Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admits club owner Roman Abramovich took personally the failure of Andriy Shevchenko at Stamford Bridge.
In his new book, 'The Beautiful Games of an Ordinary Genius', which is being serialised in the News of the World, Ancelotti details his first meetings with Abramovich as he was considered for the Blues job.
Their first meeting was in May 2008 at hotel in Geneva.
"Abramovich wanted to know everything about me, about the way I work, about my philosophy," said Ancelotti. "He was looking for a team with a clear identity. As he told me: 'Like Manchester United, Liverpool, or Milan - certainly not my Chelsea.'"
Two weeks later, at the Hotel George V in Paris - and after an embarrassing encounter in the lobby with a rival candidate - Ancelotti sat down once more with Abramovich and his entourage.
Ancelotti recalled the conversation: "The inevitable question: How would I change the way Chelsea plays, if we were to come to an understanding?
"'Chairman, your team is very physical, they need to field a more diverse array of skills.' I come up with a couple of names, Franck Ribery and Xabi Alonso, players that would give the team an advantage.
"He comes up with a third name: Andriy Shevchenko - a player he clearly cares about deeply. 'I can't figure out why he's not playing, ever since we brought him to England, he's just not the real Sheva anymore, I don't know why he's having so much trouble.'
"He's not intimidating, even when he says to me, with a slight catch in his voice: 'Look, we just lost out on the Champions League finals, we just got bounced out of the championship, I have nothing to be happy about. Chelsea just seems to lack personality. My ambition is to win every game my team plays, but right now I just don't recognize my team.'
"He cares very much about winning and about playing the game with style."
