Chelsea boss
Carlo Ancelotti has likened
Didier Drogba to his former
AC Milan teammate Marco van
Basten.
"There is a word in Italy: trascinatore,' says Ancelotti. 'It
means the player that pulls the group together. Gennaro Gattuso was
the trascinatore at Milan, John Terry is a trascinatore at
Chelsea, but Drogba, too,"
Ancelotti told the Daily Mail.
"There are leaders that speak a lot. Before the match, he can do
this, but then he leads by example with the way he plays. This
happened from the start for me. I did not have to talk to him;
straight away he was like that. There was never a chance he would
leave. He is far too important for us.
"I know some see him as a prima donna, but the difference
between a prima donna and a leader is a centimetre. The leader uses
his talent for the team, the prima donna for himself, but Drogba
has never been a prima donna for me.
"He reminds me of the great players, the way he has been this
season. If he is feeling a good sensation about the game, if he is
confident, he is impossible to play against.
"I used to play with Marco van Basten at Milan. I asked him how
we should give the ball to him. He said, 'Just pass it, and then
start running to congratulate me'. He always thought he would
score, and he was usually right. When he is at his best, Drogba can
be like that."