Drogba finds his shooting boots

By Brian Brownstein

In his first season of European competition Didier Drogba's goals fired Olympique de Marseille to the final of the UEFA Cup and sparked a summer scramble for his signature. The Ivory Coast international was loath to leave France's second city, but the lure of London and the Premiership became too much to resist, and he joined the Russian revolution at Chelsea FC for a club-record €36m fee in July 2004.

Settling in
Things did not start brilliantly for the 2003/04 French Footballer of the Year. He was ruled out for six weeks at the start of October with a groin injury, but two goals in Chelsea's 3-0 Premiership win against Portsmouth FC last weekend lifted Drogba's tally to eleven goals for the season and he is finally beginning to live up to his billing at Stamford Bridge.

Big money
Moreover, he insists that his big transfer fee will be no brake on his success at Chelsea. "I do not suffer from my price tag," Drogba told uefa.com. "People often remind me of the transfer fee, even when we play at home. As soon as I miss a chance it's: 'Why did they spend so much money on him?' There's even a song about it. But I like that. It motivates me"

'I am satisfied'
"I am satisfied with my first six months here, despite the critics," he added. "People expect me to do what I did last year with Marseille - that's what made them want to sign me at Chelsea - but I'm still just trying to be myself."

Major positive
One major positive for Drogba is his enjoyment of life in the Chelsea dressing room, and being out of the public spotlight when he is not playing football - a luxury he was not afforded in France. However, Drogba admits that he is not yet as settled in west London as he was in Marseille.

Training joy
"I have a working relationship with my team-mates but when we're in the changing room or on the bus, we also have a good laugh," he said. "When we meet up for training, we're really get into it. I also benefit from a little more freedom in everyday life in London. At Marseille, people used to talk about me a lot.

London life
"It's true though I'm not yet getting as much enjoyment from living in London as I was in Marseille," continued Drogba. "However, you just have to bounce back and get on with things, and that's what I'm trying to do. I could have spent years at Marseille but in the end my destiny was elsewhere."

Barcelona beckons
Chelsea made light work of progressing through UEFA Champions League Group H, and now face a meeting with FC Barcelona in the last 16 of Europe's premier competition. They have also built up a ten-point lead at the top of the Premiership, and are on course to secure their first title for 50 years.

Nothing certain
However, the powerful striker knows he and his team-mates must not become complacent. "Everything is going great here but our lead is not enough," he said. "We won't lose many games in a row but we know we will lose some. Chelsea are a team who are in control of our football and we are playing intelligently, but we're not unbeatable or untouchable. We've already seen situations where those kinds of leads have melted."