How Do You Solve a Problem Like Didier?

All it took was one flick of the wrist, but with it Didier Drogba cast himself as the villain of the piece.

As I saw a red card being held up by the referee, from my seat at the other side of the Luzhniki stadium, I wondered who it had been shown to. 

One guy behind me said it was Terry, and confusion reigned. However, all became clear as we saw Drogba take the lonely and seemingly endless walk across the Luzhniki turf to the dressing room.

Boos began to ring out, as it became clear that some Chelsea fans had seen what Drogba had done. Some of the abuse was quite vitriolic, but I kept my counsel, as I don’t believe in booing your own players.

What Drogba did was petulant and stupid, and after a long summer to brood over it, he will know that.

As I stood in the Luzhniki stadium, trying to comprehend our loss, my thoughts turned to Drogba. I thought that slap on Vidic would be his last action in a Chelsea shirt—especially considering the comments he had made earlier on in the season:

"Something is broken with Chelsea," he was quoted as saying. "The damage is big in the dressing-room. Nothing can stop me from leaving now."

However, as I sit here writing this on the eve of the new season, Drogba is still a Chelsea player. The anticipated departure that most Chelsea fans expected hasn’t materialised.

Why? Some have suggested that no one was genuinely interested in signing the Ivorian, and there are many reasons for this.

First, Drogba does have injury problems. Last season, he missed all of December and part of January with a knee problem, and the same affliction kept him out of Chelsea's preseason programme.

His age is also another factor. Drogba’s form in the 2006/2007 season can be considered his peak performance. He is now 30 years old, and chances are the only way is down in terms of his ability to score goals.

Couple this with his injury problems, and it isn’t hard to see Drogba as a bit of a gamble.

Also, it may be stating the obvious, but Didier Drogba has got a bit of an attitude problem—he is very high maintenance. Such a player can undermine dressing room morale, no matter how much ability they have.

When combined, these three factors more than likely made clubs like AC Milan, Internazionale, and Barcelona think again about taking a gamble on Drogba.

The other side of the coin is that Chelsea never entertained any offers, and that it was always their intention to keep Drogba. This is backed up by the fact that the club have not brought in another striker just yet, and confirmed by the comments Peter Kenyon and Luiz Felipe Scolari made recently:

“There is no question that any deal will be done with regards to Didier,' Kenyon said. “The player is currently in England recovering from a knee problem."

“Didier is in rehab and will continue to be a Chelsea player. I think we can squash that one.”

Add to this that Scolari said in his first press conference as Chelsea manager that Drogba was “200%” a part of his plans, it seems Chelsea genuinely didn’t want to let him go.

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