There’s nothing like the African Cup of Nations of all tournaments to muddy the waters for us. With the Ivory Coast having just been knocked out of the tournament by Algeria (I hope you were watching, Mr Capello) Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou look like they will be heading back to the Chelsea squad sooner than they will have hoped – and just before their impending double gameweek. Interesting.
However having travelled to Africa to participate in this tournament will most certainly have taken a certain toll on Drogba physically as well as mentally. Thanks to Togo’s unfortunate disqualification Drogba has only had to take part in three games before being knocked out tonight – but alongside the stifling heat, having just played 120 minutes and needing to fly back to London, the Birmingham fixture this Wednesday certainly seems too soon for the Ivorian…
When Drogba played his last game for Chelsea (in the 2-1 victory over Fulham) he picked up his fifth yellow card and the commentators of the game set speculation abound when stating that he would have to serve his suspension on return from international duty, rather than while he was away in Angola. The FA’s own suspension lists (here and here) don’t seem to back this up, and Chelsea’s own match report differed in opinion as well:
Drogba will be suspended for our FA Cup match against Watford on Sunday. Five yellow cards before the end of December results in a one match suspension.
It seems we can breath a sigh of relief on that front, but what of Chelsea going forward now? Nicolas Anelka has been in top form for the Blues of late but if Mr. Ancelotti decides to throw Drogba back into the game right away will he have to be second fiddle to a man who lit up the Premier League in the first half of the season (a man who certainly caught our eye)?
Will his early return also have an effect on Frank Lampard? The Chelsea midfielder bagged two goals playing in the christmas tree formation for Chelsea last week, will a potential return to the diamond again stifle the premium midfielder? Can we even add Didier Drogba to the list of considerations going forward for the impending double fixture, or is his participation a risk too far?
So many questions while answers are few and far between for now. Given that Chelsea are due to host a stingy Birmingham defence this coming Wednesday (also picked out by us); if you can it may even prove to be prescient to hold fire for now while we wait for word to come out of the Chelsea camp. Hopefully they will give us some hints as the week progresses – and if and when they do, we will be on hand to let you know all about what they have to say.
Oh, and Kalou will probably be back too.