A friend of mine asked me an interesting question: Who is the one player, past or present, who epitomizes the DNA of Chelsea football club? Who is the quintessential player that when you see him, think http://CHELSEA.FOOTBALL.CLUB ?

I responded saying three players come to mind, and out of these three, I will pick one. Drogba, Lampard, Terry.

All 3 make more than a compelling case.

John Terry, at the club since he was 14 years old. Won silverware before the Roman era, blossomed into the world's best center back for a good 5+ years, making World XIs and a regular UEFA defender of the year. Never give up attitude, personifying the art of defending.

Frank Lampard, our ALL time top goalscorer. Mr consistent, mr professional. Reliable over a 38 game season and always there to deliver when the pressure is on. Well rounded midfielder, exceptional goal threat, crisp passing and the supply for Drogba

Speaking of Drogba, he is my pick. Lampard and Terry are also incredible Chelsea legends who epitomize Chelsea FC, but I have to choose Drogba to be the one player who IS Chelsea Football Club. Here's why:

Chelsea have been a silverware generating machine for two decades now. Looking back, we have pushed for all major honours on all fronts, firing for every piece of silverware we could get our hands on and axing manager after manager in the process

What I'm trying to say is, stability is not something we cared for, nor did we even consider it. We didn't care if things would go sideways for a while, or that a manager would struggle for whatever reason, because ultimately, we always won the big trophies.

You may ask, what does this have to do with Drogba?

Because Drogba, like our volatile hire and fire policy, was also not a player who's record you look at and think, "stability"

Drogba was moody
Drogba's head wasn't quite in the game
Drogba was grumpy under certain managers

However. Through the good and bad times, Didier Drogba was THAT player for us. He was "THE MAN FOR THE BIG OCCASION, THE BIG MAN" as Martin Tyler said. No matter how underwhelming a season he was having, he was ALWAYS there to save the day when it mattered, like a superhero.

07/08, 08/09, 11/12.

3 seasons off the top of my head that I think of and recall DD turning into a different animal WHEN IT MATTERED most, especially 11/12.

The freak, superhero esque reliability in the titanic fixtures is what makes DD to me, the quintessential Chelsea player.

End of thread. Thank you for reading. Let me know your thoughts.