Chelsea striker Didier Drogba ready to battle team-mate Fernando Torres for striker role under Andre Villas-Boas
Didier Drogba believes he is in direct competition with Fernando Torres for a place in the Chelsea team. Manager Andre Villas-Boas, Drogba claimed, is unlikely to play them both together as a partnership.
With Villas-Boas favouring a 4-3-3 formation, it does, indeed, look like an either/or for the forthcoming campaign.
Drogba, 33, also revealed that he is in talks with the club to extend his contract by another year. He said that he now wants to finish his career at Chelsea.
Villas-Boas’s predecessor at Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti, had claimed that there was no reason why Torres, following his £50 million signing from Liverpool in January, could not play alongside Drogba but it did not work last season.
Villas-Boas has already said he is not “worried” about playing the two, although he conceded the approach he favours does not accommodate a brace of strikers.
Drogba, when asked if he felt he was in competition with Torres, said: “Yes, I think so. That’s the manager’s choice but it’s been like this for me for all my years before here.
“It was the same when Eidur Gudjohnsen, when Sheva [Andrei Shevchenko] was here and all of the other times. It’s nothing new and it’s good for the team to have some competition. It will push the team forward and get the best out of us.
“There’s always competition in the team but you can’t be the only striker. Even two years ago, there was still competition because I still had to perform.”
Given Torres’s age, pedigree — and, bluntly, the money spent to sign him — it had been assumed that Drogba would have to be content with starting more matches on the bench. But the Ivorian does not see it that way.
“I’m 33, I’m the oldest player and it feels strange but I’m not worried. If I deserve to play then I will play. If I’m not good then I won’t,” he said.
Drogba, who arrived at Chelsea for £24 million as one of Jose Mourinho’s most important signings — probably his most important – in 2004, signed a three-year extension in 2009. With that deal due to expire next summer, he is keen to sign up for at least one more year.
“I will definitely be here next season,” Drogba said, echoing the words of Nicolas Anelka who, earlier this week, said he would not be leaving despite also having just one year to go. However, Drogba does not want to run down his contract in the same way as the Frenchman.
“We have started talking [about a new contract] and it’s very interesting,” he said. “Everybody knows what I feel about Chelsea and what I want. I said a few years ago that I will be here until the end of my contract and I am here. I want to finish my career at Chelsea.
“This is my eighth season now and it means a lot for any striker to stay that long at Chelsea That’s the most important thing. I need to keep playing well here and to give my best.”
Chelsea laboured to a 1-0 victory against a Malaysian XI on Thursday — in the heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur — with the only goal coming after Drogba’s free-kick struck the Malaysian goalkeeper on the back.
Replays showed the ball did not cross the line but Drogba, who played 45 minutes, replacing Torres at half-time as Villas-Boas changed his whole line-up, looked the sharper of the two strikers.
Does Drogba believe they will ever play together?
“For me, it’s not a problem,” he said. “It’s not a problem to play with him or without him. The most important thing is winning games together as a team.
“I know what I did before and I’m proud of it. The most exciting challenge is what is coming now.
“Daniel [Sturridge] could have played before and Salomon [Kalou]. When I’m on the pitch, competition or not, I need to perform.”
Chelsea flew to Bangkok on Friday and will face a Thailand XI on Sunday before travelling on to Hong Kong for the Premier League’s Asia Trophy competition.
Villas-Boas postponed an open training session, moving it to Saturday, to give the players a day off following their exertions on Thursday — they have also been doing double-training sessions over here.
Didier Drogba believes he is in direct competition with Fernando Torres for a place in the Chelsea team. Manager Andre Villas-Boas, Drogba claimed, is unlikely to play them both together as a partnership.
With Villas-Boas favouring a 4-3-3 formation, it does, indeed, look like an either/or for the forthcoming campaign.
Drogba, 33, also revealed that he is in talks with the club to extend his contract by another year. He said that he now wants to finish his career at Chelsea.
Villas-Boas’s predecessor at Chelsea, Carlo Ancelotti, had claimed that there was no reason why Torres, following his £50 million signing from Liverpool in January, could not play alongside Drogba but it did not work last season.
Villas-Boas has already said he is not “worried” about playing the two, although he conceded the approach he favours does not accommodate a brace of strikers.
Drogba, when asked if he felt he was in competition with Torres, said: “Yes, I think so. That’s the manager’s choice but it’s been like this for me for all my years before here.
“It was the same when Eidur Gudjohnsen, when Sheva [Andrei Shevchenko] was here and all of the other times. It’s nothing new and it’s good for the team to have some competition. It will push the team forward and get the best out of us.
“There’s always competition in the team but you can’t be the only striker. Even two years ago, there was still competition because I still had to perform.”
Given Torres’s age, pedigree — and, bluntly, the money spent to sign him — it had been assumed that Drogba would have to be content with starting more matches on the bench. But the Ivorian does not see it that way.
“I’m 33, I’m the oldest player and it feels strange but I’m not worried. If I deserve to play then I will play. If I’m not good then I won’t,” he said.
Drogba, who arrived at Chelsea for £24 million as one of Jose Mourinho’s most important signings — probably his most important – in 2004, signed a three-year extension in 2009. With that deal due to expire next summer, he is keen to sign up for at least one more year.
“I will definitely be here next season,” Drogba said, echoing the words of Nicolas Anelka who, earlier this week, said he would not be leaving despite also having just one year to go. However, Drogba does not want to run down his contract in the same way as the Frenchman.
“We have started talking [about a new contract] and it’s very interesting,” he said. “Everybody knows what I feel about Chelsea and what I want. I said a few years ago that I will be here until the end of my contract and I am here. I want to finish my career at Chelsea.
“This is my eighth season now and it means a lot for any striker to stay that long at Chelsea That’s the most important thing. I need to keep playing well here and to give my best.”
Chelsea laboured to a 1-0 victory against a Malaysian XI on Thursday — in the heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur — with the only goal coming after Drogba’s free-kick struck the Malaysian goalkeeper on the back.
Replays showed the ball did not cross the line but Drogba, who played 45 minutes, replacing Torres at half-time as Villas-Boas changed his whole line-up, looked the sharper of the two strikers.
Does Drogba believe they will ever play together?
“For me, it’s not a problem,” he said. “It’s not a problem to play with him or without him. The most important thing is winning games together as a team.
“I know what I did before and I’m proud of it. The most exciting challenge is what is coming now.
“Daniel [Sturridge] could have played before and Salomon [Kalou]. When I’m on the pitch, competition or not, I need to perform.”
Chelsea flew to Bangkok on Friday and will face a Thailand XI on Sunday before travelling on to Hong Kong for the Premier League’s Asia Trophy competition.
Villas-Boas postponed an open training session, moving it to Saturday, to give the players a day off following their exertions on Thursday — they have also been doing double-training sessions over here.
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