Scolari: Drogba & Anelka Aren't Gelling

Fitting Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba into the same Chelsea team was always going to be problematic. The two strikers both like to be the main man up front, with both preferring to operate as an out-and-out striker rather than in a supporting role or wide on the flanks. In addition, neither player particularly likes being benched.

Their styles as forwards do not necessarily complement each other either, and both Avram Grant and his successor as Chelsea boss Luiz Felipe Scolari have struggled to integrate them into the same line-up. Now Scolari has revealed that he has experimented using both strikers as a partnership, but has enjoyed limited success.

"It has been good sometimes but not good at other times," said Scolari, reflecting on the time spent in training on working on the partnership.

"It's 50-50. But this period has been better for the group. They are trying more than before to understand what positions I want them to be in. It has improved and evolved more in the last 15 days."

Anelka is reportedly keen to play in a 4-4-2 with Drogba, but Scolari doesn't feel that much has been gained from the training experiment, other than a slight increase in the flexibility of the side.

"They know more now. They have more confidence than before if they change (the formation) during the game," the Brazilian continued, before adding that more strikers does not necessarily mean more goals, and a lack of goals is often the coach's rather than the players' fault.

"Sometimes you put five players up front but the ball does not arrive there. If they make mistakes, it's my mistake because I give the orders. It's the same with left backs and right backs when they go forward, try to dribble and try to shoot," the Brazilian continued.

Time on the pitch as a partnership has been limited for Anelka and Drogba, amounting to little more than a handful of second-half minutes in five games. With Drogba's season so far shortened by injury and suspension, Anelka has gone about his business and become the Premier League's top goalscorer, netting 14 times in 17 appearances.

Drogba, meanwhile, is yet to score a league goal this season, and is regularly linked with moves away from Stamford Bridge, with the names of Inter Milan and Jose Mourinho cropping up regularly in the rumour mill..