Didier Drogba rode into China with hopes of changing Chinese football. “I think I have a little bit of experience -- I come here to share that experience and some knowledge," he said back in July. Given the chance on a different team, he might have succeeded, and we might be writing a different story. But in Shanghai, under a bullheaded chairman who, at one time, threatened to pull his investment in FC Shen ...

Shanghai's Nicolas Anelka experiment is fast coming to an end. Multiple outlets have reported that FC Shenhua is in talks to negotiate a contract cancellation for the French striker, who seems destined to wind up with the English Premier League's Queens Park Rangers. AFP reports via Sina that "Anelka has agreed to forgo the final year of his contract, worth $7 million, as long as Shanghai allow him to leave ...

Unlike Shanghai teammate Nicolas Anelka's rather tepid Chinese Super League debut, Didier Drogba made quite the impact yesterday in his first CSL match. Coming on as a sub after halftime, Drogba's first touch of the ball was a 40-yard free kick that AFP aptly described as "outrageous" (video of this strike appears after the jump). The former Chelsea striker would go on to set up his team's only goal, a beau ...

Shanghai FC Shenhua has a problem with prima donnas, specifically one Nicolas Anelka, currently the highest paid player in the Chinese Super League. Last month, according to the Telegraph, he threatened to quit the team, whining, "If there is still no one to support me and (they) continue to play little tricks behind my back... then I will quickly decide whether or not to retire." A little earlier, accordin ...

Youku video for those in China -- plus the entire game -- after the jump. The most expensive player in Chinese soccer history made his belated Super League debut yesterday in Beijing after sitting out last week's CSL opener with a knee injury. About 51,000 people packed Workers Stadium to see it. Even without Anelka, the 33-year-old striker nicknamed "Le Sulk" during his time at Arsenal, the game probably w ...

Editor's note: remember when we asked you to suggest heckles for Frenchman Nicolas Anelka? Well, the game's over. This man has won. By TAR Nation So... the French. Their language sounds like a bit of old pudding being forced through a keyhole. Their attitude and manners are somewhere between a toaster and mildly mentally-deficient groundhog. And their only useful purpose, as far as I can see, is keeping the ...

[caption id="attachment_1550" align="alignnone" width="480" caption="Charles Platiau / Reuters, via Time: tinyurl.com/6nfuljx"][/caption] Before you go racing to Workers Stadium though, you should know Anelka -- the former Chelsea and French national team star -- may not play tonight due to injury (game-time decision). Also, you may not want to chant "French Concession," considering the last guy who used th ...