Former Chelsea defender Marcel Desailly insists the club's
misfiring striker Andriy Shevchenko will come good. Desailly says
Chelsea must win the Champions League this season - and the France
legend believes Shevchenko will be key to that
ambition.
"Shevchenko is a top player and does not need to prove himself,"
Desailly told BBC Sport. "For the moment, he is not performing.
Let's wait and I'm sure he will help Chelsea win the Champions
League." He added: "Shevchenko has Champions League experience. He
likes to be the one that everyone is focused on. "I'm sure that
with the Champions League everyone will look at him and the
motivation can come from there.
The Ukraine international scored just four Premier League goals and
three in the Champions League during last season following a £30m
move from another of Desailly's former clubs, AC Milan. On Saturday
he missed two gilt-edged chances against Blackburn as Chelsea drew
0-0. Desailly believes restoring Shevchenko's confidence is key to
getting the best out of him.
Chelsea begin their Champions League campaign against Rosenborg on
Tuesday and Desailly believes the club need to win the competition
to rubberstamp their status as one of the world's biggest clubs.
"The consideration of Chelsea now around the world is that they are
a club who have already won the Champions League but it's not the
case," stated Desailly.
"Chelsea have not won the Champions League once and we are giving
them too much consideration. That's why this year they have to win
it. "For the last two years they have reached the semi-finals but
it is not enough. We are expecting more with the quality of the
team they have. "I don't know if they can win it this year because
there are plenty of major teams in the competition. "We cannot say
anything at the moment because Chelsea are not at a high level yet.
They are not at the level to make the difference. But let's
wait."
Former England skipper Alan Shearer believes
Shevchenko is underperforming because he "does not feel loved" at
Chelsea. "We don't know whether he was the manager's signing or not
and he's having a tough time," Shearer told BBC1's Match of the Day
programme. "He's come in and is certainly not the player we saw at
Milan a couple of years' ago. "Just have a look at the reaction of
Mourinho (when Shevchenko missed a second-half chance against
Blackburn) - this is what tells me he's not loved at Chelsea. "He's
just not happy with him, is he? The problem is he doesn't feel
loved at Chelsea."
BBC pundit Alan Hansen says he does not ever
expect Shevchenko to come good. "He can't run, that's the problem
he's got," Hansen said. "If you can't run as a centre forward,
you're in trouble."
