Dixon: Don't ditch Didier for Adriano
442 Staff - Thursday 27 November 2008, 13:27
Chelsea would be better off keeping wantaway striker Didier
Drogba than replacing him with Inter Milan's unpredictable Brazilian
Adriano, according to former Blues talisman Kerry Dixon.
“Drogba would be the better of the two," says Dixon, "bearing in mind
that Adriano is an untried quantity in the Premier League. But that's
not to say he's not a quality player.”
However, Dixon - no stranger to goals himself, having scored 147 in nine years
at Chelsea - believes the Ivory Coast giant will have trouble
prising his regular first-team berth back off strike-partner Nicolas
Anelka, who is currently scoring goals for fun, notching his ninth goal
in Chelsea's last eight games in all competitions against Bordeaux on
Wednesday night.
“On his day, Drogba is one of the best strikers in the world,” says
Dixon. “In the season that Didier scored 33 goals, he was absolutely
outstanding. But in terms of this year it's going to be very hard to
dislodge Anelka the way he's scoring goals and getting on the end of
things.”
And the former Stamford Bridge legend feels that, manager, Luiz
Felipe Scolari will resist playing the two strikers in the same team
once Drogba returns to full fitness.
“If you look to play two up front and change the midfield formation -
which is already congested with quality players like Ballack, Deco,
Lampard, Mikel and Essien - it's going to cause problems,” he said. “It
could work, but it will only be tried in the event of something
different.”
Dixon was speaking at the Sue Ryder International Cup, a five-a-side
charity event featuring a team of legends held at the David Beckham
Academy in Greenwich.
Read the full FourFourTwo.com Web Exclusive with Kerry Dixon here
CHELSEA FANS! Check FourFourTwo.com’s ever-expanding interviews archive for more stuff to read:
One on One Gianfranco Zola, Nicolas Anelka
Boy's A Bit Special Michael Mancienne, Scott Sinclair
Perfect XI Ruud Gullit, Marcel Desailly, Brian Laudrup
Sing When You’re Winning Vidal Sassoon
Plus! Ruud Gullit on Weekend Wonders and Chelsea on Talentspotter
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