Didier Drogba played under some elite managers during his many years as a Chelsea player, but he once admitted he wished he got the chance to work with a former Blues coach.
Without a doubt, Didier Drogba cemented his place in the history books as a Chelsea legend during his playing career.
The retired 47-year-old striker enjoyed so many stellar moments with the club, most famously scoring the winning penalty when the Blues won the Champions League final in Munich in 2012.
Appearances Goals Assists Trophies
381 164 78 14
Didier Drogba’s Chelsea career
Yaya Toure thinks Drogba should’ve won the Ballon d’Or during his career, but he still achieved so much even without that individual prize.
During Drogba’s club career, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti are the two managers he played the most football under. His record was pretty impressive under both high-profile coaches, too.
Coach Appearances Goals Assists
Jose Mourinho 187 73 35
Carlo Ancelotti 90 50 30
Didier Drogba’s record by manager via Transfermarkt
Photo credit should read GERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read GERARD JULIEN/AFP via Getty Images
Chelsea great Didier Drogba wished he worked under Antonio Conte
Due to the fact Drogba left his second spell at Chelsea in 2015, it meant that he never worked under Antonio Conte, who managed the Blues between 2016 and 2018. The Italian coach won one Premier League and one FA Cup during two captivating years in charge in West London.
Back in 2017, Drogba admitted in an interview that Conte would have been great to work with.
When asked if he would’ve liked to play under Conte’s management, Drogba said via Soccer AM’s YouTube channel: “Yeah, I would have loved. I think I could’ve scores a few goals. The way the team is playing, everything is set up for the striker.”
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Diego Costa was the Chelsea striker who led the line and benefited in Conte’s Chelsea team. We’ve got no doubt that a prime version of Drogba would’ve done the same thing, too.
Drogba rightly sits top of the pile when ranking Chelsea’s top 10 best-ever strikers because of his outstanding contribution during nearly a decade of service.
In this current modern era, it feels like it’s becoming increasingly harder to go out and sign a truly world-class No 9.
Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images
Photo by Chris Brunskill Ltd/Getty Images
Top scoring strikers under Antonio Conte
During Conte’s brilliant managerial career so far, the current Napoli boss has coached some incredible centre-forwards. It’s not uncommon for his teams to be built around the No 9s.
Player Appearnaces Goals
Romelu Lukaku 123 74
Harry Kane 75 43
Lautaro Martinez 97 40
Mirko Vucinic 81 22
Diego Costa 42 22
Carlos Tevez 48 21
The highest scoring strikers under Antonio Conte’s management via Transfermarkt
It was a short but sweet two years for Conte at Chelsea, where he shaked things up and got immediate results on the pitch.
Eden Hazard said Conte was Chelsea’s “12th man” in games because of his passion and enthusiasm on the sidelines. There aren’t many managers from his era that have the same kind of intensity or presence in the dugout.