Former Chelsea forward Didier Drogba has congratulated John Terry after the defender announced his retirement from the game. The 37-year-old has been without a club over the last few months after leaving Aston Villa at the end of last season. He has been linked with several clubs – including Spartak Moscow – over a short-term contract. However, he has now decided to hang up his boots and instead look at other options in his life. The 37-year-old will be remembered as one of the greatest Premier League defenders around and his retirement news quickly brought about a lot of congratulatory messages from around the world.
Didier Drogba was one of the latest to acknowledge the brilliant career enjoyed by John Terry, who spent 18 years at Chelsea winning numerous honours. Terry was able to lift Champions League, Premier League, Europa League, and several other domestic honours during his time with the blues. He was hoping for a return back to the Premier League with Aston Villa but those hopes were dashed when the club failed to get promotion last season. Frank Lampard, Jamie Carragher, Michael Ballack, and several other famous names in world football came up with glowing tributes of the 37-year-old. Drogba even claimed that Terry is yet to pay him money owed from a bet. Continue reading “Didier Drogba Hails John Terry after Defender Announces Retirement”→
Liverpool legend-turned-pundit John Barnes believes Chelsea are overly reliant on Eden Hazard since the new Premier League season has begun. The Belgium international has started the campaign in a flourishing fashion with five goals from as many matches and this has propelled his side to the top of the standings on goal difference to Liverpool.
Despite this, Barnes believes Hazard’s form could be a warning sign for the Blues, given they could struggle when the goals dry up for the Belgian attacker, he said: “I think they are overly reliant on Hazard. I think if Hazard gets injured, they really are overly reliant on him. If he drops form and he doesn’t score, he’s not an out and out scorer. We have spoken and I told him he can score 40 goals. He has to improve some things, but he can do it.” Continue reading “John Barnes believes Chelsea are over reliant on Eden Hazard”→
Chelsea midfielder Ross Barkley is hoping to emulate idol Frank Lampard at Stamford Bridge by making an improvement on his goalscoring contribution. The England international joined the Blues from Everton in January but he managed just two league appearances through the 2017/18 season as he struggled with fitness issues following a serious hamstring injury.
However, with the new campaign, Barkley has been ever-present for the Blues in the starting lineup and he is now hoping to emulate Lampard by making a regular contribution onto the scoresheet, he said: “He’s someone [Lampard] to look at with the success he achieved for the club and for himself. I’ve played with Frank and I saw what he was like around England, and how much of a top professional he was.He was an idol of mine from when I was a young lad, watching Champions League games and seeing the goals he scored. If I could achieve half of what he did here, then that would be a success. I believe I can hit the 20 goals a season mark.” Continue reading “Chelsea midfielder hopes to emulate Frank Lampard”→
Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has said that he is not surprised by Cristiano Ronaldo’s decision to head to Juventus this summer. The Portugal international has linked up with the Bianconeri following nine successful seasons with Real Madrid and Drogba feels the attacker has made the good choice at the current phase of his career.
Speaking to Football Italia, Drogba said: “I am not remotely surprised [by Ronaldo transfer]. I find it as a perfect, exciting and such a good choice that I was about to do it, too. I thought I had already joined a Serie A club and we were down to the details, but then everything evaporated. Don’t ask me the club, there’s no point opening that up now. In any case, it was more than just an offer and I was very interested, so I perfectly understand Ronaldo’s desire to play in Serie A.” Continue reading “Didier Drogba: Cristiano Ronaldo made a good choice to join Juventus”→
Belgium international Romelu Lukaku has acknowledged that Chelsea legend Didier Drogba has played a key role in helping him develop into a top-class footballer. The 25-year-old made just 15 appearances during his time at Stamford Bridge but he has nevertheless forged a Premier League career after impressing with the likes of Everton and Manchester United.
Speaking to reporters, Lukaku highlighted that Drogba is like a ‘big brother’ to him and admitted that he holds a close relationship with the Ivorian footballer, he said: “Everybody knows Didier Drogba is a bit of a big brother to me. He’s helped me from when I arrived in England, we have a very special and close relationship. He demands a lot of me because he knows I have the potential to do big things.” Continue reading “Romelu Lukaku credits Didier Drogba for his progress”→
Liverpool attacker Mohamed Salah has revealed that former teammate Didier Drogba urged him to break the Premier League record for the most goals by an African player. The Chelsea favourite had notched 29 goals during the 2009/10 league season but the feat was eventually surpassed by Salah, who scored 32 times on his way to winning the Golden Boot.
Speaking to reporters, Salah admitted that Drogba advised him to break the feat which he did with flying colours, he said: “When I reached 20 goals, I spoke with Didier Drogba. He told me: ‘Please, break the record!’ to which I responded laughing: ‘No worries, I will!’ And I managed [it]. So I thought to myself, I have quite a few games to play before the end of the season, I can break the all-time record! It’s a great source of joy for me.” Continue reading “Mohamed Salah reveals Didier Drogba urged him to break Premier League record”→
Former Chelsea striker Tony Cascarino believes Tottenham Hotspur fans would be more devastated than Sol Campbell’s switch to Arsenal, should Mauricio Pochettino accept the head coach role at Chelsea. The 46-year-old has helped transform Spurs into a regular top-four side in recent seasons but his future is apparently uncertain beyond the summer.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba reckons that Montréal Impact are not far away from winning the club’s first silverware.
After being subjected to transfer rumours in the last few transfer windows, it seems that Drogba looks set to continue with MLS at least for another campaign. He has been one of the major source of goals for Montreal Impact. The 38-year-old has already set his sights upon the MLS Cup. Montreal Impact are one of the new clubs in the MLS after having been drafted in only five years ago. They will be hosting Toronto FC in the Eastern Conference Championship first leg match on Tuesday.
It will be an extremely important game for the club as they hope to progress through the MLS play-offs. After having managed to overcome his differences with the club, Drogba will be a major presence on the pitch for the Montreal Impact team. After having played in numerous derbies over the course of the stellar career, Drogba says that the rivalry will be intense and form goes out of the window. Continue reading “Drogba Admits MLS Cup is the Ultimate Objective for Montreal Impact”→
Former African Player of the Year Award winner Didier Drogba has been fined by the Major League Soccer (MLS) after he refused to feature for his club Montreal Impact.
The former Ivory Coast skipper demanded that he be left off the game in its entirety after he was set to be left out of the starting squad for the Toronto FC game last Sunday.
The English Premier League veteran has netted ten goals in 21 gmes for the club this term. He joined last term after a succesful return to Chelsea in the 2014/15 season. He had an issue with the club and wanted to be off the squad if he was not going to play, but the club’s president Joey Saputo insists that the relationship has been patched up. The 38-yar old player just couldnot escape a reprimand from the league . The MLS fined the player – but refused to disclose the amount. Continue reading “Didier Drogba fined by the MLS”→
The Canadian Championship played Wednesday was a keenly contested match. Retired Ivory Coast international, Didier Drogba is the reason Montreal Impact have a second shot at the cup as they crashed 4-2 in the first leg of the tie against Toronto FC.
The series was almost over even in the first leg until Impact pushed and scored two away goals after they had allowed four earlier.
The end results would be very painful for Toronto FC who would have thought they had booked a straight ticket to next year’s CONCACAF’s Champions League with just the result from the nights.
The hosts were not any single one of their Designated Players unlike Impact, yet they mauled them until the last three minutes when the visitors forced the pair of goals, in a game they deployed their first team attackers.
Didier Drogba sent the cross that allowed Michael Salazar to head home with minutes from stoppage time. Same hero Drogba’s stoppage-time free kick beat Clint Irwin at the near post to give the Impact new life. The star player single handedly gave the team a lifeline ahead of the second leg.
At the post match interview, Montreal’s Mauro Biello said:
“It’s disappointing to come out that way. Toronto wanted it more. You could see in the first half. We were second to everything. We were too casual. It’s not like they controlled things. They just beat us to the ball. In the end, I’m happy we were able to come back. It gives us a boost and we have a series. It’s about continuing to improve defensively.”
Montreal were already two goals down before the referee blew the whistle for the first half in the game filled with fights and interruptions. The return leg is in Quebec next week and it already promises to be one tough encounter.
According to latest StanJames betting odds, Drogba’s team are still rank outsiders to win the match, but they’ll give it a good shot.
