The public feud between Andriy Shevchenko and Jose Mourinho is heating up to be almost as bad as the rift between David Beckham and Real Madrid's management-and that one seems to be cooling already.
Echoing the Beckham party's stance against Real, Shevchenko today told ESPN Soccernet "'I am being made a scapegoat for things that have nothing to do with me." And he is. Shevchenko is by no means
playing terribly for Chelsea, but he's not playing well, either. His indifferent form can be likened almost to Manchester United's Wayne Rooney's. The Englishman has shown glimpses of his old self,
but looks nothing like the player of previous years. But Sheva has had to contend with what has historically been a tough transition to the English Premiership for foreign players from Italy and
Spain, where the pace of play is considerably slower. It hardly makes sense for Mourinho to pin so much on the Ukrainian's failure to deliver goals, because Chelsea's problem at the moment isn't
scoring goals-it's conceding them, which is something the club simply didn't allow in past championship-winning seasons. No doubt Shevchenko and Mourinho have actually been sucked into this feud by
Britain's merciless press corps. It's all had debilitating effect on the former Milan great, and by extension, Chelsea, too. You can tell his confidence is gone when he says things like, "Whether or
not [Mourinho] respects me, you'd have to ask him."
Read the whole story at ESPN Soccernet »
