Les Ferdinand / Les Ferdinand / 10 March 2009 / Leave a comment

In his first-ever betting.betfair.com column, Les Ferdinand looks at the incredible return to form of Didier Drogba and the role he's played in Chelsea's revival. That said, Petr Cech will be Chelsea's key man against Juventus, says the former Newcastle, Spurs and England striker.

It looks to me as if Chelsea's season is firmly back on track now under Guus Hiddink - and it's no surprise that Didier Drogba's return to the team and to form has been the catalyst for it.

He had his problems with the previous manager, that much was obvious, and when you've been the top man, the number one so to speak, you've only got to take your eye off the ball for just a little while to have someone come in and replace you - like Nicolas Anelka did under Big Phil Scolari.

At some stages, Drogba wasn't even named in the squad, left out completely. But now he's back on track under Hiddink, who I noticed said that he's been doing a special training programme.

Drogba himself would have known that he'd have been lacking the sharpness you have when you're right on top of your game. Quite simply, he was probably lacking genuine hard work in training. As well as finishing, I expect he's been working on his movement and general fitness, getting back to working the channels. It probably needed someone with the authority of Hiddink to put his arm round him and remind him what was required.

You look at any sport in the world and the best players are the ones that seem to have the most dedication and spend the longest time practicing. Take Tiger Woods; he hits balls for eight hours a day, he doesn't just pick his clubs up for the next tournament - it doesn't work like that.

As a professional sportsman, when you go off the boil - like Drogba did - you tend to go back to basics, things like those channel runs for example, to remind yourself of how you got to be at the top of your profession.

He strikes me as a person that needs to be loved and cherished. Hiddink's got the experience to recognise that and, unlike Scolari who was almost challenging the player's ability, the manager now is probably telling Drogba just how good he is and how much everyone at Chelsea loves him.

Let's remember, though, that this guy was out for quite a while injured so chances are he was never just going to stroll back into the side and pick up where he left off but the problems have been well documented.

He got used to certain way of playing in the Chelsea side; the focal point for all the attacks being the top-most man in a front three, which can revert quickly to a one when they needed to go defensive for a while.

I think if the player himself had the choice, he'd go back to that style of play but Hiddink seems to have found a happy medium where both he and Anelka are accommodated.

I'd probably do the same to be honest. When you have two main strikers like that, I look at what each of them can bring to a team. You've got the guile and goals of Anelka and then the pace, power and goals of Drogba - why wouldn't you play them both and make it work?

Okay, at the start of the season, Chelsea looked unstoppable. I remember that opening-day game against Portsmouth where they were playing Scolari's Brazilian football and it looked brilliant. But it was never going to last because that was his one way of playing and teams countered it fairly soon into the season.

Hiddink's more flexible and is managing to keep both front men happy. Drogba's almost had to re-prove himself to the fans, the club as a whole and himself, more than anything.

When you go shouting your mouth off about the old manager like he did when Scolari left, you've got to prove it when you come back into the side and I think he has, with a new lease of life.

Drogba's clearly feeling the love again so it'll make an interesting summer when Hiddink is supposed to return to Russia. I'm not sure it's quite so vital that Chelsea win something to keep Drogba at the club - it's more about what Hiddink decides to do. If Abramovich can convince him to stay - to do Chelsea and the Russian job together, even - then I think you'll see Drogba hang around as well.

Chelsea go to the Stadio Olimpico tonight with only the slenderest of leads against Juventus - but the key thing is they are ahead and not having the chase the game. I have to say that I think [1.35] looks a bit short a price for them to go through, it might look a lot better if you back it and then it's still goalless on the night come half-time.

If it is 0-0, that will show that Chelsea have succeeded in setting the tempo and style of the match because, unlike Italian football of old, I think we can expect to see Juventus trying to stretch the game and make it quite an open contest.

I saw enough from the first leg at Stamford Bridge to tell me that this tie is far from over. The Italians had their chances on the night and I'm sure they'll have a few during this return leg as well.

For me, it's about, as I say, Chelsea getting to half-time on level terms. In addition, whatever happens you've got to keep your shape and keep to your manager's game plan because Italian sides are notorious for getting opponents playing how they want the game to run. So that's a mental discipline more than anything.

Most importantly, the Chelsea boys have got to do what comes naturally. If they sit there inviting Juventus onto them, I think they're in for a long night and a defeat. I think Hiddink knows they're not solid enough defensively to do that so it will be a case of counter-attacking - picking the right time to do that, for sure, but getting at Juventus and asking them questions. One more Chelsea goal and the tie would almost be dead.

Undoubtedly Petr Cech is their key man tonight. If he's at the top of his game, which he seems to be moving towards under the new manager, then that will breed a confidence among those in front of him.

For Juve, Alessandro Del Piero is the key man and Chelsea must keep him out of the little pockets of space he loves to operate in. I don't care how old he is, he's a class act with that guile and know-how to perform in the biggest games.

Overall, I'm taking Chelsea to sneak through - but there won't be much in it.