The CO blog has had some discussions already about who should be shipped out of the club. One of my big questions, though, concerns Didier Drogba - should we keep him or let him go? His future seems to be one of the big debating-points amongst the fans. Let's examine some pros and cons.
The biggest cons against Drogba seem to be his age and his tendency to sulk - if he's not feeling appreciated, he might not play well and go missing completely (as some would say he did because he was unhappy with the arrival of Torres). Some could argue against his diving, but he seems to have curbed that habit in recent seasons. He also tends to writhe around on the ground when he stubs a toe. He's 33 years old in a career where 35 seems to be the "past-it" point - unless you're a goalkeeper. So we should probably be looking to develop or bring in younger strikers for the long-term.
Anyway, you'll have to put up with sulking strikers anyway, seeing as we've also got Torres and Anelka.
The pros - as we saw yesterday in Malaysia, the man still knows how to score goals. Nobody else on the team seems to remember how (a sad fact from the end of last season that is spilling over into preseason). He turns up in big games and scores big goals. He played most of last season still suffering the effects of malaria and only managed 11 goals in the league but, it can't be forgotten, he is a great provider of assists as well. He's less selfish now and more open to seeking out a teammate who might be in a better position to score.
He also seems to be the only one who can take freekicks accurately and possibly score from them. At least when Alex isn't on the pitch. (Frank, what's going on?!)
Drogba also seems to be a big help and inspiration to our younger players. He's always willing to talk to them and help them out during training, which is some invaluable knowledge to gain from one of the world's greatest and most powerful strikers. And how boring would Chelsea TV be without some Didier hijinks to entertain the cameras?
But again, he's getting older now and we should be looking to the future as well as the here and now - but still, I personally would like to see Drogba stay on at the Bridge. What do you think?