Ancelotti unfazed by Drogba loss

[Colonel Ronan]

According to Ancelotti, Chelsea will not miss their top-goalscorer when he leaves for the African Cup of Nations. He also goes on to say that Chelsea would still be on top of the Premier League without Drogba in the ranks -- How does he work that one out?

Drogba and Kalou were granted a two-day delay on their flight to Angola. Most players left for the ACN on December 27th.

Chelsea will also lose Essien, Obi-Mikel, and Kalou to the ACN.

This is a great chance for the other title contenders to fight for Chelsea's top-spot which includes Arsenal and United. United haven't lost a single player to ACN, while Arsenal will miss Song and Eboue.

Clicky.

[agoo101284]

Chelsea is getting rocked by the ACN. I think they might end up behind Man Utd and Arsenal when its over. Anelka can cover for Drogba, but who will replace Essien and Mikel?

[Colonel Ronan]

Chelsea is getting rocked by the ACN. I think they might end up behind Man Utd and Arsenal when its over. Anelka can cover for Drogba, but who will replace Essien and Mikel?

Exactly. They're missing some key players and Kalou was always a strong substitute to put into the game at halftime.

As a bad sportsman, this great news for us and we need to take advantage of it. We will definitely be missing Song as he has been instrumental this season but I believe we can cope with Diaby/Denilson taking his role.

[agoo101284]

I think at some point, this would inhibit larger teams from taking on a lot of African players and could, over time, limit their movement to big clubs. I think the Eto'o-Ibrahimovic swap had something to do with Eto'o missing time for the ACN.