Chelsea Without Didier Drogba

On Sunday 15th Dec.,2007 Chelsea FC was beaten at the Emirate Stadium by a determined Arsenal team who were out to break the three year jinx of not being able to beat their opponent from the other side of London.

The game lived up to expectations as the sides were all out to have the upper hand.In the process,so many chances were lost.These were mostly on the part of the hosts whose three chances from Adebayor, van Persie and Fabregas were called off by the centre referee.

The visiting team played without their magic-man, Didier Drogba who was out on injury.
That was about the third match in which he would not be featured.

Did they miss him?

Was there a vacuum when Drogba was unavoidably absent?

You bet... there was a conspicious miss.

Since the Ivorien's absence the team has never been the same.It was as if the strong attacker holds the heart of the team in his hands.

One wonders what the team would look like in January 2008 when the African would be playing at the CAF organised African Cup Of Nations in Ghana.

Would Chelsea be the same?

Who would convert all those beautiful "killer passes" from the mid-field?

To my mind, Shevchenko is no more the man he used to be.The age issue has finally set in, and this to the team's disadvantage.

Shevy was the man they depended upon to do the required damage to Arsenal on Sunday.But all his efforts(the little he had) were thwarted by the likes of Gallas, Toure and Sagna.

Sagna,in particular, was a real thorn in the flesh for the Ukrainean .The young guy jsut stood close to him throughout the game like a leach.

Well, l pity this team... honestly l do.
They lost the inspiring captain, John Terry in the first half of the game to an uncalled-for hard tackle by Emmanuel Eboue.With Terry out, the pressure became unbearable.

At last, they succumed to the heat when William Gallas,Arsenal captain,jumped above everybody within the vicinity of the box and headed the deciding goal into the net.

It is now obvious that Chelsea's talisman is Didier Drogba and without him the heart of the team would not beat.


Sikirulai Olukayode Kazeem