KALOU URGES DROGBA TO STAY
-
Chelsea striker Salomon Kalou has urged his club and international team-mate Didier Drogba to stay at Stamford Bridge. Drogba's future has been the subject of intense speculation with AC Milan believed to be the favoured destination of the Ivory Coast striker. But Drogba's fellow Ivory Coast international wants him to remain part of the Chelsea revolution under coach Avram Grant.
"I enjoy playing alongside him and I have learned a lot with Didier, but he will make his decision," said Kalou. "We will support him whatever his decision is. We don't really talk about contract things but I would love him to stay. He will make the decision but I hope that he will stay with us.
Joe Cole is the only player to have made more than Kalou's 47 appearances for Chelsea this season and yet he is not guaranteed a place in coach Avram Grant's starting line-up in Moscow next Wednesday.
Kalou is facing competition from French winger Florent Malouda but he insists he will be happy to start on the bench if he has to. "It doesn't matter if I start or come in, the most important thing is to bring quality to the game," said Kalou. "I am working hard to be in the first XI. Even if I am on the bench I will still focus on the game and try to make the difference. "It is my first big final and I am really excited to play. I am working hard on the pitch to show the manager I can start.
"I think United have a really good team and have had a really good season. They are a strong team, and the defensive part of Manchester is great. "Then you have people like Ronaldo who can score in any game, so they deserve to be where they are right now.
Kalou believes Chelsea have already had a massive psychological boost ahead of their showdown with the Premier League champions after captain John Terry and Drogba revealed they would be fit enough to play. "To have John and Didier on the pitch gives more power to Chelsea, more confidence to attack a great final. We need them and when the day comes they will be ready for the game," added Kalou, who reserved his biggest praise for under-fire boss Grant.
Speculation continues to circulate that the 52-year-old Israeli will be moved upstairs in the summer and a new manager appointed. Grant insists he has a four-year contract and will be in charge of the side next season. But Kalou is under no illusions about the talent of the man who has led Chelsea to their first Champions League final.
"This season I played more on the left side, with Jose [Mourinho] I played more as a striker, so he tried to put me in one position and improve there," said the 22-year-old. "He talked to me a lot in training and there are a lot of things I can improve, that's the thing I didn't have before, I managed to defend and attack as well. That's something more I've brought to my game.
"I think Avram has done great. He came to the club and managed to get the team to the final. We know it wasn't easy for him with all the critics but he managed to stay calm and push his team to the next game. "If I had to talk from my own feeling I think he did a great job. He is good and brings something extra to what Jose did. He made every player fight for his position. "He is a really calm person so we manage to be really calm and focused on our goal."
-
Drogba: I wanted to strike
DIDIER DROGBA has revealed he nearly refused to play for Chelsea in the Champions League this season. The Ivory Coast hitman considered quitting the Blues at Christmas to join one of their main European rivals.
But in his fiery new autobiography, he admits he confronted Chelsea chief Peter Kenyon to confirm that he wanted out and would not play in the Blues’ crunch group game in Valencia.
Drogba’s growing frustration at playing for Chelsea and his anger at the treatment of former boss Jose Mourinho brought him to the brink of turning his back on the team in their hour of need. He said: “When I held Mourinho in my arms I couldn’t hold back my tears — it was too much.”
The striker admitted he could not “look certain team-mates in the eye.” He also admits for the first time there were two groups in the Cobham training ground — those who were pro-Mourinho and “the others.”
He added: “If I had left mid-season it would have been for a club aiming for the top prize in continental football — and that meant I would not have been able to line up for Chelsea in the Champions League. "It was a terrible dilemma. But I was ready not to play — I was feeling stubborn.”
Fortunately for Chelsea, Drogba sought advice from both his agent and from his former Marseille club president Pape Diouf. Both told him to wise up and play. He went on to hit the winner in Valencia to open up the route to the final.
Drogba still insists that he wants to quit Stamford Bridge this summer but believes that the Chelsea supporters will be sympathetic.
He said: “Sometimes the fans cheered me but they ended up adopting me as one of theirs, like a real Blue.”
Now Drogba hopes to shrug off the knee injury sustained in the final league clash against Bolton to lead the attack against United.
-
he gone!
chelsea already know, that why they are looking for a striker.
kaka i bet is the exchange cash + player deal.
bye drog!
without drog, arsenal can beat chelsea easily. he seem to be arsenal jinx!! we just cant cope with his physical style of player.
-
is it really true milan wants him at 30?
-
Originally posted by dragg:
is it really true milan wants him at 30?
Aren't you aware Milan likes to keep old players, lol... Hmm... Drogba and Shev go over... thats weird... one 30 another 31...