Drogba took penalties for his other clubs, and if he was good enough he would have been taking them for Chelsea, you really thing RVN would have been behind Lampard if RVN had ever signed for Chelsea? Not a chance. RVN was the main man wherever he went, and he would have been taking penalties anywhere he went. Drogba was never really Chelsea's main man, as he had great games, and then he had a few games where he'd go into Adebayoor mode and sulk for while. This is why 30 million was spent on Shevchenko and 50 on Torres, because Drogba wasn't consistently delivering. In his 8 seasons with Chelsea Drogba only scored more than 12 league goals twice. A telling stat. These are some of his poorer returns for a league season 10 in 26 04/05 12 in 29 05/06 5 in 24 08/09 11 in 36 10/11 5 in 24 11/12 He may have scored a lot of big goals in FA Cup finals, a competition that most teams don't take seriously anymore, but let's be realistic here, he really didn't have that great a career for Chelsea, and certainly wasn't consistently a world class striker. As for the medals point John O'Shea has a fantastic medal collection, so should he be ranked as one of the best. Ross Turnbull has a CL winners medal too Football is a team game and many average players have been in the right place at the right time and picked up plenty of major medals, it really doesn't prove anything
RVN was voted third best penalty taker in Prem history behind Shearer and Le Tiss. His record was pretty perfect bar three chokes against Arsenal. But many of his 150 United goals were pens against weaker opposition. RVN: Prem's biggest big-game penalty bottler!
Put it this way, Queen Shergar. Ask any pundit, manager, ex professional, or opposing defender what they think of Didier Drogba and see what they say. So do we favour their opinions over some gimp on a football forum? I would think so. Is it genetic or viral, this disease you have where you think a forward player should only be measured by goals scored? So Bergkamp and Zola sucked yeah? Rooney averages less than a goal every 2 games for United aswell..just (216 goals in 442 games). Does that mean Rooney is **** too? Since a strikers job is to score goals?
Turnball got a C.L medal for sitting every game on his arse. Are you seriously comparing that to Drogba's contribution? Now that's where your obsession with stats makes you look silly. For those of us that form our opinions watching games rather than reading books, can safely say Drogba was a P.L and Chelsea legend. That is fact. Despite all those big signings we made up front one thing remained consistent, Drogba staying in the side and banging in the big goals. RVN = tap in merchant and good penalty taker. How many cup final, or c.l semi/final goals did RVN get? or Henry, or Shearer by the way? Probably combined less than Drogs.
RVN might have been a better goalscorer than Drogba but in everything else Drogba was twice the player. Don't give some BS about strikers only score goals, that isn't true. Chelsea over recent seasons have always had midfielders who can score a goal, hence Lampard being the record goalscorer. A lot of that was down to Drogba and Frank will be one of the first to admit that.
I'm just gonna wade in here as a neutral and say Drogba was a top top top player. In his prime he'd have walked into any team in the world and ALWAYS seemed to turn up for big games. I'd definitely rate him as one of the best forwards I've seen in the PL.
Exactly. Andy Cole scored a lot of goals but was the benefit of getting a lot of service. He'd get nowhere near a top p.l strikers ever list like he got nowhere near the England team most of the time. Goals scored is a good measure of how good a striker is, but not the only one (especially when penalties is such a big factor). Drogba was the perfect foil for our midfield and scored far more important goals than the likes of Shearer and Henry (who I rate highly as well).
Well said sir. And can I just say, Tans' tache is one of the best I've seen in the premier league era. Textbook grooming.
RVN scored in almost all are big games and missed 1 pen against Arsenal in 04 but scored the next year anyway. Drogba is one of the best of the last in prem history but RVN and Henry were better.
Disagree. Their records in big games (i.e cup finals etc) was not as good as Drogbas, both played in more attack minded teams than Drogba for the most part and both took pens for their clubs to improve goal tallys. All class players though TBF.
Its impossible to say who's better out of those three RVN was a tap in specialist, Henry was exceedingly good as was Drogba. They all had different attributes which makes it impossible to argue Drogba had the ability to hold a line and bring in other players or go it alone the other two to a degree didn't have that in their locker. If any manager wanted a 20-25 goal a year striker who could lead the line he wouldn't be looking at RVN or Henry.
There is nothing wrong with being a tap in merchant, though RVN wasn't just that, he was a very good dribbler too, he had great feet for a big man. I remember 1 game against Fulham when he dribbled it from the half way line and scored. I recall one in Europe where he dribbled from the corner flag and scored too. Tap ins aren't as easy to score as you think, RVN read the game better than anyone, and that's why he was always in the right place at the right time. He was the ultimate lone striker, as he always knew exactly where the ball was going to be played, and he'd make the perfect run to get on the end of it. You know how frustrating it is when a ball is played square across the goal, and there's no one there to finish it off, well that never happened to us when we had RVN, as he had the footballing nous to anticipate the ball. It is almost impossible to coach that type of predators instinct. I don't think there has been a better 6 yard box predator than RVN. The guy was exceptional at reading the game. RVN guaranteed the teams he played for around 35 goals a season in all competitions season in season out. And regardless of wether they where tap ins or not, a goal is a goal. They all count the same. Every team in the world would love RVN in there side, as he consistently comes up with the goods, something Drogba didn't. Drogba was far to inconsistent
RVN could lead the line, and it just shows how little you know if you think be couldn't. He was big and strong and had great feet, and our midfield used to feed off him too. The difference with him and Drogba though, is Drogba was just a big lump who specialised in leading the line, but couldn't consistently put the ball in the net, where's as RVN was the more complete package, as he was technically superior to Drogba in every way possible, and was a far more intelligent player
HAHAHAHAHA Really cheered me up this morning He was a master at goal poaching, and his positional play and runs were intelligent, ill give you that. But DDs skills at holding players off, taking on defenders, long range shots and his passing ability were all WAY ahead of RVN.
Plus he was much much better in the air, much better as a defensive option from set pieces, the quintessential big game player and better at free kicks. I do agree with KS that RVN could lead the line though. He did play well with his back to goal when required but nowhere near Drogba's level. RVN was a hell of a player and happy to admit it. The fact KS can't do the same with Drogba just means all debate losses credibility.
I agree with a lot of #73. However a tap in merchant relies massively on service. Much more than a Drogba who made a lot of his own goals out of very little. Some of the headed goals he scored, 99% of footballers wouldn't get near (C.L final a classic example). RVN also scored some good individual goals, I remember the Fulham one well, very good goal but it wasn't something he did regularly. Without the likes of Beckham, RVN wouldn't have scored as many in the P.L and a fair few of his goals were pens as well if I recall. Essentially RVN is a better example of Hernandez. Hernandez if he played every week would probably get more goals than Rooney, maybe even RVP if he had the right service but he doesn't get many games. Why? cos his overall contribution to the team is minimal save for a tap in here or there. RVN did more than Hernandez but far less than Drogba. Ask Arsenal fans what they think of Drogba.
Agreed. My initial assessment of RVN was probably harsh, and in part me getting defensively hostile towards KS because of his clueless comments. RVN was a great player, dont get me wrong, a player like him would be awesome right now for us, with the assist abilities of our AMs setting him up. He would be just what the doctor ordered. But in our old set up, with Lamps, Maka, Duff, Joe Cole etc Drogba was the perfect lone striker.
I think the thing Drogba had that very few players had/have, is that he actual put fear into opponents. The way he could bully defences was something you rarely see. Yaya Toure is the closest thing to Drogba in the P.L at the moment. It's different to just being so good you can go around people like Suarez, Hazard etc, it's something a bit different. On top form Drogba (and Toure now) was unstoppable/unplayable. Ronaldo also has this.
You really need to do far more research. Drogba's strength was being strong and bullying defenders, where as RVN whilst also pretty strong, was a far more technically gifted footballer. RVN had such great technique, that's why he rarely missed when he got a sight at goal, as he was so accurate. He also had an unbelievable first touch, and great ball control. He scored plenty of goals that he'd pluck out of the air on his chest and then hit first time on the volley. He was also a very good dribbler, and could dribble past players, he had much better feet for a big man than Drogba did. His passing was also very good, though he played on the shoulder of the last man, so he wouldn't have often needed to play defence splitting passes. He certainly wasn't just a tap in merchant, and scored some stunning technically brilliant goals. Here's a YouTube video of some of his best goals in his 5 seasons for us. Watch the video and then tell me he was a tap in merchant http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6ouRwFe4XGw
