Drogba: It's great to be wanted at Chelsea and I'll repay faith with goals

11 August 2009 01:37
Five years into his Chelsea career and Didier Drogba appears close to finally cracking the body language barrier. Drogba has looked freshly inspired on the pitch throughout pre-season, relishing his new partnership with Nicolas Anelka. Off it, he seems relaxed and happy having signed a new contract, committing his future to Stamford Bridge until 2012, where in the past, his discontent has been betrayed by his moody demeanour. 'For me the most important thing is to enjoy being on the pitch,' said Drogba after Chelsea beat Manchester United to win the Community Shield. 'I have a lot of friends in France without teams, without contracts, so I know how lucky I am to be here and I want to enjoy it. 'I am feeling good. I want to play and I am really happy to be on the pitch and to have my team-mates. I want to give people a good season.' Even given the idea that Drogba is only ever one incident from a full-scale tantrum, it is a positive message from someone who openly admits he has not always felt so comfortable at Chelsea. At first he missed France, struggled to understand why defenders were allowed to kick him so often and how his own supporters could turn on him for diving in a bid to win a free kick. Then, he was upset by Jose Mourinho's sudden departure, was sent off in the Champions League final and felt he was made a scapegoat by Luiz Felipe Scolari. It is all down to feeling valued by the club and its fans and his inkling that Chelsea have consigned their own inner turmoil to the past since the brief tenure of Guus Hiddink and the subsequent arrival of Carlo Ancelotti as manager. 'Last season we finished strong,' said Drogba. 'We had a very good end to the season and we worked hard with Guus. 'Now we are at the same level of fitness and trying to improve our level of fitness in order to be better in the new system, which is not easy for us to play. But we have a few more weeks to do it and work on it.' Frank Lampard was quick to praise Drogba's form ahead of the new season. 'The ability he has means nobody wants to play against him,' said Lampard. 'He's powerful, quick, strong and scores goals. 'In that form, he is the best there is, and still will be for a few years, so it's great that we've got him firing like that at the start of the season.' Drogba, though was more self critical after the Community Shield, saying: 'I lost a lot of balls, which is not normal. I need to reduce the amount of mistakes, losing the ball. 'You know there is always room to improve. I want to improve what I was doing before. I want to do it better and I want to avoid making mistakes. The good thing is we won, but I think I can improve and we can improve as a team. 'The more you play big games the more you learn. I think it is never too late to learn from them. I have been playing at a high level only since I was 25, so in my head I still feel young.'

Source: Daily_Mail