For the past four seasons at Stamford Bridge it has been the Ivorian Didier Drogba atop the Chelsea eleven leading the attack. Without question he has been the most dominating force in front of goal for the Blues.
How the mighty have fallen.
A coaching change, a lingering injury, and a looming suspension have left Drogba kicking his boots against the bench instead of looking for the back of the net.
After sitting out for a month with a knee injury suffered against Cluj in the Champions League he has struggled to find the form that made him a prolific striker.
Shades of his former self appeared against Burnley as he opened the scoring for the Blues, only to be booked for tossing a coin back in to the stands, for which it seems he will receive a mandatory three match ban from the FA.
Then, in what could be his last game prior to suspension, he watched for 75 minutes Saturday as his replacement, Nicolas Anelka, notched his sixth and seventh goals in four matches.
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Anelka, to his own credit, has been nothing short of amazing so far this campaign. He has found the back of the net 12 times in 13 league games and added another in Champions League play.
Under the reign of Luiz Felipe Scolari Anelka has been able to shine. With the focus more on flowing football, with short effective passing more prominent than deep balls, Anelka has put on a clinic for each opposing team.
His domination of the league has placed Drogba on the outside looking in, for more than a little while, it would seem. Both strikers are the solitary type: They prefer to patrol the box alone, and it seems would not do too well sharing.
Assistant first-team coach Ray Wilkins expects nothing short of a battle between the two in the coming months.
Wilkins said: "I think the system we play—with one central striker—suits them both down to the ground. Using 4-4-2 would only come in to play if we were losing, although I wouldn't fancy playing against them both!
"It is up to whoever has the shirt to make sure they stay in there...it's a healthy rivalry. Felipe is getting the quality out of Anelka. He can get hold of the ball much better now and has been working so hard in order for us to play around the opponents' penalty box. That is what Didier is exceptional at, though.
"I have only known him for about six weeks, but I can see he has an in-built determination to succeed and I don't think he is going to lie down lightly."
Such competition can only be good for a team searching to reclaim the Premier League title and their first Champions League title in club history.
Though it remains to be seen how the rivalry will pan out, it is evident which striker has the upper hand currently, and who will continue to be favored. For the time being at least.
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about 1 month ago
- "Anelka has been nothing short of amazing so far this campaign" - that pretty much sums it up for me.
Just to put into perspective how good they've been this year, if they lost their 25 remaining Premiership games 1-0, they'd almost surely be relegated, BUT they'd still have a goal difference of PLUS three!!
Thats pretty amazing
about 1 month ago
I must admit - i havent been Anelka's biggest fan to date - believing that he was just the fortunate benificiary of chelsea creating shedloads of chances. I like him and wanted him to do well, but just didnt think he was clinical enough. However against WBA his finishing was superb and for the first time he seemed to have got some composure. Now we just need him to perform against the top teams as drogba has done for us in the past.
about 1 month ago
He's always been this good, why are people only making noise about him now?
from about 1 month ago
He hasn't always been good with Chelsea. His whole career he has been a superb finisher but after joining the club last season he was relatively quiet. Being second choice behind Drogba or being pushed to the wings did not suit him well and his performance suffered. Now, given the chance to shine, Chelsea fans are finally seeing what Abramovich's money was good for, hence the fuss.
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