How Didier Drogba’s presence helped Tammy Abraham make Chelsea history
Former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has suggested that he played a role in the development of current Blues forward Tammy Abraham.
The 21-year-old has scored seven goals in five Premier League goals so far this season, with only Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero scoring more.
How did Drogba help Abraham? Five things to know…
- Drogba spent nine seasons at Chelsea across two spells.
- The Ivorian is regarded as one of the most important players in Chelsea’s history.
- Abraham currently leads the line for the Blues and has started the season well.
- The 21-year-old has scored seven goals in five Premier League games, including a hat-trick against Wolves.
- And Drogba believes Abraham learned some skills by watching him in training as a youngster.
Three of his seven goals came courtesy of a hat-trick in Chelsea’s most-recent Premier League game, a 5-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers.
It made Abraham the youngest ever player to score a Premier League hat-trick for Chelsea, breaking the record held by Eden Hazard – who managed three against Newcastle in 2014 as a 23-year-old, to secure a piece of club history.
Abraham’s form has been put down as a real win for Chelsea’s academy, with the striker joining Chelsea in 2004 at under-eight level, moving up the ranks. The England international was part of the youth side that won three consecutive FA Youth Cups and the Uefa Youth League twice in a row.
And Drogba, who played for Chelsea between 2004 and 2012 before returning once more in 2014/15, believes he may have had some impact on Abraham’s current form.
“I’ve known him [Abraham] since he’s been [very young],” he told Sky Sports.
“These are kids we used to see, they used to come and watch us training, and I believe they learned a little bit of our skills, how we read the game.
“So, you know, we’re not surprised because I also trained with them when I used to train with the reserve team.
“It was always a moment for me to give away some skills, some knowledge, and they learnt really fast, really quick.
“So once again, I’m not surprised with what I’ve seen [with Abraham].”
Abraham will be looking to continue his fine goalscoring run when Chelsea face Liverpool on Sunday afternoon, with another chance to write his name into the history books.
Including last weekend’s hat-trick, Abraham has scored at least two goals in each of his past three league games. Only Luis Suarez has achieved that feat in four consecutive Premier League appearances, doing so for Liverpool in December 2013.
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Drogba not worried by Chelsea start
While Abraham’s form has been one of the positives of Chelsea’s season so far, life under Frank Lampard has been far from flawless.
The Blues started the campaign with a 4-0 rout at the hands of Manchester United and are still awaiting their first win at Stamford Bridge after three games across all competitions – recording two draws and a defeat.
But Drogba believes Chelsea fans understand that it won’t all be smooth sailing under Lampard and appreciate that the former midfielder is doing the right job.
He added: “I think he [Lampard] is focusing on Chelsea and it happens that he needs to work on young players, to give them a chance.
“Being an ex-player from the club, it helps a lot because we’ve seen all these kids when we were training.
“So, you know, you have to give them a chance and when you do, they deliver.
“They’ve been performing. Of course, there will be maybe a lack of experience in big games like Champions League but I’m not worried.
“I’m really happy with the work that Frank is doing right now. And the fans, and the people who know football, they understand.”
