DROGBA hit with a £100,000 fine by Chelsea
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DIDIER DROGBA has opened his heart to reveal the torment he has suffered at Chelsea over the last 12 months. The Ivory Coast hitman is not sorry to see the back of 2008 and predicts “beautiful things will happen” for him in the New Year.
Drogba managed just nine club goals in the calendar year, lost two cup finals, was sent off in the Champions League final against Manchester United and also missed out on the title to Alex Ferguson’s men.
But now it is clear the problems at Stamford Bridge have run much deeper for the former Marseille forward.
Drogba, 30, disclosed how he:
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Received little support from Chelsea after the death of his grandmother in June.
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Fell out of love with the game and questioned why he wanted to carry on.
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Felt the club had no confidence in him as he battled back from a series of injuries.
- Was lonely at the Bridge after the departure of his close friends Geremi, William Gallas and Claude Makelele.
- Cannot understand the apparent reluctance of manager Phil Scolari to pair him with fellow big-money buy Nicolas Anelka.
The £90,000-a- week striker said: “The hardest thing I had to endure this year wasn’t football related. The death of my grandmother completely struck me down, more than anything else. “I was very, very close to her and it really made me suffer. I had the feeling that all my childhood memories were going with her. I became old suddenly.
“This made me ask a few questions to myself. I wondered what I was running after. “I said to myself that it was pretty useless to run after results, stats or rewards. “It’s true that I didn’t feel a great support. But that didn’t worry me really. For a few weeks I didn’t have my head tuned into football at all. “I didn’t want to hear about targets or ambition. I felt totally switched off.
“For the first time, I had lost my passion for football. I was ordinary. I didn’t want to fight. “All summer, I felt bad. I am not looking for excuses. I just admit that, for a while, I put football on the back-burner.”
Drogba also had a knee injury when the Blues reported for pre-season training and did not feature until mid-September. His previous campaign had been affected by injuries and he sensed there were doubts he could get back to his best.
He added: “After my injury I wasn’t really in a hurry to come back. I needed a break. “After four full years it’s normal that the body — and the mind — say stop. “I looked at my career. I was tired. But I have the conviction now that I can come back stronger. I am really hungry.
“What opened my eyes was the way some people at the club looked at me. I really felt confidence wasn’t the same. “It wasn’t great to feel and I remarked that some of them didn’t really believe in my capacity to come back to the highest level. But I can’t be angry at them.
“They were right to wonder where the Drogba of 2007 was gone. He is very close! “Now I am better in my body and head, everything will come back.” The Drog added: “I felt lonely when the season started in July. Everybody was obsessed with winning their place in the team. “And I was stuck in the fitness room when the group left for a pre-season tour. I was alone with the machines.
“I didn’t really have anyone to talk to. Every year I have been losing a close friend. “There was Geremi, then William Gallas, then Makelele. It’s a lot. I went through a big moment of loneliness.”
Drogba has played in the Blues’ last three matches and urged Scolari to pair him with Anelka on a regular basis. He said: “I still don’t understand why managers are afraid to partner Nicolas and me.
“I fear I am only being considered as a strong centre-forward able of playing alone up front with fast players on the wings. But I can also adapt. “All we want is to play together. But really together. Not one in the middle and the other on the left.
“Am I at the right place for 2009? Only time will tell. If we win the Champions League in May, the answer will be obvious.” But with Jose Mourinho interested in a reunion at Inter Milan, there are still doubts about Drogba’s future.
He said: “I have only one year left on my contract, so I am going to go with the flow. “I could be wrong but I feel that in 2009 beautiful things will happen. There will also be surprises. “But I won’t say more. If I start to speak about my future, I might say the wrong thing and that will come back to haunt me.”
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Football channel says that he said "I lost my fire"
hey, that is very dangerous and shocking for a striker.
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Scolari is scared to play me with Anelka, claims Drogba
Didier Drogba yesterday heaped more pressure on his under-pressure manager Luiz Felipe Scolari when he complained that he does not understand why the Brazilian is "scared" to pick him and Nicolas Anelka in the same team. Drogba's future at the club is anything but certain and he has done Scolari no favours with yet another downbeat interview.
As usual, Drogba, who virtually refuses to speak to the English press, has used the French media for his latest grievances. Although he was speaking before Anelka was dropped on Sunday to make way for him, it will not make easy reading for Scolari. "For the moment, I just have to keep quiet," Drogba said on being left out the team.
"It's not because I've been here for more than four years that I have the right to demand the status of starter. At the moment there is a man who is scoring and who is piling up goals. I only have to wait my turn. I have always said that I was happy that Nicolas came to Chelsea. But I still don't understand why coaches are scared to play us together."
Drogba, 30, told France Football: "This summer, I didn't have a head for football anymore. I had completely lost my fire. I didn't want to hear talk of objectives or ambition anymore. I felt completely extinguished. For the first time in my career, I lost my passion for football. I was lost. Last season could have been terrific and spectacular, in the end it was just a good season which left quite a few regrets."
The very public questioning of Scolari's tactics will not help Chelsea either. Officials at the club are currently trying to clamp down on reports that Scolari's tactics have been questioned by senior players, although that would appear to be exactly what Drogba has done in this interview. Scolari brought Anelka on to play alongside Drogba after 30 minutes on Sunday but only after Florent Malouda substituted himself with a hamstring injury.
On Sunday, Chelsea fans sang Drogba's name but the striker, who was sent off in last season's Champions League final against Manchester United, would not categorically rule out the possibility of joining Jose Mourinho at Internazionale. Instead, he said: "I'm going to let myself be carried by events. I could plant myself here, but I have the impression that in 2009 good things will happen for me. Without doubt there will also be surprises."
Nevertheless, Frank Lampard, who scored twice on Sunday in the 2-2 draw with Fulham and looks much more effective with Drogba in the side, said Chelsea were still confident they could win their third Premier League title.
"Of course we are, there is three points in it and we've got a very good squad of players," he said. "[Fulham] was frustrating because of the manner of losing the points with the last-minute header. We will go to Manchester United wanting to win the game.
"You only win titles with 'never-say-die' in your team. That is what Chelsea is all about. We've had it for the last years and we've still got it in there."
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Chelsea is in trouble when a player says like that...they must have been an unrest there...good news indeed! lol
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dog ba
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DIDIER DROGBA has been hit with a £100,000 fine by Chelsea for criticising the club in SunSport.
The whining Ivory Coast striker has angered team-mates and Blues officials by claiming he did not get the support he deserves. Now he has been docked a week’s wages after the club ran out of patience with his constant moans.
Drogba claimed the club failed to support him when his grandmother died this year. He also confessed he did not exactly rush back from his knee injury and criticised manager Phil Scolari’s team selection.
His comments have infuriated Scolari and chief executive Peter Kenyon, particularly as the club laid on a private jet so he could return to Africa to be with his grandmother.
Drogba, 30, was yesterday ordered to explain his outburst and told he would lose a week’s wages under an internal disciplinary procedure. And that could spell the end of his 4½-year stay at The Bridge.
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Sell him la zzzzzzzz
and get a striker better than him and drogba!
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should fine him 1 million
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Drogba is a really good player if the manager knows how to bring the best outta him, Drogba is those powerful out and out striker who will knock his way into goal scoring position whereas Anelka has speed and nautral goal scoring ability but i dun see him in the class of Drogba, but having said that, its a waste for Anelka to move to Real which seriously put a stop to his progress as a player.. in Arsenal with AW using and mould him he would have became a much better player then he is now, whereas when at Real and given the amount of money they splash on him all will expect him to payback the monment he signed on the dotted line.. no honeymoon period no excuses.. and thats when he really suffer
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but a point to note is... i dun like either of them...
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Originally posted by Saltiga:
but a point to note is... i dun like either of them...
Dogba is certainly better than Anelka le sulk...but same with you. i don't like both...lol -
chelsea need money.
thank you, drogba!!
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Irregardless, I felt that washing dirty linen in public is unwanted but then, we fans lapped it up like honey.
IMHO, Drogba is a feared striker and we saw his best under Jose.
If Chelsea is trying to offload him this way, it is a pity for Drogba has done much.
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d(r)og(ba) is maurinho lap dog. that's why he's barking incessantly now.
should concentrate on his football since he is an excellant player.
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they gave him the use of the CFC private jet to go see his grandmother.. if that's not support, i don't know wtf is...
what else does he want? a 24-hour slave to wipe his ass for him after he shits?
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I think Chelsea should sell him before he infected the whole team with his virus..I think half of the team has got infected.
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I think he wants to leave but they won't allow him so he makes all these noise... hoping they would. Perhaps he is getting advise from his "father" Jose... Afterall, isn't Inter Milan the one who wants to buy him?
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Nevertheless, he is still a very good player, this I must say...
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ORBI GOOD!!