The Return of Tevez

The Return of Tevez

Since his unlikely return to Manchester, Carlos Tevez has been a huge influence on the fatigued and down beat side we saw less than two months ago; however is it too late for City to claw back the five point gap? And would it all have been different if Tevez had been treated less antagonistically by the manager and the club?

After Tevez was essentially told to leave Manchester by the club many City fans must have wondered where the goals would be coming from in what many hoped could prove to be a key season in City’s rise to becoming a European force. Mancini insisted he was the victim and I am sure he knew it extremely foolish to tell a player who has scored a prolific forty seven goals in seventy two games for the club to just leave. Despite the Argentineans outlandish behaviour which faced heavy scrutiny from pundits and fans, I believe a heavy fine and two week ban would have sufficed. It also led me to think whether Mancini, an experienced manager who is well aware of Tevez’s ability, would have been so naive to sacrifice twenty odd goals in vital games and putting his own job at risk over a “misunderstanding”. This begs the question, where does the real power lie at City; with the manager, or with the money?

After his recent antics Tevez has proven to be a liability despite his amazing knack for scoring goals. This led me to believe selling Tevez was another savvy move from Alex Ferguson, who over the years has earned the reputation of being the shrewdest Premier League manager in the transfer market. In addition during the Tevez and Mancini feud Ferguson came out saying he could have signed Tevez if he had acted more quickly. This is yet another acute move by Ferguson declaring he could have had him if he wanted suggesting he still has a huge amount of influence over City players. I have always thought highly of Tevez as he not only has a superb work ethic (subsequently earning him the “Bulldog” nickname) but has shown he battles for his team. He certainly this showed when he first moved to England as he singlehandedly kept West Ham in the Premier League immediately proving he could cut it at the highest level.

I think Mancini has received significant pressure from the City owners to get Tevez back as they have slumped since Christmas. This makes me think maybe Mancini is the victim in this whole situation as he was bullied to get rid of Tevez in the first place after it was the owners who ultimately told him to leave. In addition key players such as Yaya Toure (who is reportedly on over £200,000 a week) have underperformed and club captain Vincent Kompany and big money forward Sergio Aguero have both had long term injuries. These players’ replacements have just not been at a title winning standard with centre-half Stefan Savic and winger Adam Johnson having poor seasons. With Tevez now seemingly firing on all cylinders after his recent hatrick against Norwich, Mancini is surely set for more criticism as many fans and pundits will begin to wonder whether if Tevez would have made a significant difference to City’s season.

I am sure that he would have made a difference to City’s season and that the Argentinean partnership of him and Aguero would have more prolific than Balotelli and Dzecko have been this season however I am in full defence of Mancini. He has been insulted by Tevez and has had his authority undermined by the owners and players yet he has still kept City in the fight for the title. My view is that City’s problems this season go much deeper than Tevez’s prolonged absence and these problems must be addressed by the club and the manager before next season. If they finish the season strongly, keep Tevez on side, replace the “deadwood” (Dzecko), address their lack of squad depth and the owners come out giving Mancini full backing then I am sure they are in for a revolutionary 2012/2013 season. After it taking nearly 6 months for Tevez and Mancini to make up, the City fans have every right to think “what was it all for?”

 If you have any views on this subject and agree or disagree with any of my opinions please let me know in the comments