There are rows at Chelsea training. It would never be like that with Jose, says Kezman (original) (raw)

He has already served the Special One but now Mateja Kezman is waiting for a higher calling. "I want to become a monk," says the

former Chelsea striker. "It is God's decision. But if God calls me, I will do it."

He has a wife and three children and a lucrative career as a professional footballer. He also has an opportunity to guide Fenerbahce past his former colleagues from Stamford Bridge when they meet in the first of two legs of a Champions League quarter-final in Istanbul tomorrow night.

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True Blue: ex-Chelsea striker Meteja Kezman is gunning for his former side

But Kezman is an Orthodox

Christian who says he has found "more and more peace" over the last six or seven years — even discovering the ability to accept defeat. "It is a gift," he explains.

Kezman has a gift for scoring goals, even if he sometimes struggled to show it during his one

season at Chelsea.

He arrived in London as a

record-breaking striker from PSV

Eindhoven, having become the first player in the Dutch league to score more goals than games played in consecutive seasons.

He certainly had confidence in his ability, once describing himself as a player who possessed 'animal instincts'.

While he says a lack of regular first team football forced him to leave Chelsea, he still reflects on his time there with satisfaction. "I didn't enjoy being part of Jose Mourinho's rotation system and in the end I had to leave to get regular first team football," he said.

"But I made 25 league appearances that season, won Chelsea's first championship in 50 years and also scored the winning goal in the 2005 Carling Cup Final. I am a fighter and I played wherever the manager asked me to. I was a right back, a left back. Just about anywhere except in goal. And I think the fans recognised that."

Mourinho liked Kezman and after talking to the Serbian for half an hour it is easy to see why. He is a genuinely charming guy, chatty and courteous. When I note, as a bit of a joke, that we share a birthday he greets the revelation with huge excitement. "That's beautiful," he says. "Really beautiful."

He speaks with similar passion about Mourinho, and notes how much his old colleagues must be missing him and how, in Avram Grant, they do not have a successor of the "same quality".

"Jose and I had rows," he said. "If I wasn't in the team, I would speak to him about it and sometimes there would be an explosion and we would be enemies. I think that's normal in football. But we were friends again the next day.

"He is a great manager and, along with Guus Hiddink, the best I have ever worked with. When I said I felt I needed to move on, he understood. He did not stand in my way. He appreciated how difficult I found being on the bench after being a big star at PSV and how much I wanted to play regularly."

Kezman was stunned when Mourinho left earlier this season and even more surprised when Grant was swiftly appointed as his replacement. "I know the background," he said. "I understand that Mourinho had problems with the owner. But the manager that they have now does not have Mourinho's qualities. When Mourinho was there, Chelsea was like a machine. Everything ran like clockwork.

"Now, talking to old friends at the club, I understand it's not so good. There are rows on the training pitch, the kind of problems that never would have happened when Mourinho was in charge. Chelsea are still a strong team. Just look at their position in the league. But it is a good time to play them."

Good, but not ideal. The ideal time would be if John Terry was also missing. "He's the best captain I have ever encountered in my career," said Kezman. "I know there has been this big debate about whether he should continue as England

captain but I have huge respect for him as a leader.

"At Chelsea, he is brilliant with the newcomers and brilliant at offering encouragement when he sees

players having a hard time. He celebrates when his team win and supports players when the team lose."

According to Kezman, Terry might have to console his team-mates after the two meetings with Fenerbahce. "As we showed in the previous round against Sevilla, we have a lot of spirit," he said. "We can defend but we are a good attacking team."

Much of that, explains Kezman, is down to the coach. "Zico is fantastic," he said. "He takes an interest

in all the players, talking to them regularly on a one-to-one basis.

"He has taught me a lot. Different ways of striking the ball from

set-pieces and in open play. And he offers me different ideas about how and when to make runs.

"He's also an incredible competitor, as you see when he sometimes joins in during training matches or games between the coaching staff. If I'm honest, he's still the most gifted player at the club."

A gift that, presumably, comes from God.

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