Information centre “Ukraine-2012” posted article of sophisticated columnist The Guardian Jonathan Wilson
Footballers who return to old clubs gamble with their legacy but the former Chelsea player is sure he made the right decision.
The past is past and to revisit it risks the memory that makes it a comfort in the present. When Dave Mackay left Tottenham in 1968, he had the chance to return to Hearts, where he had made his name, but terrified by the thought of "middle-aged men standing on the terraces, saying to their sons: 'See that fat guy out there huffing and puffing? He used to be Dave Mackay,'" he joined Derby, where they "didn't know me from Adam and we owed each other nothing".
For footballers to return to the clubs that made them great is to gamble their legacy on the possibility of a sentimental farewell. For every Peter Beardsley, there are a dozen Robbie Fowlers. For Andriy Shevchenko, though, going back to Dynamo Kyiv seemed almost predestined.
"I always knew that one day I would return to my native club," he said. "How I could I forget when I was the ball-boy at Dynamo games and saw the goals scored by my idol Oleg Blokhin? Now I'm 33 and I'd like to spend my final years at the club where I started my career. When I agreed my departure from Chelsea I had a choice of five or six quite well-known European clubs, but I didn't really think seriously about them because I'd already decided that the journey that began in Kyiv would end in Kyiv."
Adding to the sense of fate, was the arrival at Dynamo last year of Valery Gazzaev as coach. "That was very significant for me," says Shevchenko. "Gazzaev wanted to sign me 12 years ago when he was the coach of the Russian club Alania Vladikavkaz. I respect him very much. With him, training isn't boring. He has some interesting ideas and ambitions to fulfil."
Perhaps the most interesting of those ideas is to field Shevchenko in a wide position, something with which he seems not entirely comfortable. "That was quite unexpected," he says. "It took some time to adapt because playing on the flank requires more physical work and tackles. But throughout my career I've never complained about a coach's decision and it didn't take me long to get used to the scheme."
Shevchenko might not complain, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily happy about coming home to discover the centre-forward berth occupied, as Odysseus returned to Ithaca and found Penelope besieged by suitors. Last month, at home against Vorskla Poltava, he scored his 100th goal for Dynamo. "In that game Gazzaev gave me a nice surprise and played me in the centre-forward position I've played for most of my career. Personally I like this position very much; playing in the attack feels like I'm a fish getting back into the water."
Part of Shevchenko's brilliance, though, was always his all-round ability and his willingness to occupy roles other than that of central striker. That's why Valeriy Lobanovskyi hailed him as the closest he'd ever known to his ideal of the "universal player", and why, with his range of skills, he was widely acknowledged as Marco van Basten's successor as Europe's most complete striker.
Age has brought reflectiveness and, while Shevchenko is too modest to name Wayne Rooney as his heir, he clearly sees something of himself in the 24-year-old. "He's not a typical central-forward," Shevchenko says. "He has probably the biggest working area in the modern game. He moves constantly to try to fill the channels in attack, at the same time creating spaces for his team-mates. It's true to say he can do anything on the pitch. I've been very impressed by his progress this season."
Perhaps surprisingly give his relatively disappointing time in England, Shevchenko still keeps a close eye on the Premier League. "The chase for the title this year has been very intense. But I believe in Chelsea not only because I played for them but because I think they have been more consistent than their rivals.
"John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic and Michael Ballack are friends, and I hon estly have good memories of my time at the club. I wish them luck in the hunt for the league." Does it indicate something about his relationship with José Mourinho, though, that he says the aspect of English football that made the biggest impression on him was "without a doubt Sir Alex Ferguson with his ability to motivate the players and his great managerial skills"?
The title race in Ukraine is no less intense, even if Metalist Kharkiv have played the third-placed role with rather less gusto than Arsenal have in England. Dynamo led at the winter break, stuttered in March, but have won five in a row to go level at the top with Shakhtar with four games remaining. With Shakhtar home to a Chornomorets side who have won just twice since Christmas, while Dynamo travel to Karpaty, who have lost just once at home this season, Saturday looks an opportunity for Mircea Lucescu's side to take a crucial lead before the giants meet in Donetsk in the penultimate round of games.
This season hangs in the balance, but Shevchenko sees Dynamo on the brink of great things. "There are some very promising graduates of the academy," he says. "Many of them won U-19 European Championship. I'm sure Dynamo have bright prospects. It's also important that Gazzaev is a coach who can build the team in the best traditions of Dynamo. Under him Dynamo play as a team, combining individual and collective pressing, keeping constant pressure on the opponents and relying on a strong and deep game on the flanks."
Once Shevchenko was part of just such a promising generation, as Lobanovskyi's last great Dynamo side reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in 1999. The enthusiasm that fired him then is still there, but physical limitations are starting to catch up with him. "You know for the sake of playing professional football I have to fly to Germany twice a month for treatment on my back?
"Several months ago I spent three hours in an uncomfortable position on a flight to Kyiv and felt an abrupt pain. Afterwards I couldn't even walk normally. But Anatoliy Tymoschuk, who plays for Bayern, told me about a very good doctor in Munich. That treatment gives me about 50% of my physical fitness."
Retirement, though, is not in Shevchenko's plans just yet. "Unfortunately we were eliminated early from European competition and got knocked out of the Cup. So, the priority is to win the Premier Liha. We have an army of very faithful fans and we'd like to confirm to them that Dynamo is the strongest club in the country. Beyond that, I am Ukrainian, and I would like to play in the European Championship we are hosting. I'm still very hungry. After missing the World Cup finals by losing in the play-off to Greece, Euro 2012 for me would be the perfect swansong."
Football rarely deals emotional favours and disappointment probably awaits any hope of Shevchenko's career ending in triumph in the new national stadium in July 2012. Yet given there are countless players who tainted their memory by hanging around too long, when the opportunity for such a perfect finale offers itself, who can blame Shevchenko for trying to take it? First, though, he has two more seasons to slog through; let's just hope no Dynamo fan ever has cause to look at the figure chugging about in the No7 shirt and think, "That used to be Andriy Shevchenko."
www.guardian.co.uk
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