Why do people bash Sheva so much ?

borocooper wrote:for £30m you'd still expect more from him

Have to put things into perspective though. 30m for Abramovich is like 30 pounds for others.

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

borocooper wrote:for £30m you'd still expect more from him

What for example ?

£25m change

Glenn Hysen wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

borocooper wrote:for £30m you'd still expect more from him

What for example ?

£25m change

..................Cech

Geremi...Terry...Carvalho...A.Cole

J.Cole...Essien...Makelele...Robben

...........Shevchenko

.............Drogba


How good would that be ?

*Geremi could overlap J.Cole who would be inclined to come inside.

* Still loads of defensive quality in center of midfield but Essien could still arrive in the box when necessary courtesy of having the stamina of 2 people.

* A.Cole is defensively brilliant allowing Robben to focus all his energy on attacking (he's never going to provide much cover defensively anyway).

* The world's best forward would be free to work his magic behind the best target man in the game

Glenn Hysen wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:

borocooper wrote:for £30m you'd still expect more from him

What for example ?

£25m change

Pierre Littbarski wrote:..................Cech

Geremi...Terry...Carvalho...A.Cole

J.Cole...Essien...Makelele...Robben

...........Shevchenko

.............Drogba

Maké cant really get away with playing in a 2 man CM for many games these days. Especially since hes playing for France as well.

Hardrada wrote:

Pierre Littbarski wrote:..................Cech

Geremi...Terry...Carvalho...A.Cole

J.Cole...Essien...Makelele...Robben

...........Shevchenko

.............Drogba

Maké cant really get away with playing in a 2 man CM for many games these days. Especially since hes playing for France as well.

Playing with Essien its as good as 3 men and J.Cole would be coming in a lot too.

Seriously - who wouldn't fear that line up more than the current one ?

I saw the Lampard incident Pierre mentioned, pathetic really.

He seems to say sorry to his strikers alot.

he but a good ball through to Drogba at one point.

Thats nice of him, being a 90 minute game and he's playing as an attacking midfielder.

Earnt his £130,000 wages then.




Thats going to really wind S4P up, hehe.

just thought i'd point it out, most people are willing to shit all over him all game than run away back in their shells when he does something right.

I admit when he plays well, Im just lucky that the last year or so I haven't had to do it too often.

Puro wrote:Yo Pierre! I haven't criticized Sheva at all this season. I understand completely your point regarding the great Sheva. Spot on!

Regarding your women comment, you can keep all with them bodies of 11-12 year old girls. I take the voluptuos ones Salma, J Lo etc. At least we won't be stepping on each other's toes there.

Couldn't agree more. She weighs as much as my right leg (definately less than the middle one)! Bring on the voluptuos!

We did say at the time that £30m was WAY to overrpriced though, esp for a 30 year old!

Could have been worse though, they almost got Adriano for £50m the previous year

very relevent point pierre with the way chelsea play

however this does not explain why

a) he looks so slow and lead footed

b) he has zero skill and looks like an amateur on the ball

c) he is skying half of his shots into the crowd or dribbling them to the keeper


Put simply if he was even playing remotely well there would be no reason for criticism.. but as he isnt ..?

Yes, 30m pounds, which means more than 50 million Euros, were way too much, I said this months ago also. Financially, Milan made a great deal. But they didn't replace him adequately, and that cost them (so far).

Chelsea still play in their battering ram style (through the middle). Whereas thrives in a team that´s more freeflowing.

Sheva is not free from blame, but he's also getting too much stick... for now. When I saw him in the Charity shield with that beautiful header and passing, I too thought he would fit in easier.
However, he's:
1) he's low on confidence
2) not settling fast enough
3) looks out of form chasing the ball
4) doesn't have the ideal striker partner (Drog is a hard knock target man, while Sheva needs a creative second striker)
4) doesn't get the fair/creative supply from midfield


I'm not saying that Chelsea isn't creative, with players like Ballack, Robben, J. Cole; but the midfield isn't supplying the balls or worse, not reading Sheva's runs.
WIthout the ideal partner, Sheva still needs to get more goals than he has done so far, so there's blame on him. However, the uncreative, through the middle style, that Mourinho seems to prefer is not in Sheva's favour.
And there is one man in that midfield who numbs all attacking creativity by himself: Flumps.
Lampard doesn't/can't read Sheva's runs, and wastes the ball or blasts it at the keeper/stands from afar. Drog is a kind of striker (perhaps the best in the world) who can deal with Lampard in the side and battle for those rare knockdowns. Sheva can't and isn't cutting it at the moment.

Sheva's lack of end product is because of: adapting to the league and team, his poor form and confidence, Chelsea's through the middle approach and Frank Slug Lampard.

Sheva will pick up his form of course through the season, still get his about 10-12 goals this year, but in Chelsea's current line-up and tactics, he'll never be a 30 mil striker.

I find it particularly cruel that he's always subbed for a winger, when he coul have used one at the start.

Kalou would be the ideal striking partner for him as the kid is a creative second striker. Drogba, within Chelsea's game, overpowers Sheva; especially at both player's form.

While I agree that sheva is a great player and will get better, up to this point he deserves some criticism because crespo for example did better and is not rated as highly.

Rooney has his bashers on here including me at times why should Shevchenko the worlds best striker for a number of years be treated with kid gloves in the EPL

if he continues to be shit can we change this to "why did people bash off over Sheva so much"?

borocooper wrote:if he continues so be shit can we change this to "why did people bash off over Sheva so much"?

We will here how inferior the English league is, that players like Joe Cole, Lampard, and Robben cannot set him up..

good article again from marcotti. could have left the last part out but thought people should have a read.

Money well spent?
Sheva isn't scoring, but he's doing plenty for Chelsea
Posted: Tuesday November 28, 2006 1:08PM; Updated: Tuesday November 28, 2006 1:44PM



Andriy Shevchenko has only three goals through 14 Premiership matches and none in five Champions League games.


People who say "I hate to say 'I told you so,'" are, generally, liars. Saying "I told you so" is wonderfully satisfying.

The reason I bring this up is because, when the possibility of AC Milan selling Andriy Shevchenko to Chelsea first came up last April, I wrote that letting Sheva go was good business. For my trouble, I was called "very stupid."

Well, who's "very stupid" now? Shevchenko is being pilloried by the English press as an expensive, over-the-hill dud. Admittedly, Milan isn't doing too well, but that's largely because it didn't reinvest the Shevchenko money to strengthen the squad -- though, that said, the Rossoneri still have Sheva's $60 million lying around.

It's open season on Shevchenko. People blame him for all of Chelsea's ills. My good friend and fellow pundit, former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland star Ray Houghton, went so far as to suggest that, when he's on the pitch, Chelsea might as well be "playing with 10 men."

As so often happens, the media has gone over the top in its criticism of Sheva. It's one thing to suggest that, for $60 million, signing the Ukrainian was probably not the best bit of business, mostly because of his age and hefty long-term contract. It's quite another to say he's finished.

With this in mind, it's time for someone to stick up for Sheva and make another bold prediction: He's not finished, he will come good and make a big contribution to Chelsea this season (though probably not enough to justify his price tag over the life of his contract).

Why? Consider the following points:

• It takes time to settle in the Premiership and the English press is notoriously poor at predicting how well someone will do. Just consider its assessments of some of Shevchenko's teammates in their first few months in the Premiership.

Claude Makélélé was crucified, with some clever ex-players complaining that "he only passes the ball sideways and gives you nothing offensively." (No, duh! That's his job!) Now they all love him.

Didier Drogba was considered an expensive, overpaid uncoordinated big lump with the delicate touch of a sledgehammer. Now they all love him.

Michael Essien was described as an undisciplined, pedestrian hacker. Now they all love him.

• Settling into the Premiership is made even more difficult by the fact that Shevchenko spent seven years at Milan where the training methods and style of play are radically different from Chelsea.

Milan's training regime is based on a lot of individual work without the ball. Everything is precisely measured and monitored. José Mourinho, on the other hand, does not believe in a running-based approach. Most of Chelsea's cardiovascular work is done in three-on-three scrimmages and things like that. It's not that one way is right and the other is wrong, it's just they are different and, for a professional athlete (especially one like Sheva who takes training very seriously) it's a big adjustment.

Milan plays a lower-paced attacking game based on a intricate short passing and movement. Chelsea plays a faster, more physical game with more long balls and running into space. It's not as if Shevchenko can't adapt to Chelsea's style (though it probably doesn't suit his strengths as much as Milan's), it's just that it will take time to do so.

• Shevchenko has been nowhere near as poor as some have suggested. If you actually watch Chelsea play in person, his movement and passing is very sharp and has been improving in the last month (with the exception of last Sunday's clash with Manchester United).

When he plays behind Drogba in Chelsea's 4-4-1-1, he is an excellent provider. Drogba scored 13 goals in his first 15 Premiership and Champions League appearances this season, which is exactly as many goals as he scored in those two competitions all season long last year. Surely, Drogba's flourishing as a legitimate scorer has something to do with the guy playing alongside him?

We in the media love to build people up and then knock them down. It's what we do and, evidently, it's Shevchenko's turn to be crucified. But that doesn't mean that, with a bit of common sense and some proper analysis, you can't get to the truth: which is that Sheva is not the $60 million dud some would have you believe.

Extra time
Sorry, but can't resist responding to my colleague Greg Lalas' assault on Fabio Cannavaro winning the Ballon d'Or.

Leaving aside the point that it wasn't the "scribes at France Football" who voted him Player of the Year but journalists from across Europe, methinks Greg is a touch harsh. The reality is that there was no obvious outstanding candidate this year (for what it's worth, I would have voted for Gigi Buffon) and compromises had to be made.

That said, Juventus' involvement in the influence-peddling scandal had nothing to do with his performances on the pitch. He was outstanding in the first six months of the season. Then came the World Cup in which he collected a grand total of zero bookings and captained Italy to its fourth world title.

Comparing Cannavaro to a "rat scurrying off a ship" for leaving Juve this summer is wrong, too. Juventus took a huge financial hit, it had to cash in on its stars and keeping a 33-year-old (and his enormous wages) in Serie B when you know he won't be part of your future would have made no sense. It was Juve who chose to sell Cannavaro, not Cannavaro who chose to leave. Buffon, who is five years younger and a goalkeeper, is a wholly different issue.

Lalas points out that the Ballon d'Or is given for a "year's worth of brilliance." No, it isn't. Ballots are due in early October, which means it's based on nine months. So the fact that Cannavaro has been shockingly bad since moving to Real Madrid makes no difference whatsoever (besides, it's not as if Lalas's choice, Thierry Henry, has been dominating the highlight reels this season).

Speaking of Henry, if the award had been given for the first six months of '06, he would have gotten my vote, alongside Samuel Eto'o (whom everyone seems to have forgotten). But the fact is he had a very ordinary World Cup (by his standards). France was mediocre in the group stage and, when Les Bleus raised their game, it was largely down to Zinédine Zidane, not him.

In fact, if France had won the World Cup, Henry still probably would not have won the award (unless he scored a hat trick in the final or something of that ilk). It would have gone to Zidane, because that's how voters think.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/gabriele_marcotti/11/28/sheva/index.html

110% wrote:While I agree that sheva is a great player and will get better, up to this point he deserves some criticism because crespo for example did better and is not rated as highly.

Crespo at least had Creative wingers to work with, so I can see exactly where Pierre is coming from.

Sheva is rushing his chances, because simply, he isn't getting that many.

@ SuperMadrid

Great Article - marcotti is class

Everyone that watches Chelsea knows sheva is a class player but he has not done that good 2 assists in 14 game in the EPL is not great and this is in a team that has been in the top 2 all this season.......The article is sticking up for him at the expensive of Drogba who's goals have often been of his own making.....

If Chelsea win the Champions League and/or the Premiership this season, I will consider it money well spent and Sheva a good asset to the team.

You do not beat the likes of Barcelona, Werder Bremen, Liverpool etc, carrying a 'passenger'