Didier Drogba believes the current Chelsea team boast greater attacking threat than the sides who claimed the Premier League and Champions League during his first spell at the London club, but they must now fulfil their potential and go on to secure silverware this term.
The veteran forward replaced Diego Costa late on in Gelsenkirchen on Tuesday night and scored his 50th European goal as the visitors ran riot against Schalke to secure passage into the knockout stage of the Champions League. The 5-0 success equalled Chelsea’s best ever away win in the competition and, illuminated by the passing and movement of Cesc Fàbregas, Willian, Oscar and Eden Hazard, provided further evidence that this side are flourishing as a unit.
“I think Chelsea have the chance to say we had great teams in terms of spirit [in the past], a machine in terms of hard work and efficiency,” said Drogba, whose initial eight-year spell at the club had yielded two league titles and the European Cup. “This one is efficient too, but with the attacking players, the passing rate and quality of passing is higher. We have more creative players, which makes it maybe better to look at. Either way, the most important thing is to win titles, so this team will only be good if it wins titles and big trophies. Then we will be able to compare it with previous sides.”
Those sentiments were echoed by José Mourinho, who had described the side’s performance as “complete”, with Chelsea currently top of the Premier League by six points and unbeaten in 19 games this season, and 21 since April. Asked what they could go on to achieve, the Portuguese said: “I don’t set targets. The target is to play well and, when you play well, you have more chances to get good results. In this moment, we are very confident. We go match after match, step by step with this mentality. The players are very serious. Everything they do with big focus and ambition, but at the same time they are playing with something quite new in Chelsea football: this happiness, this flair, this beauty.”
Drogba has marked up against this team’s attacking players in training at Cobham and is acutely aware of the discomfort they cause opponents. “I was a defender once and, you know, I try to face them in training,” he added. “After that I have to go to the massage room and get some treatment because they’re that good.”
