Didier Drogba is a legend to say the least in the soccer, or futbol, world. He is most notably known for his time in England where he played with Chelsea. According to mlssocccer.com, Drogba scored 104 goals with 63 assists in a 254 game span. He also played on the international level for Ivory Coast. His international career spanned from 2002 to 2014. He played in three World Cups and five African Cup of Nations scoring 65 goals in 105 games. After the 2014-2015 English Premier League season, Drogba moved to Montreal to play with the Major League Soccer, MLS, club the Montreal Impact. He has been with the Montreal Impact for two season now playing in thirty-three games scoring twenty-one goals and having seven assist.
Drogba’s move to Montreal helped the Impact turn around a season that would have ended without a postseason run. Instead, the Montreal Impact made a surprising charge through the MLS postseason where they were defeated by the Columbus Crew. Now, with the 2016 postseason underway, Drogba appears to be more of a problem than a solution. On October 16th, Montreal played Toronto with the season coming to a close. It was reported that Drogba refused to be on the roster for Montreal after learning that he will not receive a starting role. Before this game, September 24th was the last day that Drogba had started for the Impact.
After the Toronto game, the Impact and Drogba sat down and talked to one another about the situation. After the discussion, Drogba agreed to play out the year and to help out in any way he can. However, because he did not follow league policy on attending the league games, Didier Drogba was fined the following Friday. The week following the Toronto FC game, Montreal played the New England Revolution where Drogba did not make an appearance on the field. This could be that they would be playing on an artificial field, which on fields like this the Impact do not play Drogba, however it did not slow down the rumor mill. Now with the playoff game against D.C. United occurring this week, Montreal announced that Didier Drogba will not travel with the team. Mauro Biello, Montreal’s coach, stated that Drogba is still dealing with a minor back injury and feels he is not well enough to play.
I am having a hard time believing that injury is the only reason Drogba is not in the 18-man roster for Montreal. The last few weeks have been Montreal versus Drogba on how to handle his playing time. I believe he is a great player off the bench that can help Montreal go deep into the playoffs this year. He is someone who could rally the troops and get them motivated. However, he has now become a media issue that the Impact could ill afford right now. Though Drogba is a legendary player in the soccer world, I believe he is becoming more of a cog in the machine for Montreal than a piece the Impact need to be in position to win the MLS Cup.
All stats, interviews, and any other information used were found at Source: mlssoccer.com
