
of a £3 million endorsement fee to help build a new hospital in
his birthplace, Abidjan.
At 31 years old, who knows how much longer Didier Drogba can
continue to play in the whole-hearted manner that he currently
does? He’s certainly doing everything he can to help Chelsea
capture their ‘holy grail’ of the Champions League trophy and
his Ivory Coast team to do well in their second ever World Cup
finals appearance next summer. And when he is terrorising
opposition defenders, there are few better sights in the Premier
League - as long as you’re not a centre back, I suppose.
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