Drogba stars in soap opera season

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(CNN) -- With an injury crisis so bad the club's training sessions must resemble a casualty clinic, Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho joked this week that even third-choice goalkeeper Hilario might get a game in Saturday's FA Cup final against Manchester United -- up front, alongside Didier Drogba.

And with Mourinho's beloved dog reportedly on the loose somewhere in west London after a run-in with the pet police (Full story), the "Special One" may have matters other than Wembley preparations on his mind this week.

Drogba though has probably stopped caring about Chelsea's soap opera season -- or who he plays with. After all, for most of the season he has carried Ukrainian flop Andriy Shevchenko, the player whose signing many predicted spelled the end of Drogba's Stamford Bridge career.

In a season judged by most to have been an unmitigated disaster for a club with billionaire Russian backing and back-to-back Premiership titles to their name, the Ivorian's form has been one of the few bright spots.

And if one Chelsea player deserves a winner's medal this season (discounting the club's inconsequential League Cup final success over Arsenal back in March), it is surely Drogba -- the only player to run Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo close for end of season individual honors.

As Chelsea have weakened, torn apart by injuries and defensive deficiencies, Drogba has grown stronger, putting behind him his first two seasons at Chelsea when he failed to find the net often enough and seemed to be struggling to settle in England (famously getting into trouble when he admitted diving in an interview -- a statement he claimed was based on a misunderstanding lost in translation).

With 32 goals in all competitions, Drogba once again looks like the player for whom Chelsea paid Marseille a then-club record £24 million ($48 million) in 2004.

Bigger and stronger than his 1.89 meters (six foot two inches), Drogba dominates opponents in the way defenders are supposed to bully strikers, rather than the other way round, combining it with an uncomplicated instinct for goals.

Ironically, much of the criticism of Chelsea's supposed long ball style of play this season derives from their readiness to play to Drogba's strengths.

"It is important to have players who fight for the team, who work, who attack and defend. He is the kind of player I would tell, 'With you I could go to every war'," says Mourinho, famously loyal to those players who command his respect.

Perhaps another reason why Drogba's commitment is so fierce is that his career might never have reached this level. He had looked set to play out his career in the lower reaches of French league, until his successful switch from defense to striker in his mid 20s persuaded Marseille to take a gamble on him.

Since then, Drogba has become one of Africa's most-respected footballing ambassadors, winning the African player of the award in March after leading his country to the African Nations Cup final and an impressive debut World Cup appearance in Germany.

The bad news for defenders is that an FA Cup medal is unlikely to keep Drogba happy for long -- and he is certain to be more hungry than ever next season as Chelsea bid to regain the Premiership title and go in search of an elusive Champions League crown.

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