How much would Arsène Wenger give NOT to be facing in-form Chelsea striker Didier Drogba in the FA Cup Semi-Final on Saturday? The Ivorian has long-been Arsenal’s nemesis and famously destroyed their Carling Cup Final dreams with a two-goal blitz at Cardiff in February 2007. The 31-year-old averages nearly a goal a game against Wenger’s side and is bang in form having hit eight in his last 10 matches for Guus Hiddink’s resurgent Chelsea. But Arsenal could have signed him for just £100,000. That was at the start of Wenger’s reign in 1998 when Drogba was plying his trade in the French second division with Le Mans. A couple of short moves later, he was off to Stamford Bridge for £24 million. “When he was in Le Mans we watched him carefully,” the Arsenal manager admitted at Friday’s press conference. “We felt he might not be completely ready. But his value was £100,000. “All the French clubs watched him but nobody took him. It is a mistake but when you are in football everyone can understand it. "At the time Drogba was not ready. Nothing put us off, we just said we have to follow his progress and suddenly he was in Guingamp. Then he wanted to stay in France and Marseille was the club of his dreams. I think it still is. We didn't miss him because we didn't want [him]. We had Thierry Henry at the time.” Drogba is the archetypal late developer. He was a jobbing pro in the French League until his mid-20s before a stellar season at Marseilles enticed Jose Mourinho to make him one of his first signings at Stamford Bridge. Wenger conceded that Drogba has metamorphasised as a big-game player and certainly he proved to be the difference between the sides in that Carling Cup Final and the Community Shield two years earlier. “Drogba has always been a guy who raises with the challenges,” he said. “He is a guy who has a complete focus for 90 minutes on trying to be efficient. “You feel never in the game he drops in his focus and desire to win. You can see some strikers who swing in the game – it goes well, then they are suffering. With Drogba you always feel he has good focus. “He is a fighter and I believe that we want to make sure that we combat him. Certainly one of the keys tomorrow will be to keep him quiet. “But we have to consider that Adebayor can do the same to them, that Bendtner can do the same too. Also Drogba will play against Silvestre and kolo toure, who are strong defenders. “So I do not worry about Drogba tomorrow. Not at all. If he scores, he scores. But when we have the ball, they don't have it, and he can't be dangerous.” The defence that Drogba will face is not yet known. Bacary Sagna (virus), William Gallas (knee), Gael Clichy (back) and Johan Djourou (knee) are ruled out. According to Wenger, Kierran Gibbs has an 80 per cent chance of recovering from a groin problem he collected against Villarreal on Wednesday. Should he fail to recover, Alex Song will be brought into central defence and Mikael Silvestre will move out to left back. Lukasz Fabianski will keep goal on his 24th birthday and Andrei Arshavin is in the squad having been unavailable in midweek. Arsenal fans have raised their expectations over the past two months. Back in January, a top-four spot in the Premier League may have been the limit of their ambition but, with that all but assured, there is a growing belief that a trophy is eminently achievable. And the task ahead is pretty similar in both competitions. The final four of the FA Cup is Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Everton. The final four of the Champions League is Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester United and Barcelona. So the standard is high and the pressure is on. Wenger’s renaissance side deserve credit for their revival but the fixtures ahead look much more daunting than those in their recent past. “But we relish that type of pressure,” Wenger insisted. “We want the pressure [of success] and are happy to have it. “I don’t expect any weakness from Chelsea, I just expect full strength from our squad. “Football is not predictable and it can change quickly from one game to another. They will try to defend well and attack well but I always focus on our strengths and the way we want to play the game. “We're on a good run, we know we can score goals so let’s go for it.” Stirring words from a manager who is justifiably confident.
- The tie has to be decided on the day. If it is level at full-time the game will go to extra-time and, if necessary, penalties.
- Arsenal’s appearance in the Semi-Final is a record-equalling 26th. Should they win they will have reached the Final for the 18th time, which would lift them level with Manchester United. Though the Old Trafford club have the opportunity to increase their tally to 19 on Sunday against Everton.
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