THE LEGEND OF DIDIER DROGBA - WHY THE CHELSEA STRIKER IS SIMPLY UNPLAYABLE• A small door off the players changing room at Wembley Stadium leads to a place known as the warm-up area.It was there,b4 the FA Cup semi-final vs Tottenham on April 15,that Didier Drogba put on his trainers&went through his usual pre-match exercise routine.Nothing special.Stretches.An acceleration programme.It wasnt what he was doing that caught the eye.It was what he looked like doing it. By the time he returned to the group, the transformation was complete. Wherever Drogbas head had been when he arrived at Wembley,he had left there now. As he stalked around his team-mates,offering the odd word of encouragement,the odd message of absolute defiance,it was clear he was somewhere else.John Terry nudged his team-mate Frank Lampard.Will you look at him,he said.Were not going to lose today. And Chelsea didnt.we beat Tottenham 5-1&Drogba opened the scoring. When we returned to play the FA Cup final vs Liverpool on May 5,it was a similar story.Another show of strength,another Drogba goal, another victory. Some players dont understand when to raise their game,said Chelsea 1st- team coach Eddie Newton.Didier does.He can really take it to the level needed. Emotionally,you see the difference, the step up.You see the look in his eyes.Quite literally,he changes,&you know hes ready for it. This is the man Chelsea are ready to unleash in the Allianz Arena on Saturday night.Unplayable,Jamie Carragher called him,&that is not a description afforded to too many footballers;even those at the pinnacle of their powers. Shane Warne was unplayable; Muttiah Muralitharan was unplayable; the West Indies fast bowling attack of the Seventies was unplayable.1 man, armed only with a cricket bat,could not repel them.A football team have 11 on the pitch,however,&no equivalent of a terror track or sticky wicket.There are ways&means of stopping even the greatest talent. Man-4-man marking,doubling up, cutting the supply line;particularly in the Champions League this season, Chelseas defence have proved that even the greatest can be frustrated by a combination of raw determination,doggedness&good tactical thought.Yet Drogba is different.Carragher listed him as 1 of 2 players who,at their best,are impossible to exclude from a game (Thierry Henry is the other).Having faced Drogba more than any other English defender,he would know. Carragher has lined up against Drogba 24 times in all competitions & is rightly proud of his record.Chelsea have won 10,Liverpool 8,with 6 drawn.Drogba has scored 8 goals,1 every 3 matches,which certainly compares strikingly to his record vs Arsenal (won 10,drawn 3,lost 1,goals 13). As a defender,if a player scores against me,I usually think there is something I could have done,said Carragher.Even if its Robin van Persie or Wayne Rooney,Ill identify a position I could have taken up,Ill think I could have got tighter or dropped off,Ill identify the flaw that let them in. The only different 1s are Drogba & Henry.You replay a goal,&sometimes, there was nothing that could be done.If Chelsea get the ball on to Drogbas chest on the edge of the box&he can bring it down&turn,well, thats it.You cant get round him without fouling him,its too late to get in front of him,you just have to hope he misses the shot.The same if he leaves you behind to go 1v1 with the gk. Hes not Usain Bolt,but hes fast enough&so powerful that,even if you catch him,you cant get a foot in to make the tackle.You would have to run around him&you havent the time to do that.So hes unplayable.In certain positions,there is literally nothing you can do. Bayern Munich will remember Drogba well from their last meeting,a Champions League quarter-final in 2005. Chelsea progressed,having won the 1st leg 4-2 & led the 2nd leg 2-1 until 2 Munich goals in injury time made the scoreline a respectable 6-5 defeat.Drogba scored home&away & imposed his presence on the German side remorselessly. There is concern the same could happen in Munich,with Holger Badstuber,Bayerns left-sided&most rugged CB,missing through suspension.Injuries have also taken a toll,meaning coach Jupp Heynckes is likely to turn to a holding midfield player,Anatoliy Tymoshchuk,in Badstubers place. When Barcelona tried a similar ploy in the semi-final 1st leg this year,using Javier Mascherano,Chelsea won & Drogba scored.Tymoshchuk is no fool, the most capped Ukrainian player,3 times Ukrainian Footballer of the Year, & voted the best intnl in Ukraines history as an independent nation, ahead of even Andriy Shevchenko. He is,however,a midfielder not a centre half,&at less than 6foot,no physical match for Drogba in the air. It would be contrary for Chelsea to resist exploiting this very simple advantage tomorrow night. Particularly as Drogbas main supply line remains undiminished by the rash of suspensions incurred at the Nou Camp.Juan Mata is the most helpful player to Chelseas goalscorers this season,but Drogbas special relationship is with a member of the old guard,Lampard.Terry says that bond is stronger now than ever. There was a game recently&I can remember remarking to Frank about it because they just have this unbelievable understanding,Terry explained.Year after year,the way they play together gets better & better.The moment Frank gets the ball you see Didier dropping into a position to receive the pass&you know Frank is already seeking him out. Didier is so unselfish like that,there is nobody better at making himself available,nobody better at holding the ball up,yet he still finds the time to get in behind the defence for that through ball.&he can play - I mean really play.I dont think there is a better striker in the world on his day & he commands such respect from all the players. What he does,it doesnt just happen. He works hard at the gym,he puts extra time in at training on free-kicks. You see young lads who want to be like him,or Frank,but they dont want to put in the same time&effort.He wasnt born this way,he delivers an incredible amount of work to do it, but when you see how he seizes the moment in big games,its worth it. William Gallas is a top CB,but did you see what Didier did to him when we were playing Tottenham in the FA Cup semi-final? That is what I meant when I said I knew we werent going to lose. He goes into his pre- match routine & he gets more&more pumped up&you know hes in the zone.When we played Barcelona,when we played Liverpool at Wembley,he just gives everyone around him such confidence.Hell come through his ritual&then you cant even speak to him.You can see in his face,hes gone. Drogbas other pre- match charm is the presence of Stephane Renaud,an expert in fasciatherapy,a form of alternative manipulation focusing on soft tissue. Renaud,who also treats Florent Malouda this way,can always be seen with Drogba before major matches, despite having links with French club Dijon FCO. A controversial figure in France,with Dijon on the brink of relegation, Renaud is closely associated with Dijon coach Patrice Carteron,but is always available to nurse Drogba using special massage techniques designed to increase circulation & lymphatic drainage while stimulating the stretch reflex of muscles. This is a form of fasciatherapy known as myofascial release,&to laymen,can best be explained as a branch of osteopathy.Due to its alternative nature,opinion on its worth is divided,but Drogba invests in the method greatly&Renaud is expected to join him in Munich before tomorrows match,despite Dijons present difficulties. Roberto Di Matteo,the Chelsea interim manager,is convinced this dedication&attention to detail is having a positive effect in prolonging Drogbas career.Incredibly, tomorrows final may be his last game for the club,with his contract due to expire this summer.Recent performances,however,suggest he remains as potent as at any time in his career,&Di Matteo appeared to hint at wider issues when asked about Drogbas future. Hes physically in good shape,said the interim manager.He played the Africa Cup of Nations in January,too. He keeps himself fit,he lives a very professional life,&when you do that, your career can be as long as you want.Weve had other examples of players going deep into their 30s,so his future at Chelsea is not a question of age. More likely,it is a question of wage. Money&length of contract are issues that tend to concern executives once a player hits a certain milestone,& Drogba turned 34 in March. Having 1st been linked to a financially rewarding,professionally unfulfilling move to the Chinese league - following his team-mate Nicolas Anelka - there is now talk of offers that will fit both criteria,most strikingly the possibility of a bid from Barcelona.The Catalan side know only too well the energising impact Drogba can have on a game,&a club. When players look around a dressing room,they want to see players they know they can rely on,Newton added. See fear,&you get a completely different feeling.Didier inspires confidence. He is a very charismatic figure,he reminds me of Patrick Vieira or Roy Keane,the great leaders,the 1s who knew how to step up to a big game. Didier is like that - he knows when it matters. People think bravery is just flying into a tackle or putting your head in but bravery is also accepting the ball under pressure,being prepared to take an opponent on,wanting to be involved all the time in a big game - the best players are not afraid to take responsibility,no matter the pressure. You look at how often Didier plays up front as 1 v 2 - hes outnumbered all the time.If he takes a hit from the 1st defender&rides it,he knows theres another hit coming.The physical battering hes taken for so long,yet still keeps going - thats true bravery. He deserves every accolade that he gets. So,having followed Drogba through his pre- match rituals,from the warm-up area back into the dressing room, what is it actually like to meet him,in the tunnel,face to face? What is it like to confront him as a member of the opposition in that zone of utter focus & determination? &now it gets strange.For,according to Carragher, he is the opposite of what 1 might expect. Really nice,the Liverpool man says. Just very,very friendly.Ridiculous, really.He wants to be your mate,so much so that you think it can only be a bluff.Im the opposite,really intense, because thats how we were brought up by Gerard Houllier.Hed have gone berserk if he saw us chatting to the opposition before a game.He told us to shake hands after,but until then, its war. Then you get Drogba,wanting to have a joke&you cant work it out. You wonder if its a mind game,if he wants the defender to think hes his friend so he goes soft on him,&the 1st time he did it,I thought it would all change the moment the match started,but it didnt.He carries on just the same. If the play stops,he wants a chat.If your team are winning,it doesnt seem to faze him.Maybe that is why he is a player of extremes.He doesnt seem to have too many average matches - hes either great or its a nightmare,1day he is unstoppable, the next he doesnt quite seem interested.He does everything or nothing,&you never know what youll get. And thats the strength in his game, too.He is a very good footballer but hes also so powerful that Chelsea can be direct if they wish.He allows them to play 2 entirely different ways. I watch the athletics sometimes,&the commentator will be talking about a guy running a good tactical race,&I dont understand that.If the other guy is faster hes going to win,tactics wont come into it.&that is what happens v Drogba sometimes. You can make all the best plans,but then hell do something to which you have no answer at all.&youll never have an answer.Hes just bigger,or faster,or harder to manoeuvre.&that is the way it will always be. Early in the season,2006,we were playing them at Stamford Bridge&it was a really tight game,as usual. Wed got into their heads a bit under Jose Mourinho with the Champions League the year before&wed already beaten them in the Community Shield that season. So very few chances either way,its just before half-time,its all going well.&Michael Essien plays this long ball in to Drogba on the edge of the penalty area.He pops it up with his chest,turns&hits this left-foot half- volley thats in the net before Pepe Reinas even seen it.&I watched it again,&I could watch it a 100 times more&I know Alan Hansen says every goal is somebodys mistake,but Ill tell you what I could have done to stop it: nothing. And Bayern Munich know that,too. And thats what makes him… Join in the chorus,you know the words by now. UNPLAYABLE. WE ALL WISH YOU ALL THE BEST,YOU ARE A TRUE BLUES LEGEND
Posted on: Tue, 10 Jun 2014 11:34:20 +0000
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