Up until Hiddink took over the vacant manager’s post at Chelsea, Didier Drogba had managed just three goals all season and yet he’s now scored the same amount again in his last four games.
So what or who is responsible for this turnaround? Is it just because he’s actually playing regularly now – something he wasn’t doing when Scolari was around – or is it down to the new manager? Well, if it is down to Hiddink then it’s purely psychological rather than anything he’s actually said because according to Drogba, his new boss has said very little.
Drogba suggests “Guus hasn’t said anything to me – that’s normal, you don’t have to speak every day to a player. Just being in the team is enough and it means a lot. He doesn’t need to speak to me – he has just picked me in the squad and put me in the team – then I know what I have to do. I’ve been in this situation before – you just work, work and work, and you want to improve. If you continue to do that, something good will happen to you. I kept working hard and now people have forgotten what happened over the past few months.”
Not that Drogba has forgotten what’s been going on this season though because the Ivorian says “The start of the season was non-existent for me really – I was out with injuries and, when I came back, it was very difficult for me. That’s football.”
And with maybe just a hint that suggests his current boss is a little less vocal at present than his former boss might have been, he says “When everything is going well, and you are scoring goals, your confidence is getting higher and nobody speaks to you because they don’t need to.”
Sounds as if the rumoured in-house arguments might have departed along with our former boss then!
Blue is the colour
