What Drogba reveals about Suarez - From an Arsenal fan's perspective

Galatasaray’s Didier Drogba celebrates after scoring two goals against Arsenal in the pre-season friendly

As painful as it was to see Didier Drogba catch Arsenal with our pants down, not once, but twice, the damage was fairly minor in the end. Yes, we ended up losing our own tournament, but it was a pre-season friendly kind of deal rather than a “must-win” chance at silverware.

As such, his goals, whether you think his dive was a dive or somehow rate it as something legit, do us a massive favour and one, I must admit, that has me reassessing my position on Luis Suarez. I am hardly coming around enough to embrace him, but I’m at least seeing him in a different light, one that I knew exists but had preferred to avoid, even when there’s precedent in my own life.

Put simply, Drogba, and perhaps Suarez — perhaps — is the kind of player one hates because he plays for an opponent, but becomes the player one loves when he switches sides. He dives and is dirty and seems to get away with murder (this is Drogba I’m focusing on, by the way), but his fans absolutely love him because he delivers when it seems no one else can.

Arguably, Suarez has done this at least once in a while, such as with his handball-save against Ghana, but I’m not yet ready to anoint him with the same kind of crown that Drogba wears. There are players who know how to win. Drogba seems to be one of them. Whether Suarez is that kind of player is another question that remains unanswered, at least in my mind.

When considering personal stats? Sure, he appears to be great, but personal stats are only part of the story.

I mentioned precedent in my own life. In 1995, the Chicago Bulls signed Dennis Rodman, once a member of the famed Detroit Pistons’ Bad Boys.

Up until he joined the Bulls, Rodman epitomized the kind of basketball I hated: rough, dirty, brawn over brains, etc. In fact, of Detroit’s Bad Boys, no on seemed like more of a cheat and a flopper than Rodman. He was funny-looking and unashamed of the dirty tricks to which he resorted to get an upper hand. His nickname summed him up pretty-damned well: The Worm. Nothing was beneath him.

However, once he joined the Bulls, I found myself coming to terms with his antics. I told myself that if Pippen and Jordan can accept him, so can I. I hope I can honestly say that I never embraced him, but I might be lying to you and to myself as well.

I’ll save you the convoluted twists and turns my conscience took as Rodman helped the Bulls to an unprecedented record of 72 wins and 10 losses as well as a playoff run that saw them win 17 of 20 games on their way to a 3rd championship in five years.

It’s with that backdrop that I’ve looked on Drogba’s antics and performances against us, whether it was in Sunday’s Emirates Cup match or over the years when he was with Chelsea, and I’ve looked closer at our squad and what we’re lacking.