There are two schools of thought on Andriy Shevchenko.The charitable view says he just needs time, eventually his class will show and he will prove to be worth the £30million Chelsea forked out for him last summer.
Then there are those who believe he is the biggest striking turkey in Chelsea’s history.That is saying something when you consider Mateja Kezman, Adrian Mutu and George Weah have pulled on the blue shirt in recent times and that the club once paid £10million for Chris Sutton only for him to score one goal in 12 months before departing for Celtic for £6million.
Shevchenko has gone from the sharp striker who lifted the European Footballer of the Year prize with AC Milan to the diffident individual whose confidence is shot to bits and whose shooting looks to have gone the same way if one particularly embarrassing example against Everton is anything to go by.Whichever way you look at it Shevchenko’s current turmoil is one of football’s most spectacular falls from grace.
His confidence cannot have been helped by the fact that Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has publicly excluded him from his line-up of ‘untouchables,’ a list which perplexingly includes the underperforming Michael Ballack. The ridicule of AC Milan president Silvio Berlusconi also cannot have been good for his karma. Berlusconi, who claims Shevchenko moved to Stamford Bridge because his supermodel wife wanted to live in London, told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “A true Milanista and a real man would not have behaved like this. At my home I’m in charge and decide what happens. Instead, when Shevchenko’s wife shouts, he runs under the bed like a lap-dog.” It was a devastating attack on a proud footballer and probably harsh on Shevchenko, but if true it is an indictment of Chelsea’s spending policy which allows them to squander £30million on a 31-year-old with an eye on relocation rather than ambition.
It is in sharp contrast to the way of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson whose new short-term signing, Henrik Larsson, has arrived this week for nothing, relishing a new challenge, and who might just supply the striking alternative to assist United’s title push. The irony, however, is that, with the season near its halfway mark, there is only one serious striking candidate for player of the year so far and that is Didier Drogba - the man who Shevchenko initially was bought to replace. It is not just Drogba’s 10 league goals - and 16 in total - to lead the scoring charts which have been so impressive, although his portfolio of great goals, including Chelsea’s winner against Everton, have been outstanding. It is the way he has responded to being the focus of Mourinho’s plans, whatever the formation, whether as a lone striker or in tandem with Shevchenko. His work rate has been phenomenal, his hold-up play precise and his eye for goal uncanny. He has combined the essentially English qualities of an Alan Shearer-type barnstorming front man with the more subtle skills of a continental-style striker.
On the way he has gone from being an out-and-out £24million flop at Stamford Bridge, a man with no touch, to being Mourinho’s most consistent ‘untouchable,’ even if he could perfect the transformation by staying on his feet in the penalty area more often. Without Drogba’s goals, Chelsea, who for all their power and strength in depth still have to hit any rhythm this season, might already have surrendered their Premiership title. As it is they remain hard on the heels of Manchester United this Christmas with two contrasting strikers. One who might prove to be the golden goose. The other an out-and-out turkey.
From The Sporting Life
