The Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo has said that he is extremely surprised to see not a lot of players from the current Chelsea team being nominated for the FIFA Ballon d’Or award. Chelsea managed to win the Champions League title last season by beating Bayern Munich 4-3 on penalties. This has been seen as one of the greatest achievements by a team in the competition, as they not only managed to come back from very bad circumstances are numerous occasions, but he also managed to beat the best team in the world in the form of Barcelona. Only the Chelsea manager Roberto di Matteo and the former striker Didier Drogba has been nominated for the FIFA Ballon d’Or awards this season.
This has somewhat surprised the Chelsea manager, who has said that there have been a number of players who were extremely influential for Chelsea last season. He feels that the Chelsea players have not been given enough credit for having lifted the Champions League. Even though the Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is the favourite to win the title this season, Roberto di Matteo has said that players like Juan Mata should have been recognised for their performances.
“That is a bit disappointing because as the winners of the Champions League you would have expected it to recognise the performances of our players. It is a hard one to explain, I’m not sure if they look a lot at the international games as well. It is a privilege to be the manager of Chelsea and to work with these world-class players, trying to achieve success. It is a great, challenging job,” said the Chelsea manager on the official website of the club. A number of Premier league players like Mario Balotelli, Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie have been nominated for this award.
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has confirmed that he has accepted an offer from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua. The 34-year-old striker has been out of contract with the European champions. Didier Drogba decided to bring an end to his eight-year spell with the Premier league club after not being offered a two-year deal by Chelsea.
It is thought that Chelsea were interested only in offering a one-year deal for the striker, who will turn 35 years of age in March, because they have Fernando Torres back to his best. However, Shanghai Shenhua have moved into to secure the signing of the Ivorian international, who will be a major coup for the club following the signing of Anelka from Chelsea earlier in January.
Didier Drogba told Chelsea news a few days ago that he will soon reveal his next destination. The two parties have been holding advanced negotiations in the last couple of days. Didier Drogba has now signed a two-and-a-half-year deal with the Chinese club. It is estimated that Drogba will become one of the highest paid players in the world, as he will be earning around £ 220,000 per week. It is thought that his charity foundation, which needs a lot of funds, played a major role in his decision to move to China.
“I considered all the offers I have received in the past few weeks, but feel Shanghai Shenhua is the right move for me at this time. I’m looking forward to a new challenge and experiencing a new culture, and am excited about developments in the Chinese Super League. When Chelsea went to China last year, we had a great time and I met some amazing fans. I hope to help promote Chinese football around the world and further improve the links between China and Africa,” said Didier Drogba after confirming his move to China.
Tags: 15/04/2012, Analysis, Chelsea, Drogba, Football, Goals, LAMPARD, Mata, Ramires, Tottenham
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May 2, 2012 8:03 pm | 
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Chelsea interim manager Roberto di Matteo has admitted that striker Didier Drogba was not too happy at being left out of the starting line-up in the match against Manchester City. Chelsea were coming into the match after the thrilling 5-2 FA Cup quarter-final match against Leicester City on Sunday. Fernando Torres finally broke his 24-hour goal rout in front of goal by scoring two goals and also setting up two others as well. Hence, Roberto di Matteo decided to start with Torres, which did not appear to please Drogba. The Ivorian came on in the match with 25 min left, but was not unable to prevent a 2-1 defeat at the hands of City.
Fernando Torres worked hard the match against Manchester City but without any fruits to his labour. However, he was crucial in helping Chelsea get the lead through a Gary Cahill goal in the second half. Following the goal, Chelsea decided to sit back even further and it did not suit Torres. Roberto di Matteo brought on Didier Drogba for Fernando Torres, which did not go well tactically as Chelsea conceded two goals in the final 15 min of the match to lose the match. Speaking after the match, di Matteo said that Drogba was not happy to sit on the bench after his inspirational performance against Napoli.
“I did speak to Didier and many other players. He was not happy, but okay,” Di Matteo said of Drogba. Looking ahead to the crucial encounter with Tottenham on Saturday, the manager said that he is looking forward to a victory and has a full strength squad to choose from. “I am in a good position to select from almost a full squad. It will need a team ethic to stop Gareth Bale, he is a terrific player, a strong player. It will not be a one-v-one situation,” said Di Matteo.
Former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has said that Chelsea must consider selling star striker Didier Drogba in the January transfer window or at least in the summer in order to help Fernando Torres settle at Stamford bridge.
Fernando Torres has been a massive failure since moving to Chelsea on deadline day of last January for £ 50 million from Liverpool. One of the reasons for it seems to be the presence of Didier Drogba according to Carlo Ancelotti. Didier Drogba has been the main striker at Chelsea since arriving from Marseille in the £ 24 million deal in 2004.
Even with the addition of a number of strikers following the arrival of Didier Drogba, the big Ivorian has held his own place at Stamford bridge. He is currently one of the top scorers for Chelsea on the all-time list, which seems to have been having an effect on the other strikers at Stamford bridge according to Carlo Ancelotti. The big Ivorian is coming to the end of his career. He will be 34 years old in March, and is out of contract at the end of the season. There have been reports that he will be looking at following Nicolas Anelka to China.
He is thought to have been offered a lucrative contract worth around £ 400,000 per week, which would make him the highest-paid football player in the world. “Coaching Chelsea in the midst of a major generational change is complicated. Look at Torres and his crisis. If you decide you are going to invest in him, you have to sell Drogba. Didier is like Pippo Inzaghi at Milan. He tends to swallow up all his competitors. It is not because they are evil, they are just like that,” Ancelotti is quoted as saying in the Express.