Sheva at the 'heart' of the problems ..

Andrei Shevchenko is reported to have told Abramovich that Carlo Ancelotti, his former coach and mentor at AC Milan, is the man to get the best out of him and advised the Chelsea owner to bring the Italian to Stamford Bridge.

Shevchenko is supposed to have told Abramovich that “Ancelotti’s the man for the job, he’s just the man for us”, which will hardly endear him to Mourinho, whose long-term position at Chelsea is in doubt.

In addition to the indifferent performances that have yielded only three Premiership goals in 20 appearances, Shevchenko’s special relationship with Abramovich is at the heart of his problems.

Mourinho and several senior Chelsea players are suspicious of the perceived influence he has over the owner, which is shown by Abramovich’s desire to recruit Avram Grant, the Portsmouth director of football, to improve the striker’s form.

For his part, Abramovich is angry with Mourinho for failing to get the best out of a proven goalscorer who cost a club-record £30 million last summer and has taken the view that a player such as Shevchenko should be able to be integrated into any system.

Mourinho contends that he has done everything he can, defending Shevchenko publicly and playing him in every match until a Carling Cup tie away to Blackburn Rovers at the end of October, giving him a rest and attempting to motivate him further by saying that he is not one of his so-called “untouchables”.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,283-2551087,00.html


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Who does Shevchenko think he is telling Roman to sack Jose ..

OUCH. This is getting uglier by the day.

Chelsea's PR department (& Peter Kenyon is particular)

To be honest, Jose hasn't been getting the best out of Sheva.
Sure Andrei looks like a shadow of his former self, but even during the WC playing with the Ukraine (hardly Milan) he looked and was more effectively.
It also has to do with Chelsea having no wingers (I know, J. Cole injured and Sheva taking Robben's place) and the way Chelsea play. The cavemen-like battering ram approach doesn't work with Sheva who needs and thrives on finesse and defense splitting passes.
They also had to accomodate Ballack simultaneously and the man at the heart of this, not Mourinho but Lampard is undroppable. To Fwank's credit, he's been getting his deflections this season, so he's more important than Sheva for the squad now.
But those defense splitting passes are hardly going to come from Lampard, now are they.

I think Sheva is missing the influence of Kaka ..

The problem is if Sheva + Drogba starts, Chelsea must sacrifice one or two of Essien, Makalele, Lampard and Ballack .. according to Jose, all 4 are 'untouchable' ..

Rai Krol wrote:I think Sheva is missing the influence of Kaka ..

The problem is if Sheva + Drogba starts, Chelsea must sacrifice one or two of Essien, Makalele, Lampard and Ballack .. according to Jose, all 4 are 'untouchable' ..

Im praying this is the case on saturday.

Although the normal solution for jose is to blame it all on the right back if it isnt going well, drop essien back and bring a winger on. we all know the problems with chelsea's team and the problem's shev and ballack are facing because of the way chelsea play...this is why it's a bit rich for jose to moan about them not playing well in his battering ram.

The fans will be making a mistake if they devote all their support to jose IMO... what are chelsea without abramovich?

@ COTR

Roman is 'boycotting' the Liverpool game, upset that Chelsea fans have sided with Jose and not him in the recent going ons ...

Its much simpler than that Rai.
1) Sheva has been playing shit
2) Sheva is not a striker for a Mourinho team.


I wonder the next time a striker comes from Seria A to the prem, only for numpties to say "he'll be the next Sheva"; like they've been doing with every player from the Eredivisie since Kezman.

@ DD

Hleb has called Sheva 'too old' for joining Chelsea at his stage of his career, saying that he should have never left Milan to come to play in a new environment and obviously not doing well ..

Rai Krol wrote:@ COTR

Roman is 'boycotting' the Liverpool game, upset that Chelsea fans have sided with Jose and not him in the recent going ons ...

Exactly.

they may soon find out how fickle their success has been

Hleb: Shevchenko's too old

Arsenal's Alexander Hleb believes Andriy Shevchenko's multi-million pound move to Stamford Bridge was always going to result in failure.

Hleb believes that the Ukrainian striker waited too long and that he is too old to adapt to the rough and tumble of the Premiership.

"I would never have risked coming to England towards the end of my career," Hleb told the Sun.

"The older you get, the harder it gets. Shevchenko is not the first great footballer who has not managed to crown himself in glory here.

"I was never convinced he would be able to play in England. I don't have anything against him.

"The problem lies in the style of the England league, in terms of the tempo, and the time you get to think on the pitch.

"The younger a player is, the easier it is for him to adapt and get to grips with English football."

Hleb is right of course. But he's forgetting that Sheva joined so he & his kids could learn English - surely that's invaluable.

DD wrote:Hleb is right of course. But he's forgetting that Sheva joined so he & his kids could learn English - surely that's invaluable.

Yes, true..

But Jose was meant to be his teacher ... now Jose has fallen out with him, he has no chance of passing his English exam now ...

Rai Krol wrote:@ DD

Hleb has called Sheva 'too old' for joining Chelsea at his stage of his career, saying that he should have never left Milan to come to play in a new environment and obviously not doing well ..

Like morientes last year. Too used to a certain style of play after so many years playing in italy. He is not like a young player that could adapt, because he is so used to playing a certain way.

Kind of, but Sheva was consistently rated one of the top 5 strikers in the world for years, Morientes was never that.

AS FOR THE ENGLISH STUDENT

Man if Sheva really has said this (which I doubt he has), he really needs to learn to be quiet. Jose has been the best thing that has ever happened to Chelsea (yep, even better than Abramovich imo). Most people will only realise just how important Jose was to Chelsea/the Prem once he's gone.

The main problem is, Sheva was NOT a Mourinho signing. He didn't want him in the first place. Now Roman after signing him for Chelsea, would you expect jose to change a very succesful/efficient squad and the battering ram approach to winning matches, just for Sheva sake?

I don't see why people claim that Mourinho didn't want Shevchenko as a fact. I would be very surprised if this was true. I think you would have to be insane not to want the best striker in the world. When we look at Chelsea's situation, it also made sense for them to get a striker like Shevchenko since the striker department has been Chelsea's biggest problem in the last 3 seasons.

I also find it strange that Hleb would say that. He's a good player but it's hardly as if he's setting the Premiership on fire with his performances. For him to say this at this stage is also stupid, since Sheva has only been in England for 6 months and if I remember correctly, in Hleb's first few months in England he was also underperforming.

Still is

Target Man wrote:Still is

I don't rate him highly myself. His shooting phobia really gets to me.

WHole arsenal teams had that tho'

Target Man wrote:WHole arsenal teams had that tho'

True, but Hleb has it the worst. It really looks like he soils himself whenever he's facing the prospect of shooting.

Anyway you're wrong, Hleb was actually pretty good when he first came to England but then was out for a few months. After he returned from injury he had problems returning to his old form...

To be fair Mourinho I think labelled Sheva the best player in the World after the Milan v Porto Supercup. (Shev scored the winner by outjumping Carvalho to head in Rui Costa's cross).


However that was in 2003.


Does anyone agree with this (my take on it):


* Chelsea signed 2 established superstars in the summer - Shevchenko and Ballack.

* Abramovich chose Shevchenko.

* Mourinho chose Ballack.

* Abramovich's player has been shit - Mourinho singles him out for criticism and says his performances haven't been good enough.

* Mourinho's player has been just as shit - Mourinho labels him "untouchable" and makes out that he's played well, never singling him out for criticism.


Fair comment ?

Good point Pierre, never saw it from that perspective.

Although Ballack has not played well this season, he has been better than Sheva.

However, Sheva's work rate is unbelievable at times, whilst Ballack seems to be happy to let Lamps and Essien do all the running in the Chelsea team (I'm not including Maka in that because he rarely makes runs forward).

I'm no spy for Abramovich, says seething Shevchenko

The least of the accusations against Andriy Shevchenko in recent days is that, at a record £30.8 million, he is a waste of money. He has been called a dressing-room snitch, a destabilising influence and the cause of the political infighting that is undermining Chelsea, but in an interview with The Times last night, the Ukraine forward began his fightback. “I am being made a scapegoat for things that have nothing to do with me,” he said.

“My contract runs for four years [until 2010],” he said. “I am here now and I am staying here. I am continuing to work to fit inside the team. I have been attacked from all sides but I intend to carry on. I will grit my teeth. I am not a quitter. I just want to be kept out of the politics.”

Shevchenko can hardly deny that Abramovich was the driving force behind his move last summer from the San Siro to Stamford Bridge, but Mourinho approved the purchase and the Ukraine striker is particularly hurt by the suggestion that he seeks favours, or acts as the dressing-room eyes and ears of the Chelsea owner.

“Those rumours are all lies,” he said. “A lot of things have been said which aren’t true. They have caused a lot of hurt to myself and my family. I am a footballer, not a politician. My job is to play, that’s all. It is what I’ve been doing since I was nine years old. People are crossing the limits in what they are saying about me. It is bull***t.”

“There are things written about my relationship with Roman Abramovich which have been overexaggerated,” he said. “My relationship with him is the same as every other player. He’s the president and I am a player — it is entirely professional.

“I see Abramovich in the dressing-room sometimes or occasionally at training. We might have a quick word with each other but that is natural as we both speak Russian. Maybe I shouldn’t speak Russian. Maybe that gives people the wrong idea.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,277-2553050,00.html

I think the whole original report is bullshit, Shave has been in the game way too long to do something so foolish.