MONTREAL -- Toward the end of Mauro Biello's larger-than-usual scrum with reporters on Tuesday, one journalist suggested that the Montreal Impact coach "had won the battle" with striker Didier Drogba, who will be available for the club this weekend and for the MLS playoffs after refusing to play in Sunday's 2-2 tie against Toronto FC.
"I don't think it was a battle between anybody," Biello responded, and perhaps he's right. After all, and let's be crystal clear about this, there are no winners after l'affaire Drogba 2.0. On the contrary, everybody involved -- Biello, Drogba, the Impact and MLS -- lost.
Now, it's important to note that we still don't have all the details here. Impact president Joey Saputo met with Biello and Drogba on Monday and Tuesday -- "to sit down with Didier to find out why he did what he did," Saputo said -- but neither Biello nor Saputo (Drogba was not made available to the media) went into specifics about what was discussed.
He's what we do know: When Drogba was told he would not be in Biello's starting lineup against TFC, he committed the deadliest sin a professional athlete can.
However it was handled behind the scenes, that automatically gives Biello the higher moral ground. It doesn't matter if Biello was planning to start Drogba originally. A manager's job is to put the best interests of the team above any individual, and to send a message that no player is more important than the group.
"In this business, there's no promises," Biello said on Tuesday. "All the players need to be ready to perform and when they're called upon. That's the way I see things."
That's an admirable, principled position, one that has clearly earned Biello the support of his owner.
"I don't think that Mauro," Saputo said, "could have done anything differently."
It was a sound tactical decision, to be sure. It also ignored the bigger picture.
"Each player is the same," Biello said on Tuesday. But in MLS, they aren't. For almost a decade now, the league has allowed teams to sign up to three big-money designated players outside the salary cap, while the majority of the rank and file earn far more modest wages. And for the most part, it's worked great, helping raise the standard of play and the league's profile both at home and abroad. The downside is that DPs end up having an outsize influence at their clubs on and off the field.
The Impact knew before signing Drogba in July 2015 that he would be almost 39 when his 18-month pact concluded. That he would fade in his second season with the club was always a distinct possibility. And from the start, they never treated Drogba the same as everybody else.
After Saputo demanded that the Ivorian honor the final year of his contract following an invitation to return to Chelsea in a coaching role -- l'affaire Drogba 1.0 -- the Impact let their talisman join preseason camp late so he could work with his own trainer in Qatar. They've allowed him and his creaky knee to skip games played on artificial turf. They can't pretend now that he's just another player.
The reaction to Droga's drama was swift of this side of the Atlantic: He's a baby, he doesn't care, the Impact should tear up his contract. One tabloid in Toronto has dubbed him "Prima Drogba."
He can be a diva, no doubt about it. Nobody who witnessed him hiding in a locker last season rather than speak to the media will dispute it.
But it's also not hard to understand how a player of Drogba's stature might feel embarrassed by being passed over for a hugely important match. These are almost certainly the final few games of Drogba's long and brilliant career, and it's safe to say the Premier League and European champion didn't come to Canada to ride the bench.
"When you have a guy like Didier, a lot of the attention is on that person," Impact captain Patrice Bernier said Tuesday. "Sometimes people forget that decisions do stir emotions. They kind of forget that professional athletes are human beings."
For the most part, the Impact have gotten what they wanted from Drogba. He put the club on the map not just internationally, but inside MLS. He scored a bunch of goals, including 11 in his first 11 games last season. He has been an invaluable influence on young players like emerging Canadian striker
Anthony Jackson-Hamel. That the teammates he deserted are willing, to a man, to welcome him back with open arms speaks to his popularity in the locker room.
"Everybody respects him tremendously, and not just because of the status of the player," Bernier said.
But status still matters more in MLS than it does in most places. It's by design. And as long as it's the case, teams must be willing to live and die with their superstars.
