Chelsea’s Ivorian hit man is arguably the best striker in Europe at present and enjoying a rich vein of form, but the Blues have to treat him as a mere mortal – or pay the consequences.
Speaking at the City in the Community tea dance earlier in the week, where he took on the role of a bingo caller for 150 elderly Manchester residents at the City of Manchester Stadium earlier in the week, Nedum Onuoha was in ebullient mood as the Blues prepared for the visit of Chelsea.
“Didier Drogba is in fantastic form, but we can’t worry about him too much because if you do, he’ll dominate you for 90 minutes,” reckoned Nedum.
He’s not Superman – that’s Stevie Ireland, isn’t it? Playing against Stevie would give me sleepless nights! You have to fancy yourself against anybody and at the end of the day, he’s just a man.
...Onuoha on Drogba
The game will see the return of former City favourite Nicolas Anelka, too – a player Nedum rates very highly. He said:
“In my opinion, he’s by far one of the best players I’ve had the privilege of playing with and it’ll be good to see him again at the weekend – as long as he’s way away from our goal!”
Despite the Blues’ 3-0 midweek victory over the Gunners, Mark Hughes’ side go into the Chelsea match without a Premier League victory since September and Nedum accepts it’s been an unusual, though positive campaign to date.
“It’s been a weird season so far in that we started so well and then things levelled out a little,” he admitted.
“The drawing sequence has been incredible, but you can also point out the fact that we’ve only lost once in 17 league and cup games and when’s the last time Manchester City had that kind of form or success?
“We are trying to make our home a fortress and when things go right for us like they did against Arsenal, we’re a match for anyone. One thing I think people don’t realise is that Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal consistently finish in the Champions League places because of how they play against the teams in the bottom eight of the table.
“If you beat those struggling teams home and away, you’ve already clocked up 48 points and that goes a long way to a decent total. We haven’t won all our games against the lower-placed sides so far, but we haven’t lost any, either, so we’re definitely on the right track.”
