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Carling Cup Final

Arsenal 1
  • van Persie 39
Birmingham City 1
  • Zigic 28


  • Jacob Steinberg
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 15.00 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
    This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
    Jack Wilshere does running. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.
    PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!
    90 min+5: Arsenal have a throw deep in Birmingham;s territory. Ferguson and Jerome have been booked. This is astonishing. Carr heads clear.
    90 min+4: Martins nearly seals it! He beats Djourou to a long ball, steps round Szczeny ... and then loses control with the angle too tight to shoot.
    90 min+3: Oh, Arsene.
    90 min: Birmingham can barely believe it. That was a goal that sums up all of Arsenal's defensive failings. Cameron Jerome comes on for Zigic. There will be four minutes of stoppage time.
    GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham (Martins, 89 min): What a disaster! Birmingham have surely won it! Birmingham have surely won the Carling Cup! Ben Foster smashed a high free-kick up towards Arsenal's area and Zigic, of course, won it, the ball running through harmlessly. Or so it seemed. There was no communication between Szcezny and Koscielny at all. Koscielny went to swing his foot to clear but must have heard a call from Szczeny and suddenly pulled his foot away. Szczeny couldn't react quickly enough and spilled the ball straight to Martins who couldn't miss from six yards out. With his left foot, he didn't. What an utter, unforgivable farce.

 
Carling Cup Final

Arsenal 1
  • van Persie 39
Birmingham City 1
  • Zigic 28


  • Jacob Steinberg
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 15.00 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
    This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
    Jack Wilshere does running. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images That goal. Oh me, oh my. What were they playing at? Szcezny and Koscielny must accept equal blame, the lack of communication unacceptable. It's such a shame for two young players too, both of whom performing so well for Arsenal in recent weeks. No one should be too critical of Szczeny who is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But what a mistake, the footballing equivalent of a never-ending tickle.
    Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.
    PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!
    90 min+5: Arsenal have a throw deep in Birmingham;s territory. Ferguson and Jerome have been booked. This is astonishing. Carr heads clear.
    90 min+4: Martins nearly seals it! He beats Djourou to a long ball, steps round Szczeny ... and then loses control with the angle too tight to shoot.
    90 min+3: Oh, Arsene.
    90 min: Birmingham can barely believe it. That was a goal that sums up all of Arsenal's defensive failings. Cameron Jerome comes on for Zigic. There will be four minutes of stoppage time.
    GOAL! Arsenal 1-2 Birmingham (Martins, 89 min): What a disaster! Birmingham have surely won it! Birmingham have surely won the Carling Cup! Ben Foster smashed a high free-kick up towards Arsenal's area and Zigic, of course, won it, the ball running through harmlessly. Or so it seemed. There was no communication between Szcezny and Koscielny at all. Koscielny went to swing his foot to clear but must have heard a call from Szczeny and suddenly pulled his foot away. Szczeny couldn't react quickly enough and spilled the ball straight to Martins who couldn't miss from six yards out. With his left foot, he didn't. What an utter, unforgivable farce.

 
Carling Cup Final

Arsenal 1
  • van Persie 39
Birmingham City 1
  • Zigic 28


  • Jacob Steinberg
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 15.00 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
    This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
    Jack Wilshere does running. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images It's Birmingham's first trophy since 1963, which puts Arsenal's six-year wait in perspective. Alex McLeish calls it a "titanic effort" on the part of his players. He's mobbed by Barry Ferguson and on that subject, here's Ryan Dunne. "Great to see Big Eck and Pure Barry Ferguson getting some English silverware! Reminds one of their exploits with the Glorious Glasgow Rangers."
    Here's the match-winner, Obafemi Martins: to sum up, he's glad to have scored the winner. What an impact he had.
    That goal. Oh me, oh my. What were they playing at? Szcezny and Koscielny must accept equal blame, the lack of communication unacceptable. It's such a shame for two young players too, both of whom performing so well for Arsenal in recent weeks. No one should be too critical of Szczeny who is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But what a mistake, the footballing equivalent of a never-ending tickle.
    Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.
    PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!

 
Goals

Assists

Shots

Yellows

Reds

 # 1 - L. Messi
 # 1 - L. Messi
 # 1 - C. Ronaldo
 # 1 - Gurpegi
# 1 - 5 Players Tied

Games
22

Goals
26


Games
22

Assists
16


Games
25

Shots
183


Games
20

Yellows
12


Reds
2




#​
Name​

GP​
Goals​

#​
Name​

GP​
Assists​

#​
Name​

GP​
Shots​

#​
Name​

GP​
Yellows​

#​
Name​

GP​
Reds​

​

1
L. Messi​
BAR
22
26
​
2
C. Ronaldo​
RM
25
24
​
3
D. Villa​
BAR
24
17
​
4(T)
F. Llorente​
ABO
24
13
​

Pedro​
BAR
25
13
​

1
L. Messi​
BAR
22
16
​
2
D. Alves​
BAR
22
11
​
3(T)
Pedro​
BAR
25
9
​

B. Valero​
VIL
22
9
​
5(T)
Á. Di María​
RM
25
8
​

1
C. Ronaldo​
RM
25
183
​
2
L. Messi​
BAR
22
106
​
3
D. Villa​
BAR
24
103
​
4
G. Rossi​
VIL
22
93
​
5
F. Llorente​
ABO
24
87
​

1
Gurpegi​
ABO
20
12
​
2(T)
Ander​
ZAR
21
11
​

Puñal​
OSA
20
11
​
4(T)
D. Barral​
GIJ
22
10
​

Botía​
GIJ
18
10
​

1(T)
Eliseu​
MLG
22
2
​

X. Nadal​
LEV
16
2
​

D. Navarro​
VLN
12
2
​

F. Navarro​
SEV
21
2
​

L. Ponzio​
ZAR
20
2
​


 
Week 25​

Final

4-1

Match Stats

Final

2-2

Match Stats

Final

0-0

Match Stats

Final

0-3

Match Stats

Final

0-0

Match Stats



2-1

Match Stats



0-0

Match Stats

Sun-02/27

vs.

1:00 PM ET

Sun-02/27

vs.

3:00 PM ET

Mon-02/28

vs.

3:00 PM ET

Tue-03/01

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Tue-03/01

vs.

4:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

2:00 PM ET

Wed-03/02

vs.

4:00 PM ET

Scores » | Fixtures »


Scoring​
Goals​
73​
Assists​
59​
Shots​
444​
Goalkeeping​
Goals Allowed​
13​
Saves​
119​
SOGF​
156​
Discipline​
Yellow Cards​
83​
Red Cards​
2 teams tied​
7​
Fouls Committed​
439​
Complete Stats
 
Carling Cup final

Arsenal v Birmingham City - live!

&#8226; Turn on our auto-refresh tool for the latest updates
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Carling Cup Final

Arsenal 1
  • van Persie 39
Birmingham City 2
  • Zigic 28,
  • Martins 89


  • Jacob Steinberg
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 15.00 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
    This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
    Jack Wilshere does running. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images A huge roar as the impeccable Alex McLeish lifts the trophy. His introduction of Martins was inspired, as it came just when Birmingham looked like collapsing.
    "Queued up for 4 hours in the rain at Brisbane Rd for an FA Cup replay ticket yesterday," says Ian Burch. "I didn't realise then that the O's would start as favourites for the game on Weds." Imagine.
    "Well Jacob, that's one lost for us and three more left to lose," says Michelle Peters-Jones. "Can you tell I am very disappointed in Arsenal right now?" I'm getting that vibe, yes. That goal will be narrated by Nick Hancock for years to come.
    Anyway, back to Birmingham. Stephen Carr, who retired and came back to football, leads his victorious team up to the trophy. Ben Foster is awarded man of the match. He was excellent. Carr lifts the trophy and half of Wembley explodes with joy.
    This might be seen as the culmination of six years of defensive hilarity from Arsenal. I think that would be slightly disingenuous, but FOR GOD'S SAKE.
    Arsenal's players look fairly sheepish. I'm guessing they won't be keeping those runners-up medals. The wait for a trophy goes on. "Last year it was Gibbs tripping in the box against ManU, this year it's Szczezny," says Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo. "Can we finally agree that depending on youth in these key games is a flawed strategy?" I'm not sure - it's not as if they had anyone else to call upon and this team, minus Fabregas and Walcott, beat Barcelona. They just didn't turn up properly today and Birmingham fully deserved it.
    It's Birmingham's first trophy since 1963, which puts Arsenal's six-year wait in perspective. Alex McLeish calls it a "titanic effort" on the part of his players. He's mobbed by Barry Ferguson and on that subject, here's Ryan Dunne. "Great to see Big Eck and Pure Barry Ferguson getting some English silverware! Reminds one of their exploits with the Glorious Glasgow Rangers."
    Here's the match-winner, Obafemi Martins: to sum up, he's glad to have scored the winner. What an impact he had.
    That goal. Oh me, oh my. What were they playing at? Szcezny and Koscielny must accept equal blame, the lack of communication unacceptable. It's such a shame for two young players too, both of whom performing so well for Arsenal in recent weeks. No one should be too critical of Szczeny who is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But what a mistake, the footballing equivalent of a never-ending tickle.
    Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.
    PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!

 
Carling Cup final

Arsenal v Birmingham City - live!


Carling Cup Final

Arsenal 1
  • van Persie 39
Birmingham City 2
  • Zigic 28,
  • Martins 89


  • Jacob Steinberg
  • guardian.co.uk, Sunday 27 February 2011 15.00 GMT <li class="history">Article history To receive updated content, refresh the page (F5 for a web browser).
    This page will update automatically every minute: On | Off
    Jack Wilshere does running. Photograph: Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images A huge roar as the impeccable Alex McLeish lifts the trophy. His introduction of Martins was inspired, as it came just when Birmingham looked like collapsing.
    "Queued up for 4 hours in the rain at Brisbane Rd for an FA Cup replay ticket yesterday," says Ian Burch. "I didn't realise then that the O's would start as favourites for the game on Weds." Imagine.
    "Well Jacob, that's one lost for us and three more left to lose," says Michelle Peters-Jones. "Can you tell I am very disappointed in Arsenal right now?" I'm getting that vibe, yes. That goal will be narrated by Nick Hancock for years to come.
    Anyway, back to Birmingham. Stephen Carr, who retired and came back to football, leads his victorious team up to the trophy. Ben Foster is awarded man of the match. He was excellent. Carr lifts the trophy and half of Wembley explodes with joy.
    This might be seen as the culmination of six years of defensive hilarity from Arsenal. I think that would be slightly disingenuous, but FOR GOD'S SAKE.
    Arsenal's players look fairly sheepish. I'm guessing they won't be keeping those runners-up medals. The wait for a trophy goes on. "Last year it was Gibbs tripping in the box against ManU, this year it's Szczezny," says Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo. "Can we finally agree that depending on youth in these key games is a flawed strategy?" I'm not sure - it's not as if they had anyone else to call upon and this team, minus Fabregas and Walcott, beat Barcelona. They just didn't turn up properly today and Birmingham fully deserved it.
    It's Birmingham's first trophy since 1963, which puts Arsenal's six-year wait in perspective. Alex McLeish calls it a "titanic effort" on the part of his players. He's mobbed by Barry Ferguson and on that subject, here's Ryan Dunne. "Great to see Big Eck and Pure Barry Ferguson getting some English silverware! Reminds one of their exploits with the Glorious Glasgow Rangers."
    Here's the match-winner, Obafemi Martins: to sum up, he's glad to have scored the winner. What an impact he had.
    That goal. Oh me, oh my. What were they playing at? Szcezny and Koscielny must accept equal blame, the lack of communication unacceptable. It's such a shame for two young players too, both of whom performing so well for Arsenal in recent weeks. No one should be too critical of Szczeny who is clearly a talented goalkeeper. But what a mistake, the footballing equivalent of a never-ending tickle.
    Wembley erupts! Well, one half of it. Birmingham can barely believe it. Nor can Arsenal.
    PEEP! PEEP! PEEP! BIRMINGHAM CITY HAVE WON THE CARLING CUP!
 
Didier Drogba feels the heat of change at Chelsea

The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge and it seems likely the owner, Roman Abramovich, will soon make changes favouring younger players


  • Chelsea's Ivorian Didier Drogba applauds the fans at the final whistle against Copenhagen in the Champions League. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Bubbling away in Roman Abramovich's 16-home, £11bn empire is the problem of what to do with the old guard. With Fernando Torres's £50m transfer from Liverpool, Chelsea's increasingly dictatorial owner has risked internal strife over the team's famously lavish wage structure and may use the issue this summer to purge the elderly.
    As a student of Kremlin politics (and an expert now in the acquisitiveness of Premier League footballers), Abramovich knew paying Torres £175,000 a week was bound to arouse the jealously of a swarm of players now striding into their 30s. John Terry (30), Frank Lampard (32), Didier Drogba (32) and Ashley Cole (30) are the foundation of Chelsea's three Premier League titles under Abramovich's patronage but their influence is waning.
    The defending champions, Chelsea now face a 12-game struggle to qualify for next season's Champions League &#8211; starting with Manchester United's visit on Tuesday. "It is not a good position for us, we know we have to do better, we want to do better," Cole says. "We are out of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, we're never going to give up on the league but the Champions League is probably now the main focus for us to win because obviously not many people here have won that one."
    Torres was not hired specifically to annoy the powerful dressing-room cabal who have shaped the club's fortunes since José Mourinho arrived in 2004. But his arrival will hasten the break-up of a mighty core. Only Terry is known to have secured a clause in his contract guaranteeing at least parity with Chelsea's highest earner but Lampard, Drogba and Cole would not appreciate being heavily outpaid by a new player who is currently living off old glories.
    If Abramovich wants a clear-out, this is his chance. Over the past fortnight there have been clear signals that Terry is no longer an automatic choice at centre-back and that Drogba will be used as back-up to Torres and Anelka in a new 4-4-2 formation. Drogba accompanied Torres against Liverpool on the latter's debut but was then dropped for the game at Fulham, restored for an FA Cup fourth-round replay against Everton and demoted again for the midweek Champions League trip to Copenhagen.
    Chelsea's improved display in Denmark prompted Carlo Ancelotti to say: "The key to this game was the good movement up front from Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres. We played quick up front to avoid the pressing and this why I say we played with intelligence." Of Torres, he said: "He shouldn't lose confidence because he didn't score. He played very played good for the team. What was important was his movement with Anelka and it was a good combination and I am happy."
    Officially Ancelotti will choose his strikers game by game but as the team prepare to confront the league leaders there is no disguising the probable end of Drogba's 240-game stay in London. As Abramovich renews his spending drive to protect his original £700m-plus investment, Drobga is more vulnerable than his ageing comrades. Dumping "The Drog" would enable Ancelotti to alter the team's whole pattern of play away from Drogba-inspired directness in favour of a quicker, subtler style more in keeping with the current fashion.
    Even before Torres decamped from Liverpool, Chelsea's annual wage bill was £172.5m, or 82% of turnover, on losses of £70.9m. Uefa's new financial limits on club will provide an incentive and an excuse for Abramovich to correct his own error in allowing an aristocratic squad to grow old together. The scale of his spending in January &#8211; £70m on Torres and the centre-back David Luiz &#8211; suggests a willingness to take draconian action to stop Chelsea slipping behind Manchester City and Spurs in the bigger contest with Man Utd and Arsenal.
    David Luiz is 23, Torres 26, Petr Cech still only 28, the improving Ramires 23 and Branislav Ivanovic, who has just signed a new deal, 26. Salomon Kalou, who lives a charmed life, is 25. Mikel John Obi, at 23, has reached a point where many who thought he would be the next great defensive midfielder are now saying he has failed to train on. But with Josh McEachran (17) emerging as Chelsea's Jack Wilshere, Abramovich possesses a nucleus of players under 28 to lead the team out of the TerryLampard&#8209;Drogba era.
    How fast that procession moves may depend on the attitude of those senior figures when the current desperate mission to preserve Champions League status is over. None has the market value of two years ago, when Terry was being chased by Manchester City and Lampard apparently had the option of going wherever Mourinho went next. Cole would still command top dollar and Drogba would be coveted by most Premier League managers. More likely than a move across England, though, would be a return to Europe: possibly Marseille. In his autobiography he writes of Zinedine Zidane's birthplace less as an alma mater than as a kind of womb, which he was grief-stricken to leave.
    Chelsea without Drogba would delight centre-backs who sport bruises from trying to stop him, physios who run on to the pitch in a permanent state of confusion about whether he is actually injured or just being a drama queen and officials at the club who have to clean up after his outbursts.
    Drogba's "It's a disgrace" tirade at the cameras after the inept refereeing of Tom Henning Ovrebo in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona in 2009 was turned into an excellent rap video, and was one of many occasions when the Ivory Coast's most famous sportsman has revived the spirit of J'Accuse to make a melodramatic point.
    He stirs disdain in opposition spectators and a particularly complex ambivalence among his own team's fans, who see him as the embodiment of Mourinho's determined, forceful style but also as a self-server who placed his own irritation with Nemanja Vidic in a Champions League final ahead of the club's raging urge to land the prize. Drogba's face-slap on Vidic in Moscow removed him from the subsequent penalty shoot-out and remains the low point in a history of self-indulgence.
    But what a D-shaped hole he will leave. Obituaries will doubtless feature his deliberate handballs against Fulham and Manchester City a few seasons back, his swiftly retracted diving confession on the BBC and his constant threats to flee. When Mourinho was ousted, Drogba told France Football: "I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with Chelsea. The damage is big in the dressing room."
    Mourinho manipulated him brilliantly, exploiting his need to be loved but also recognising his courage in the face of provocation, his willingness to fight for his place, under the right conditions. At half-time in one game Mourinho instructed his players to pass only to Andriy Shevchenko because "Didier is having trouble keeping hold of it". He also accused his senior striker of "betrayal" when news of supposedly chance encounters with officials at rival clubs floated back to Stamford Bridge.
    No Chelsea manager since has devoted so much energy to keeping Drogba productive and happy. Luiz Felipe Scolari, who later bemoaned the team's "bureaucratic" or mechanical style, pushed him to the margins, but there was a rebirth under Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti, who extracted 37 goals from him in 2009-10. The Golden Boot and a Premier League-FA Cup double (he scored the winner against Portsmouth) will be the final adornments to his seven years in blue unless the old guard can finally land the Champions League title, at Wembley in May.
    Mourinho once said of Drogba: "He is the kind of player I would tell: 'With you I could go to every war.'" Playing through a bout of malaria is ample proof of his fortitude. But power and influence desert all players in the end. Just as Scolari preferred Anelka as a lone striker so Ancelotti now favours Torres and Anelka to shake this Chelsea team from its tightness and torpor.
    When the scrabbling to rescue a campaign that started with the Premier League and FA Cup trophies in hand is over the old guard will assess their political strength and make what demands they still can of Abramovich. Plainly Terry is no longer Mr Chelsea with an automatic right to call the shots. New faces, fresh talents, are taking over. When Terry urged his colleagues to "man up", the phrase "man down" also leapt to mind. In the queue to be the first casualty, Drogba is where he plays: right at the front.

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    Didier Drogba feels the heat of change at Chelsea | Paul Hayward

    This article appeared on p10 of the Observer Sport section of the Observer on Sunday 27 February 2011. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.07 GMT on Sunday 27 February 2011. It was last modified at 00.14 GMT on Sunday 27 February 2011.
    's comment


    Comments in chronological order (Total 87 comments)


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    • MawalTrees 27 February 2011 12:23AM

      The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge and it seems likely the owner, Roman Abramovich, will soon make changes favouring younger players
      ​
      It's astonishing one can earn a living offering this level of insight. Hmmm changing older players for newer ones. Chelsea must really be pushing the boundaries.

    • nirst79 27 February 2011 1:06AM

      Honestly - what a load of nonsense. You've extrapoloated a single game where Anelka and Torres played quite well together against a rusty, weaker opposition into the 'future of Chelsea'. Quite right, the team needs to move on and prepare for the future, and younger players are obviously the way to do that. Drogba, Terry and Lampard are hardly 'over the hill' however. Each of them have had injuries or illness this season and those injuries happened to coincide with the slump Chelsea have had - perhaps evidence that they contribute a huge amount to this team despite their age.
      I'm excited about the younger players who show promise, but the experience these key players bring cannot be underestimated. I'd be surprised if any of those three leave in the summer. They may warm the bench a little more frequently, but they're important to the next few years of Chelsea's success.

    • sujay7pires 27 February 2011 1:08AM

      The defending champions, Chelsea now face a 12-game struggle to qualify for next season's Champions League
      ​
      Wow..struggle to qualify for the CL, really? Which other team around them is..err.."flying" atm, or which other team is threatening to pull away from them?
      All Chelsea needs is a bit of luck and a bit of spark and that's it.

    • Celtiberico 27 February 2011 1:15AM

      The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge
      ​
      Ehh... How can I put this? If Mr. Hayward thinks that anyone at Chelsea apart from Abramovich has power in the first place, then he really needs to catch up with current events.
      Ask Jose Mourinho, for one...

    • NickMerriCoed 27 February 2011 1:27AM

      After the double winning winning heroics of last season it was going to take a tremendous mental effort to up their game yet again,especially after what was a draining World Cup for all their representatives.
      Terry and Lampard especially look haunted by the vague memories of uncatchable Germans

    • PaulinJapan 27 February 2011 1:29AM

      Drogba has always been a Jekyll and Hyde figure, capable of devastating goalscoring in one game, total anonymity in the next.
      Personally, I can't stand his prima donna antics and the fact that despite a huge salary it is quite clear that in some games he can hardly be bothered. I have also heard though that (in Smashie & Nicey fashion) he does "a lot of work for charity" in Africa. But he's still a twat.

    • nzkop 27 February 2011 1:32AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      Bit like Rooney, he has been given a lot of latitude by the media and those around him have made them look better than they are.
      His pace was always lacking and it always surprised me how forwards and managers didn't attack that weak part of his game more.
      I think Chelsea's decline is more to do with the fading force of Lampard, particularly in the tight games.
      He has been a 20+ goal a season midfielder, which is phenomenal but injuries, age and changes of tactics means his effectiveness has been reduced this season.
      A bit like Manu/Liverpool their midfield quality has slowly been erodrd by inferior players coming in. Hope fully Liverpool are now reversing the trent.

    • LLCoolCal 27 February 2011 1:46AM

      He's not been called DDD -Diving Didier Drogba for nothing
      I have never ever watched a player who does so much whining, diving and arguing with the referee- Anleka is 10 times more the better player than Drogba

    • adross 27 February 2011 1:49AM

      Paul Hayward, your lexical choices are carnivalesque. True jouissance.

    • Zaid216 27 February 2011 1:58AM

      I feel genuinely sorry for the author here. I'm sure he doesn't want to have to write yet another Chelsea article but with the United game coming up, he is probably required to meet a deadline.
      Chelsea are in transition. That's about it. It might take a couple of years. It might all click next season. We might even win the Champions League this year. Who knows.
      In other Chelsea news, Ashley Cole just shot a student with an air rifle. You really couldn't make it up. Can we have a blog about that? That would be epic.

    • Zaid216 27 February 2011 2:02AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      ​
      Anelka is 10 times more the better player than Drogba
      ​
      Supporters of other teams don't really watch Chelsea often, do they?

    • dunf2562 27 February 2011 2:32AM

      Didier Drogba, Wegner's one that got away.
      What might Arsenal have achieved in the last few seasons with him returning 25 goals a season instead of terrifying them and scoring against them for fun?

    • RedChink 27 February 2011 2:43AM

      "...Abramovich possesses a nucleus of players under 28 to lead the team out of the TerryLampard&#8209;Drogba era...." - He may well possess these players but they are no where near good enough as a whole.

    • joostice 27 February 2011 2:57AM

      Cashley just shot a someone with an air rifle. What a tool.
      He should have stayed under Wenger's tutelage; he would have developed into a world-class left-back.

    • FourTwoThreeOne 27 February 2011 3:11AM

      Drogba & Terry's clout on the wane?
      i'm sure Ashley Cole is itching to be shot of them, so he can take it upon himself to fire up the team in their absence. even if some of the other players have lost their ambition, Cole seems to still be gunning for more trophies.....

    • 3party 27 February 2011 3:27AM

      This article is what they call a pot-boiler. And there is much less to it than meets the eye.

    • arsebook 27 February 2011 3:29AM

      Like Cole says, the one thing most of them haven't won is the Champions League. Ancelloti knows that competition well. More tactical. Don't quite need the speed you need in England. They're out of the other competitions. They will go balls to the wall for it. Have to be one of the favorites. Probably finalists at least.

    • GCBN 27 February 2011 3:38AM

      "aristocratic"? Have I really just read that word in relation to Terry, Lampard, Cole, and all those other unsavoury, utterly dislikeable, individuals?

    • OssieStillKing 27 February 2011 3:52AM

      Every 32 year old outfield player ought to realize their days at the top level of the game are numbered. But before you toss the dirt on them, this was a World Cup year and Drogba had malaria. Anyone who says they are completely done doesn't remember August, September and October very well.
      Should they ever get to hit reset on their health, they might have another campaign of consequence or two left in them. The future clearly belongs to the next generation of players mentioned but the idea that there is some disgrace in that fact is silly. I'm sure the less reflective players will take it as a blow to the ego but really...
      as a piece of Kremlinology, it seems to take the most dramatic, operatic view of the situation with no new facts to back it up. I take it it was filed before Ashley's latest demonstration of why he will always be a punchline was made public. Now _there_ is a soap opera worth recounting.

    • AmbrosiusBocanegra 27 February 2011 4:04AM

      Weird season for Chelski huh - Personally I was certain in the beginning of the season they were gonna win the league relatively easy, and destroy every opposition in the CL - And they started in fine form, scoring 3, 4, 5 in every game for a couple of months - The "old guard" looked better than one could ever have guessed they would (I never liked any of them for whatever that's worth: always found Lampard and Terry hugely overrated) - But what's up with the long winter depression? - It wasn't like two, three games, but like two, three months of crap display - They were never as dull as United were during the first 4 months of this season, though, but still with a total lack of flair and joy, it was almost you had to doublecheck Mourinho wasn't back in the dugout 😉 - Of course there will be a generational transition, that's not news, but what about Ancelotti's role? - He's such a fine character; even for someone who doesn't like Chelsea and Abramovich, one wishes for the Italian to be capable of working himself out of this in a nice way

    • ArsenalKL 27 February 2011 4:15AM

      I can't stand the guy, Drogba, for many of the reasons posted above, but his bout with malaria should be more heavily emphasized. Toure suffered the same illness in his last season at the Emirates and his performances were often woeful. Only now has he looked properly recovered. Unfortunately for Man City fans his advanced age restricts the extent of his return.
      Drogba will require another 6 months at least, but, as with Kolo, his age will never allow him to return to the levels once achieved.
      All of this "dismantling" insight is old news. Chelsea play slow. Period. Age brings experience but speed and stamina diminish at an alarming rate.
      Can imagine Drogba, in France, enjoying himself in the less physical and perhaps less pressurized environment.
      Only his ego will keep him from welcoming such a move...

    • eutherock 27 February 2011 4:21AM

      The youngest of the old guard mentioned here is 30, the oldest of the young turks supposedly gunning for change is 28. Instead of the broom Hayward seems to be suggesting, maybe it's more of a natural progression, bringing in younger players to play more matches, gradually replacing the aging ones. Much like any team.

    • ArsenalKL 27 February 2011 4:28AM

      dunf2562
      Didier Drogba, Wegner's one that got away. What might Arsenal have achieved in the last few seasons with him returning 25 goals a season instead of terrifying them and scoring against them for fun?

      We can only imagine, but I would suggest that he would go the way of Diarra and Adeboyer. Wenger wouldn't tolerate the Drogba attitude, ego and petulance Oil and water as they say.

    • gonzo69 27 February 2011 4:29AM

      Yet another example of Mr. Hayward's extraordinary talent for regurgitating thoughts already expressed elsewhere to mediocre effect. Yet again the content is contrived, poorly researched, and basically a waste of the readers time. You sir belong with Mr. Barclay at the Times and Mr. Winter at the Telegraph, as the shining lights of the sloppy, boring and down right wrong, every damn time, examples of lead sports writers for a broadsheet newspaper.... can everything be written by Sid Lowe, Jonathon Wilson or barney Rooney, if humour is appropriate&#8230;..

    • acumen2010 27 February 2011 4:53AM

      Gu journos are in decline/power wavering/'the times' is better etc... delete as appropriate

    • petrf 27 February 2011 5:37AM

      nirst79,
      the experience these key players bring cannot be underestimated.
      ​
      The problem at hand is the opposite. It's overestimating the value of that experience.
      It's a cliche but still, Mr. Hayward's right:
      power and influence desert all players in the end.
      ​
      If Chelsea are going to be better next year, how is the age of the "old guard" going to help? It's fine to propose that they'll all be happy to sit and watch more often, but it's another thing to think that Abramovich is going to be willing to let them do it on their current wages.

    • petrf 27 February 2011 5:47AM

      I think Chelsea's decline is more to do with the fading force of Lampard, particularly in the tight games.
      He has been a 20+ goal a season midfielder
      ​
      Because he was their penalty taker.
      His goals from open play number is good, but the penalties are close to 40% of the total most years, no?
      Replacing a slowing 12 goal a year midfielder is a different task from replacing a 20+ goal scorer.

    • BlueGregers 27 February 2011 6:11AM

      Take the first idea off the top of your head,
      just add;
      conjecture, opinion, exageration, misinformation and mix together with frequent jibes and slurs.
      Then roast for 48 on CIF....
      ...and you have the perfect Hayward article concerning anything about Chelsea.
      (research and facts are optional but may reduce the overall flavour of bitterness and aromatic stench of bullshit)

    • BrooklynLager 27 February 2011 6:24AM

      It would be a great loss if the "Old Guard" left Chelsea. What is football without inspiring great emotions, and I can't think of anyone who inspired more revulsion than this lot. Fernando Iscariot joining up with them only sweetens the disdain. I only pray they miss out on a top 4 spot to watch them truly meltdown into endless whinging.

    • Cleggaphobia 27 February 2011 6:28AM

      The article states only Cole will command top dollar. But if Cole ends up in prison for shooting that student, as he undoubtedly should, then his value will be considerably reduced.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 6:31AM

      John Terry (30), Frank Lampard (32), Didier Drogba (32) and Ashley Cole (30) are the foundation of Chelsea's three Premier League titles under Abramovich's patronage
      Cole wasn't even a Chelsea player when we won the first two titles...
      pertf
      Lampard's goal scoring form from open play is better than good... it's almost unparallelled. He has 163 goals in total as of now and if your statistic is as accurate as you believe (40%) and my Math serves me correctly, then that would mean he has scored over 60 goals from the spot kick for Chelsea... I doubt that.

    • PassionSux 27 February 2011 6:48AM

      Only Terry is known to have secured a clause in his contract guaranteeing at least parity with Chelsea's highest earner
      ​
      Mr Chelsea strikes again.

    • maurmer 27 February 2011 7:21AM

      You can just about bet your bottom dollar that every time there's an article either praising or criticising a team/player before a big match, then the result will be the opposite of the one the article told us to expect.
      It's been going on for years. Team wins four consecutive matches, big Sunday spread on the manager etc to be followed by perplexing 2-0 defeat. Look at all the articles on Barcelona on this very site in the days preceding the recent Arsenal match. You could have put the mortgage on them getting stuffed.
      So what do we have today?? Not one but TWO articles, the first stating how Chelsea's 30 -32 year olds are over the hill and the reason for thier relative failure this season, and the second article praising United's two 36/37 year olds for being the reason for United's success.
      Result on Tuesday. My money's on 4-0 to Chelsea with Drogba getting a brace, Lampard and Terry also on the scoresheet whilst Scholes sees red and Gigg's is substituted having been given the runaround by young Josh.

    • Tintin1 27 February 2011 7:39AM

      Joostice:
      "He should have stayed under Wenger's tutelage; he would have developed into a world-class left-back."
      Yes, and won all those trophies with them over the past 6 years!
      On Drogba, I think like most Chelsea fans I can't shake that feeling of ambivalence. He's not a diver - a rather primitive, unintelligent sideswipe - he's never been booked for diving as far as I know, but he does make even the slightest nudge look as though he's been shot with a semiautomatic in the back. It's this plus his other histrionics and petulance on the pitch that I can understand drives supporters of other teams mad and leaves CFC supporters gently weeping into their programs. I often wonder what it must be like as a player to have Drogba acting up - it must be a bit off putting.
      Think in the end would like to say thanks to Drogba for many good moments, but push off now, son, time's up.

    • petrf 27 February 2011 7:41AM

      GnySgtHartman,
      Last year he had 27 from all competitions, 10 from the spot. As of four years ago it was something like 16 of 92.
      That would be 26 from the spot excluding this year and two others roughly, and those two from his 20 goal years. He could have as many as 12 more from those two years - more than his early average, less than last year's. So less than 60, but possibly 38, a non-trivial part of the total.
      What's the gap from his goals from open play and the player(s) that replace him? Difficult, but not as dramatic as the 20+ number makes it look.

    • F0Xinthebox 27 February 2011 7:42AM

      There is a case for legitimate conjecture on the behind the scenes jostling at the Chels.The cull of Drogba from the first team must be a deeply political thing. He's clearly a dressing room enforcer. Look at how he muscled Lampard out of free kick duties and was well on his way to hijacking the penalties as well before the Tottenham miss quelled this aim. Anelka looked the most vulnerable when Torres was brought in, but a football decision is currently being taken. Ancelotti appears to be draining the influence from Drogba piecemeal and make no mistake he knows what happened to Scolari when he went down this road. Terry is next. I imagine Torres is taking some buffetings from Drogba loyalists but he knows these macho trials of strength are the last convulsions of this particular strain of political entitlement. Can't be fun though. Drogba won't go quietly.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 7:50AM

      Tintin1
      he's never been booked for diving as far as I know
      Off the top of my head I remember in his first season he was booked for diving against Villa at Villa Park when it should've been given as a penalty... it was a poor decision. Come to think of it the man has been denied an amazing amount of clearcut spot kicks over the years.
      Also, I believe he was booked for theatrics when he got in the way of someone's boot; was it Gibson?; when we played United at SB last season... another poor decision.
      Also, make no mistake... Whilst he was often his own worst enemy, he was also often made a scapgoat for all this playacting... there have been plenty before him and there will be plenty after him. He was often ridiculed for his behaviour, but I'm yet to see the likes of Beckham, Owen, Heskey, Torres, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Rooney, Pires come under the same scrutiny... If he played for the likes of Arsenal, Pool, or United he would've been absolutely revered in this country.

    • MattLeHoosque 27 February 2011 7:54AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      ​
      Those "much quicker" defenders have all benefited from Terry being there to do the defensive, tactical and organisational work for them.
      If central defence could be done by one "fast" defender then i'm sure there is a manager out there who would have done it.
      It isn't, so they haven't.
      Terry has seen a succession of "better" defensive partners come and go yet he is the one who outlasted them all for Chelsea.

    • Derk 27 February 2011 8:05AM

      Drogba is in decline, like all players whose athleticism is a key part of their game. Gerrard has been in decline for about 3 seasons and is nowhere near the player he was back then. Beckham was world class player at Man Utd when he has the stamina to run all over the pitch and once he lost his lung power went to world class to useful. Drogba was a forward who could occupy 4 defenders at the same time with his power, pace and finishing ability. But he has clearly slowed down and lost a lot of his physical power. People have used the malaria to explain away why he isn't as effective but he recovered several months ago. I think it is just natural decline because muscular players have a sharper decline with age.
      Just look at Shearer and Vieri two other powerful athletic muscular target men like Drogba, as soon as they hit 30 their quality went into free fall as muscle declines with age quicker than anything with a sports man.
      How did Terry get that in his contract, to be on par with the highest paid? Out of Lampard, Drogba, Cole and Essien I think Terry is the least important. I think Alex, Luiz and Ivanovic are better defenders.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 8:11AM

      petrf
      Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say 40 out of his 163 goals have been from the spot kick... that's still an impresive 120+ goals... from a midfielder... not to mention his impressive assist ratio; no one at the club has more assists than him. Unlike someone like Beckham, Lampard doesn't rely solely on set pieces; he has proven on too many occasions now that he is a major threat from open play, wheather it is scoring, or creating.
      Nevertheless, you shouldn't hold his spot kick ratio against him... You'll find that many great goal scorers were held responsible for spot kick duties... Shearer, Raul, RVN, Ronaldo, Henry, Tevez, etc...

    • Tintin1 27 February 2011 8:14AM

      GnySgtHartman
      How ironic - so he has been booked for diving when he wasn't actually diving. Anyway, I stand corrected.
      I take your point about if he played for the likes of Arsenal, Pool, or United he would be revered in this country - at the very least he'd be affectionately dissed like Spurs' Klinsmann.

    • ny1703 27 February 2011 8:36AM

      I had a brief exchange with a Guardian Contributor once, the ones with a big C next to their icon/moniker. This was immediately after Man City had received their lotto winnings. His view was that Chelsea had proved via the trophies they'd won that the strategy of throwing money about works. My opposing view was that anyone can ignore morals to amass untold wealth and chances are society would recognise them but without admiration nor respect and that it is only a matter of time that even this modicum of respect begins to fray at the edges. How very apt therefore that this topic should come up again now!
      Chelsea the working model of yester-few years suddenly imploding, Man City have made none of the impressions Mourinho made in his first season. Question therefore is, was it ever a proven working model?
      1. First of all look at who's throwing the money about! Old money would not spend to protect an original £700m-plus investment, otherwise we would still have Gordon Brown instead of big society Cameron and Clegg. More seriously, Tate & Lyle, still going strong after how many years, would have diversified into football, via West Ham, Hull or even Blackpool.
      2. Mourinho won the trophies for Chelsea rather than money, so arguably if City wanted to copy Chelsea's model, they needed one and only Mourinho who has proved his ability in this area at every club he's gone to.
      3. Josh McEachran may have the potential of Jack Wilshere, perhaps even more, but for now he sits on the bench whereas Jack was promoted ahead of established, and in one case a veteran, midfielders: Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson. And it was not the result of a fluke. Legend Vieira was moved on to accommodate Cesc Fabregas prompting the chant: Fabregas ooh oh, he's only 17, he' better than Roy Keane! Some may not have heard it because it was sang quietly but most harmoniously at a library nearby on a Sunday!
      4. "Mourinho manipulated him brilliantly, exploiting his need to be loved" is the worst patronising insult I've ever come across.
      5. And finally Drogba's malaria, the sort of comment I've now concluded is regularly reproduced on GU blogs because someone has worked out there's always a sucker like me who'd bite the bait. But anyone of minimal medical training, an auxiliary nurse for instance, would/should know that the major manifestations of this illness are a complete lack of energy and appetite. But, hey, it brings in comments, which goes back to my earlier assertion, what morals, when the bank manager is happy, who cares about society anyway?
      I'm currently working away from home so I don't know if people back home get the same TV as I do. I doubt it because last night Gary Lineker was advertising the Champions League show he presents on a channel that looked like Al Jezeera so I phoned home to ask if he is still on MoTD and apparently he is. But to go back to the old story, a tennis player collapsed on court earlier in the day yesterday. Diagnosis, malaria!
      Meanwhile Drogba's malaria symptoms appear to be an inability to find the net. He can run, he can eat, he just can't find the net. That's post-modernist malaria!

    • aliasboy 27 February 2011 8:59AM

      If this is typical of the quality today in the print version, I'd better get the Indy on Sunday. There are no new facts in this article (and few old ones either).
      A frustrating, yet magnificent and majestic athlete in full flow, Drogba still is a player who can rip a defence apart and win a match by himself.
      The only worrying thing for Chelsea is that Arsenal didn't have an Englishman in the regular first XI for 5 years and won nothing. Except for the superb McEachran, Chelsea are looking at a similar situation in the next couple of years. Terry, Lampard and Cole as Englishmen, as Londoners had a real understanding of what winning the league or the FA Cup means to a team like Chelsea.
      How about an article about which young English 'leaders' are coming through at which clubs?

    • aliasboy 27 February 2011 9:03AM

      And by the way
      Come on Birmingham!!!!
      (I detest Wenger more than almost anyone else in football)





 
Didier Drogba feels the heat of change at Chelsea

The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge and it seems likely the owner, Roman Abramovich, will soon make changes favouring younger players


  • Chelsea's Ivorian Didier Drogba applauds the fans at the final whistle against Copenhagen in the Champions League. Photograph: Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images Bubbling away in Roman Abramovich's 16-home, £11bn empire is the problem of what to do with the old guard. With Fernando Torres's £50m transfer from Liverpool, Chelsea's increasingly dictatorial owner has risked internal strife over the team's famously lavish wage structure and may use the issue this summer to purge the elderly.
    As a student of Kremlin politics (and an expert now in the acquisitiveness of Premier League footballers), Abramovich knew paying Torres £175,000 a week was bound to arouse the jealously of a swarm of players now striding into their 30s. John Terry (30), Frank Lampard (32), Didier Drogba (32) and Ashley Cole (30) are the foundation of Chelsea's three Premier League titles under Abramovich's patronage but their influence is waning.
    The defending champions, Chelsea now face a 12-game struggle to qualify for next season's Champions League – starting with Manchester United's visit on Tuesday. "It is not a good position for us, we know we have to do better, we want to do better," Cole says. "We are out of the FA Cup, the Carling Cup, we're never going to give up on the league but the Champions League is probably now the main focus for us to win because obviously not many people here have won that one."
    Torres was not hired specifically to annoy the powerful dressing-room cabal who have shaped the club's fortunes since José Mourinho arrived in 2004. But his arrival will hasten the break-up of a mighty core. Only Terry is known to have secured a clause in his contract guaranteeing at least parity with Chelsea's highest earner but Lampard, Drogba and Cole would not appreciate being heavily outpaid by a new player who is currently living off old glories.
    If Abramovich wants a clear-out, this is his chance. Over the past fortnight there have been clear signals that Terry is no longer an automatic choice at centre-back and that Drogba will be used as back-up to Torres and Anelka in a new 4-4-2 formation. Drogba accompanied Torres against Liverpool on the latter's debut but was then dropped for the game at Fulham, restored for an FA Cup fourth-round replay against Everton and demoted again for the midweek Champions League trip to Copenhagen.
    Chelsea's improved display in Denmark prompted Carlo Ancelotti to say: "The key to this game was the good movement up front from Nicolas Anelka and Fernando Torres. We played quick up front to avoid the pressing and this why I say we played with intelligence." Of Torres, he said: "He shouldn't lose confidence because he didn't score. He played very played good for the team. What was important was his movement with Anelka and it was a good combination and I am happy."
    Officially Ancelotti will choose his strikers game by game but as the team prepare to confront the league leaders there is no disguising the probable end of Drogba's 240-game stay in London. As Abramovich renews his spending drive to protect his original £700m-plus investment, Drobga is more vulnerable than his ageing comrades. Dumping "The Drog" would enable Ancelotti to alter the team's whole pattern of play away from Drogba-inspired directness in favour of a quicker, subtler style more in keeping with the current fashion.
    Even before Torres decamped from Liverpool, Chelsea's annual wage bill was £172.5m, or 82% of turnover, on losses of £70.9m. Uefa's new financial limits on club will provide an incentive and an excuse for Abramovich to correct his own error in allowing an aristocratic squad to grow old together. The scale of his spending in January – £70m on Torres and the centre-back David Luiz – suggests a willingness to take draconian action to stop Chelsea slipping behind Manchester City and Spurs in the bigger contest with Man Utd and Arsenal.
    David Luiz is 23, Torres 26, Petr Cech still only 28, the improving Ramires 23 and Branislav Ivanovic, who has just signed a new deal, 26. Salomon Kalou, who lives a charmed life, is 25. Mikel John Obi, at 23, has reached a point where many who thought he would be the next great defensive midfielder are now saying he has failed to train on. But with Josh McEachran (17) emerging as Chelsea's Jack Wilshere, Abramovich possesses a nucleus of players under 28 to lead the team out of the TerryLampard&#8209;Drogba era.
    How fast that procession moves may depend on the attitude of those senior figures when the current desperate mission to preserve Champions League status is over. None has the market value of two years ago, when Terry was being chased by Manchester City and Lampard apparently had the option of going wherever Mourinho went next. Cole would still command top dollar and Drogba would be coveted by most Premier League managers. More likely than a move across England, though, would be a return to Europe: possibly Marseille. In his autobiography he writes of Zinedine Zidane's birthplace less as an alma mater than as a kind of womb, which he was grief-stricken to leave.
    Chelsea without Drogba would delight centre-backs who sport bruises from trying to stop him, physios who run on to the pitch in a permanent state of confusion about whether he is actually injured or just being a drama queen and officials at the club who have to clean up after his outbursts.
    Drogba's "It's a disgrace" tirade at the cameras after the inept refereeing of Tom Henning Ovrebo in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona in 2009 was turned into an excellent rap video, and was one of many occasions when the Ivory Coast's most famous sportsman has revived the spirit of J'Accuse to make a melodramatic point.
    He stirs disdain in opposition spectators and a particularly complex ambivalence among his own team's fans, who see him as the embodiment of Mourinho's determined, forceful style but also as a self-server who placed his own irritation with Nemanja Vidic in a Champions League final ahead of the club's raging urge to land the prize. Drogba's face-slap on Vidic in Moscow removed him from the subsequent penalty shoot-out and remains the low point in a history of self-indulgence.
    But what a D-shaped hole he will leave. Obituaries will doubtless feature his deliberate handballs against Fulham and Manchester City a few seasons back, his swiftly retracted diving confession on the BBC and his constant threats to flee. When Mourinho was ousted, Drogba told France Football: "I want to leave Chelsea. Something is broken with Chelsea. The damage is big in the dressing room."
    Mourinho manipulated him brilliantly, exploiting his need to be loved but also recognising his courage in the face of provocation, his willingness to fight for his place, under the right conditions. At half-time in one game Mourinho instructed his players to pass only to Andriy Shevchenko because "Didier is having trouble keeping hold of it". He also accused his senior striker of "betrayal" when news of supposedly chance encounters with officials at rival clubs floated back to Stamford Bridge.
    No Chelsea manager since has devoted so much energy to keeping Drogba productive and happy. Luiz Felipe Scolari, who later bemoaned the team's "bureaucratic" or mechanical style, pushed him to the margins, but there was a rebirth under Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti, who extracted 37 goals from him in 2009-10. The Golden Boot and a Premier League-FA Cup double (he scored the winner against Portsmouth) will be the final adornments to his seven years in blue unless the old guard can finally land the Champions League title, at Wembley in May.
    Mourinho once said of Drogba: "He is the kind of player I would tell: 'With you I could go to every war.'" Playing through a bout of malaria is ample proof of his fortitude. But power and influence desert all players in the end. Just as Scolari preferred Anelka as a lone striker so Ancelotti now favours Torres and Anelka to shake this Chelsea team from its tightness and torpor.
    When the scrabbling to rescue a campaign that started with the Premier League and FA Cup trophies in hand is over the old guard will assess their political strength and make what demands they still can of Abramovich. Plainly Terry is no longer Mr Chelsea with an automatic right to call the shots. New faces, fresh talents, are taking over. When Terry urged his colleagues to "man up", the phrase "man down" also leapt to mind. In the queue to be the first casualty, Drogba is where he plays: right at the front.

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    Didier Drogba feels the heat of change at Chelsea | Paul Hayward

    This article appeared on p10 of the Observer Sport section of the Observer on Sunday 27 February 2011. It was published on guardian.co.uk at 00.07 GMT on Sunday 27 February 2011. It was last modified at 00.14 GMT on Sunday 27 February 2011.
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    • MawalTrees 27 February 2011 12:23AM

      The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge and it seems likely the owner, Roman Abramovich, will soon make changes favouring younger players
      ​
      It's astonishing one can earn a living offering this level of insight. Hmmm changing older players for newer ones. Chelsea must really be pushing the boundaries.

    • nirst79 27 February 2011 1:06AM

      Honestly - what a load of nonsense. You've extrapoloated a single game where Anelka and Torres played quite well together against a rusty, weaker opposition into the 'future of Chelsea'. Quite right, the team needs to move on and prepare for the future, and younger players are obviously the way to do that. Drogba, Terry and Lampard are hardly 'over the hill' however. Each of them have had injuries or illness this season and those injuries happened to coincide with the slump Chelsea have had - perhaps evidence that they contribute a huge amount to this team despite their age.
      I'm excited about the younger players who show promise, but the experience these key players bring cannot be underestimated. I'd be surprised if any of those three leave in the summer. They may warm the bench a little more frequently, but they're important to the next few years of Chelsea's success.

    • sujay7pires 27 February 2011 1:08AM

      The defending champions, Chelsea now face a 12-game struggle to qualify for next season's Champions League
      ​
      Wow..struggle to qualify for the CL, really? Which other team around them is..err.."flying" atm, or which other team is threatening to pull away from them?
      All Chelsea needs is a bit of luck and a bit of spark and that's it.

    • Celtiberico 27 February 2011 1:15AM

      The Ivorian striker and the old guard are losing power at Stamford Bridge
      ​
      Ehh... How can I put this? If Mr. Hayward thinks that anyone at Chelsea apart from Abramovich has power in the first place, then he really needs to catch up with current events.
      Ask Jose Mourinho, for one...

    • NickMerriCoed 27 February 2011 1:27AM

      After the double winning winning heroics of last season it was going to take a tremendous mental effort to up their game yet again,especially after what was a draining World Cup for all their representatives.
      Terry and Lampard especially look haunted by the vague memories of uncatchable Germans

    • PaulinJapan 27 February 2011 1:29AM

      Drogba has always been a Jekyll and Hyde figure, capable of devastating goalscoring in one game, total anonymity in the next.
      Personally, I can't stand his prima donna antics and the fact that despite a huge salary it is quite clear that in some games he can hardly be bothered. I have also heard though that (in Smashie & Nicey fashion) he does "a lot of work for charity" in Africa. But he's still a twat.

    • nzkop 27 February 2011 1:32AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      Bit like Rooney, he has been given a lot of latitude by the media and those around him have made them look better than they are.
      His pace was always lacking and it always surprised me how forwards and managers didn't attack that weak part of his game more.
      I think Chelsea's decline is more to do with the fading force of Lampard, particularly in the tight games.
      He has been a 20+ goal a season midfielder, which is phenomenal but injuries, age and changes of tactics means his effectiveness has been reduced this season.
      A bit like Manu/Liverpool their midfield quality has slowly been erodrd by inferior players coming in. Hope fully Liverpool are now reversing the trent.

    • LLCoolCal 27 February 2011 1:46AM

      He's not been called DDD -Diving Didier Drogba for nothing
      I have never ever watched a player who does so much whining, diving and arguing with the referee- Anleka is 10 times more the better player than Drogba

    • adross 27 February 2011 1:49AM

      Paul Hayward, your lexical choices are carnivalesque. True jouissance.

    • Zaid216 27 February 2011 1:58AM

      I feel genuinely sorry for the author here. I'm sure he doesn't want to have to write yet another Chelsea article but with the United game coming up, he is probably required to meet a deadline.
      Chelsea are in transition. That's about it. It might take a couple of years. It might all click next season. We might even win the Champions League this year. Who knows.
      In other Chelsea news, Ashley Cole just shot a student with an air rifle. You really couldn't make it up. Can we have a blog about that? That would be epic.

    • Zaid216 27 February 2011 2:02AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      ​
      Anelka is 10 times more the better player than Drogba
      ​
      Supporters of other teams don't really watch Chelsea often, do they?

    • dunf2562 27 February 2011 2:32AM

      Didier Drogba, Wegner's one that got away.
      What might Arsenal have achieved in the last few seasons with him returning 25 goals a season instead of terrifying them and scoring against them for fun?

    • RedChink 27 February 2011 2:43AM

      "...Abramovich possesses a nucleus of players under 28 to lead the team out of the TerryLampard&#8209;Drogba era...." - He may well possess these players but they are no where near good enough as a whole.

    • joostice 27 February 2011 2:57AM

      Cashley just shot a someone with an air rifle. What a tool.
      He should have stayed under Wenger's tutelage; he would have developed into a world-class left-back.

    • FourTwoThreeOne 27 February 2011 3:11AM

      Drogba & Terry's clout on the wane?
      i'm sure Ashley Cole is itching to be shot of them, so he can take it upon himself to fire up the team in their absence. even if some of the other players have lost their ambition, Cole seems to still be gunning for more trophies.....

    • 3party 27 February 2011 3:27AM

      This article is what they call a pot-boiler. And there is much less to it than meets the eye.

    • arsebook 27 February 2011 3:29AM

      Like Cole says, the one thing most of them haven't won is the Champions League. Ancelloti knows that competition well. More tactical. Don't quite need the speed you need in England. They're out of the other competitions. They will go balls to the wall for it. Have to be one of the favorites. Probably finalists at least.

    • GCBN 27 February 2011 3:38AM

      "aristocratic"? Have I really just read that word in relation to Terry, Lampard, Cole, and all those other unsavoury, utterly dislikeable, individuals?

    • OssieStillKing 27 February 2011 3:52AM

      Every 32 year old outfield player ought to realize their days at the top level of the game are numbered. But before you toss the dirt on them, this was a World Cup year and Drogba had malaria. Anyone who says they are completely done doesn't remember August, September and October very well.
      Should they ever get to hit reset on their health, they might have another campaign of consequence or two left in them. The future clearly belongs to the next generation of players mentioned but the idea that there is some disgrace in that fact is silly. I'm sure the less reflective players will take it as a blow to the ego but really...
      as a piece of Kremlinology, it seems to take the most dramatic, operatic view of the situation with no new facts to back it up. I take it it was filed before Ashley's latest demonstration of why he will always be a punchline was made public. Now _there_ is a soap opera worth recounting.

    • AmbrosiusBocanegra 27 February 2011 4:04AM

      Weird season for Chelski huh - Personally I was certain in the beginning of the season they were gonna win the league relatively easy, and destroy every opposition in the CL - And they started in fine form, scoring 3, 4, 5 in every game for a couple of months - The "old guard" looked better than one could ever have guessed they would (I never liked any of them for whatever that's worth: always found Lampard and Terry hugely overrated) - But what's up with the long winter depression? - It wasn't like two, three games, but like two, three months of crap display - They were never as dull as United were during the first 4 months of this season, though, but still with a total lack of flair and joy, it was almost you had to doublecheck Mourinho wasn't back in the dugout 😉 - Of course there will be a generational transition, that's not news, but what about Ancelotti's role? - He's such a fine character; even for someone who doesn't like Chelsea and Abramovich, one wishes for the Italian to be capable of working himself out of this in a nice way

    • ArsenalKL 27 February 2011 4:15AM

      I can't stand the guy, Drogba, for many of the reasons posted above, but his bout with malaria should be more heavily emphasized. Toure suffered the same illness in his last season at the Emirates and his performances were often woeful. Only now has he looked properly recovered. Unfortunately for Man City fans his advanced age restricts the extent of his return.
      Drogba will require another 6 months at least, but, as with Kolo, his age will never allow him to return to the levels once achieved.
      All of this "dismantling" insight is old news. Chelsea play slow. Period. Age brings experience but speed and stamina diminish at an alarming rate.
      Can imagine Drogba, in France, enjoying himself in the less physical and perhaps less pressurized environment.
      Only his ego will keep him from welcoming such a move...

    • eutherock 27 February 2011 4:21AM

      The youngest of the old guard mentioned here is 30, the oldest of the young turks supposedly gunning for change is 28. Instead of the broom Hayward seems to be suggesting, maybe it's more of a natural progression, bringing in younger players to play more matches, gradually replacing the aging ones. Much like any team.

    • ArsenalKL 27 February 2011 4:28AM

      dunf2562
      Didier Drogba, Wegner's one that got away. What might Arsenal have achieved in the last few seasons with him returning 25 goals a season instead of terrifying them and scoring against them for fun?

      We can only imagine, but I would suggest that he would go the way of Diarra and Adeboyer. Wenger wouldn't tolerate the Drogba attitude, ego and petulance Oil and water as they say.

    • gonzo69 27 February 2011 4:29AM

      Yet another example of Mr. Hayward’s extraordinary talent for regurgitating thoughts already expressed elsewhere to mediocre effect. Yet again the content is contrived, poorly researched, and basically a waste of the readers time. You sir belong with Mr. Barclay at the Times and Mr. Winter at the Telegraph, as the shining lights of the sloppy, boring and down right wrong, every damn time, examples of lead sports writers for a broadsheet newspaper.... can everything be written by Sid Lowe, Jonathon Wilson or barney Rooney, if humour is appropriate…..

    • acumen2010 27 February 2011 4:53AM

      Gu journos are in decline/power wavering/'the times' is better etc... delete as appropriate

    • petrf 27 February 2011 5:37AM

      nirst79,
      the experience these key players bring cannot be underestimated.
      ​
      The problem at hand is the opposite. It's overestimating the value of that experience.
      It's a cliche but still, Mr. Hayward's right:
      power and influence desert all players in the end.
      ​
      If Chelsea are going to be better next year, how is the age of the "old guard" going to help? It's fine to propose that they'll all be happy to sit and watch more often, but it's another thing to think that Abramovich is going to be willing to let them do it on their current wages.

    • petrf 27 February 2011 5:47AM

      I think Chelsea's decline is more to do with the fading force of Lampard, particularly in the tight games.
      He has been a 20+ goal a season midfielder
      ​
      Because he was their penalty taker.
      His goals from open play number is good, but the penalties are close to 40% of the total most years, no?
      Replacing a slowing 12 goal a year midfielder is a different task from replacing a 20+ goal scorer.

    • BlueGregers 27 February 2011 6:11AM

      Take the first idea off the top of your head,
      just add;
      conjecture, opinion, exageration, misinformation and mix together with frequent jibes and slurs.
      Then roast for 48 on CIF....
      ...and you have the perfect Hayward article concerning anything about Chelsea.
      (research and facts are optional but may reduce the overall flavour of bitterness and aromatic stench of bullshit)

    • BrooklynLager 27 February 2011 6:24AM

      It would be a great loss if the "Old Guard" left Chelsea. What is football without inspiring great emotions, and I can't think of anyone who inspired more revulsion than this lot. Fernando Iscariot joining up with them only sweetens the disdain. I only pray they miss out on a top 4 spot to watch them truly meltdown into endless whinging.

    • Cleggaphobia 27 February 2011 6:28AM

      The article states only Cole will command top dollar. But if Cole ends up in prison for shooting that student, as he undoubtedly should, then his value will be considerably reduced.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 6:31AM

      John Terry (30), Frank Lampard (32), Didier Drogba (32) and Ashley Cole (30) are the foundation of Chelsea's three Premier League titles under Abramovich's patronage
      Cole wasn't even a Chelsea player when we won the first two titles...
      pertf
      Lampard's goal scoring form from open play is better than good... it's almost unparallelled. He has 163 goals in total as of now and if your statistic is as accurate as you believe (40%) and my Math serves me correctly, then that would mean he has scored over 60 goals from the spot kick for Chelsea... I doubt that.

    • PassionSux 27 February 2011 6:48AM

      Only Terry is known to have secured a clause in his contract guaranteeing at least parity with Chelsea's highest earner
      ​
      Mr Chelsea strikes again.

    • maurmer 27 February 2011 7:21AM

      You can just about bet your bottom dollar that every time there's an article either praising or criticising a team/player before a big match, then the result will be the opposite of the one the article told us to expect.
      It's been going on for years. Team wins four consecutive matches, big Sunday spread on the manager etc to be followed by perplexing 2-0 defeat. Look at all the articles on Barcelona on this very site in the days preceding the recent Arsenal match. You could have put the mortgage on them getting stuffed.
      So what do we have today?? Not one but TWO articles, the first stating how Chelsea's 30 -32 year olds are over the hill and the reason for thier relative failure this season, and the second article praising United's two 36/37 year olds for being the reason for United's success.
      Result on Tuesday. My money's on 4-0 to Chelsea with Drogba getting a brace, Lampard and Terry also on the scoresheet whilst Scholes sees red and Gigg's is substituted having been given the runaround by young Josh.

    • Tintin1 27 February 2011 7:39AM

      Joostice:
      "He should have stayed under Wenger's tutelage; he would have developed into a world-class left-back."
      Yes, and won all those trophies with them over the past 6 years!
      On Drogba, I think like most Chelsea fans I can't shake that feeling of ambivalence. He's not a diver - a rather primitive, unintelligent sideswipe - he's never been booked for diving as far as I know, but he does make even the slightest nudge look as though he's been shot with a semiautomatic in the back. It's this plus his other histrionics and petulance on the pitch that I can understand drives supporters of other teams mad and leaves CFC supporters gently weeping into their programs. I often wonder what it must be like as a player to have Drogba acting up - it must be a bit off putting.
      Think in the end would like to say thanks to Drogba for many good moments, but push off now, son, time's up.

    • petrf 27 February 2011 7:41AM

      GnySgtHartman,
      Last year he had 27 from all competitions, 10 from the spot. As of four years ago it was something like 16 of 92.
      That would be 26 from the spot excluding this year and two others roughly, and those two from his 20 goal years. He could have as many as 12 more from those two years - more than his early average, less than last year's. So less than 60, but possibly 38, a non-trivial part of the total.
      What's the gap from his goals from open play and the player(s) that replace him? Difficult, but not as dramatic as the 20+ number makes it look.

    • F0Xinthebox 27 February 2011 7:42AM

      There is a case for legitimate conjecture on the behind the scenes jostling at the Chels.The cull of Drogba from the first team must be a deeply political thing. He's clearly a dressing room enforcer. Look at how he muscled Lampard out of free kick duties and was well on his way to hijacking the penalties as well before the Tottenham miss quelled this aim. Anelka looked the most vulnerable when Torres was brought in, but a football decision is currently being taken. Ancelotti appears to be draining the influence from Drogba piecemeal and make no mistake he knows what happened to Scolari when he went down this road. Terry is next. I imagine Torres is taking some buffetings from Drogba loyalists but he knows these macho trials of strength are the last convulsions of this particular strain of political entitlement. Can't be fun though. Drogba won't go quietly.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 7:50AM

      Tintin1
      he's never been booked for diving as far as I know
      Off the top of my head I remember in his first season he was booked for diving against Villa at Villa Park when it should've been given as a penalty... it was a poor decision. Come to think of it the man has been denied an amazing amount of clearcut spot kicks over the years.
      Also, I believe he was booked for theatrics when he got in the way of someone's boot; was it Gibson?; when we played United at SB last season... another poor decision.
      Also, make no mistake... Whilst he was often his own worst enemy, he was also often made a scapgoat for all this playacting... there have been plenty before him and there will be plenty after him. He was often ridiculed for his behaviour, but I'm yet to see the likes of Beckham, Owen, Heskey, Torres, Gerrard, Ronaldo, Rooney, Pires come under the same scrutiny... If he played for the likes of Arsenal, Pool, or United he would've been absolutely revered in this country.

    • MattLeHoosque 27 February 2011 7:54AM

      Terry has always benefited from better and much quicker defenders around him throughout his career.
      ​
      Those "much quicker" defenders have all benefited from Terry being there to do the defensive, tactical and organisational work for them.
      If central defence could be done by one "fast" defender then i'm sure there is a manager out there who would have done it.
      It isn't, so they haven't.
      Terry has seen a succession of "better" defensive partners come and go yet he is the one who outlasted them all for Chelsea.

    • Derk 27 February 2011 8:05AM

      Drogba is in decline, like all players whose athleticism is a key part of their game. Gerrard has been in decline for about 3 seasons and is nowhere near the player he was back then. Beckham was world class player at Man Utd when he has the stamina to run all over the pitch and once he lost his lung power went to world class to useful. Drogba was a forward who could occupy 4 defenders at the same time with his power, pace and finishing ability. But he has clearly slowed down and lost a lot of his physical power. People have used the malaria to explain away why he isn't as effective but he recovered several months ago. I think it is just natural decline because muscular players have a sharper decline with age.
      Just look at Shearer and Vieri two other powerful athletic muscular target men like Drogba, as soon as they hit 30 their quality went into free fall as muscle declines with age quicker than anything with a sports man.
      How did Terry get that in his contract, to be on par with the highest paid? Out of Lampard, Drogba, Cole and Essien I think Terry is the least important. I think Alex, Luiz and Ivanovic are better defenders.

    • GnySgtHartman 27 February 2011 8:11AM

      petrf
      Let's give you the benefit of the doubt and say 40 out of his 163 goals have been from the spot kick... that's still an impresive 120+ goals... from a midfielder... not to mention his impressive assist ratio; no one at the club has more assists than him. Unlike someone like Beckham, Lampard doesn't rely solely on set pieces; he has proven on too many occasions now that he is a major threat from open play, wheather it is scoring, or creating.
      Nevertheless, you shouldn't hold his spot kick ratio against him... You'll find that many great goal scorers were held responsible for spot kick duties... Shearer, Raul, RVN, Ronaldo, Henry, Tevez, etc...

    • Tintin1 27 February 2011 8:14AM

      GnySgtHartman
      How ironic - so he has been booked for diving when he wasn't actually diving. Anyway, I stand corrected.
      I take your point about if he played for the likes of Arsenal, Pool, or United he would be revered in this country - at the very least he'd be affectionately dissed like Spurs' Klinsmann.

    • ny1703 27 February 2011 8:36AM

      I had a brief exchange with a Guardian Contributor once, the ones with a big C next to their icon/moniker. This was immediately after Man City had received their lotto winnings. His view was that Chelsea had proved via the trophies they'd won that the strategy of throwing money about works. My opposing view was that anyone can ignore morals to amass untold wealth and chances are society would recognise them but without admiration nor respect and that it is only a matter of time that even this modicum of respect begins to fray at the edges. How very apt therefore that this topic should come up again now!
      Chelsea the working model of yester-few years suddenly imploding, Man City have made none of the impressions Mourinho made in his first season. Question therefore is, was it ever a proven working model?
      1. First of all look at who's throwing the money about! Old money would not spend to protect an original £700m-plus investment, otherwise we would still have Gordon Brown instead of big society Cameron and Clegg. More seriously, Tate & Lyle, still going strong after how many years, would have diversified into football, via West Ham, Hull or even Blackpool.
      2. Mourinho won the trophies for Chelsea rather than money, so arguably if City wanted to copy Chelsea's model, they needed one and only Mourinho who has proved his ability in this area at every club he's gone to.
      3. Josh McEachran may have the potential of Jack Wilshere, perhaps even more, but for now he sits on the bench whereas Jack was promoted ahead of established, and in one case a veteran, midfielders: Rosicky, Diaby, Denilson. And it was not the result of a fluke. Legend Vieira was moved on to accommodate Cesc Fabregas prompting the chant: Fabregas ooh oh, he's only 17, he' better than Roy Keane! Some may not have heard it because it was sang quietly but most harmoniously at a library nearby on a Sunday!
      4. "Mourinho manipulated him brilliantly, exploiting his need to be loved" is the worst patronising insult I've ever come across.
      5. And finally Drogba's malaria, the sort of comment I've now concluded is regularly reproduced on GU blogs because someone has worked out there's always a sucker like me who'd bite the bait. But anyone of minimal medical training, an auxiliary nurse for instance, would/should know that the major manifestations of this illness are a complete lack of energy and appetite. But, hey, it brings in comments, which goes back to my earlier assertion, what morals, when the bank manager is happy, who cares about society anyway?
      I'm currently working away from home so I don't know if people back home get the same TV as I do. I doubt it because last night Gary Lineker was advertising the Champions League show he presents on a channel that looked like Al Jezeera so I phoned home to ask if he is still on MoTD and apparently he is. But to go back to the old story, a tennis player collapsed on court earlier in the day yesterday. Diagnosis, malaria!
      Meanwhile Drogba's malaria symptoms appear to be an inability to find the net. He can run, he can eat, he just can't find the net. That's post-modernist malaria!

    • aliasboy 27 February 2011 8:59AM

      If this is typical of the quality today in the print version, I'd better get the Indy on Sunday. There are no new facts in this article (and few old ones either).
      A frustrating, yet magnificent and majestic athlete in full flow, Drogba still is a player who can rip a defence apart and win a match by himself.
      The only worrying thing for Chelsea is that Arsenal didn't have an Englishman in the regular first XI for 5 years and won nothing. Except for the superb McEachran, Chelsea are looking at a similar situation in the next couple of years. Terry, Lampard and Cole as Englishmen, as Londoners had a real understanding of what winning the league or the FA Cup means to a team like Chelsea.
      How about an article about which young English 'leaders' are coming through at which clubs?

    • aliasboy 27 February 2011 9:03AM

      And by the way
      Come on Birmingham!!!!
      (I detest Wenger more than almost anyone else in football)





 
German Bundesliga Roundup, Feb. 27






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Updated Feb 27, 2011 11:56 AM ET
Tamas Hajnal secured a 2-0 victory for 10-man Stuttgart at Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on Sunday, condemning the hosts to a fourth straight home defeat.

 Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats Scores | Fixtures | Table | Stats

Hajnal lobbed the ball over the advancing Ralf Faehrmann in the 67th minute, three minutes after Martin Harnik had opened the scoring for Stuttgart.
Stuttgart's captain, Matthieu Delpierre, was sent off in the 15th, when he barged into Maik Franz as Zdravko Kuzmanovic was waiting to take a Stuttgart free kick.
With ten games remaining, Stuttgart - the 2007 champion - remains second from bottom, two points from safety.
Frankfurt, still to score a goal in 2011, drops to 13th.
Werder Bremen, two points ahead of Stuttgart, hosts second-place Bayer Leverkusen in the late game.



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