Sheva is captain of Ukraine. IMO he would also make an excellent captain of Milan once Maldini retires.
I think you are overstating the importance of statistics. I believe that timing of goals is far more important than quantity. This is why Sheva is such a crucial element for both Milan and Ukraine - he scores when the team needs goals most.
I shall refer you to a few examples;
- Italian Supercoppa against Lazio. Sheva was the sole difference between both sides with his hattrick, which proves he can perform on big occasions, an attribute of a World Class player, dare i say, the Worlds Best Player.
- In CL, he scored the only goal against who i believe to be the best team in Europe at the moment - Barcelona. This victory was important both symbolically and especially points-wise.
- In Serie A. He singlehandedly won Milan 9 points in the games against Lazio (2-1), Sampdoria (1-0) and Siena (2-1). He scored two goals against Reggina (3-1) to give us 3 points instead of 1 and made sure we didn't lose to Roma (1-1). Essentially, he has kept us within 4 points of an unbelievably strong Juventus side.
Another aspect that I consider to indicate a World Class player is versatility. Sheva can score pretty much from any part of his anatomy (although im yet to see a Ruud Gullit reminiscent hip volley
). The quality of his goals are also very high. As you know, its quite hard to break down a team exhibiting the Catenaccio style, so you often see some clinical pieces of finishing from Il Tsar - notably his headers and an incredible outside-the-area volley against, Reggina i think.
As for assists, Sheva has considerably fewer than Henry. Not only do they have quite different playing styles, but at times Milan can have up to 4 playmakers on the field at the one time (Pirlo, Seedorf, Rui Costa, Kaká), which eliminates the need for Sheva to create his own goals or for others.
And, if you were wondering, it's Vikash Dhorasoo who is the resident boot shiner at Milanello
