Carlos Tevez, the reason Man City won’t win the league this season.

Has there been a player in England who has divided opinion and created so much controversy as Carlos Tevez? Before his move to England Tevez was lighting up South America in Argentina and Brasil. His performances were being noted by many top teams and it was only a matter of time before he arrived in Europe. Yet appearing at Upton Park led people to question the motives and ownership of this individual. After six years not many players have coveted so much media attention, for so many different reasons. He has just returned from his self imposed exile at a time when his club are top of the league. This season for City hinges on Tevez, even if he doesn’t play another game, his presence behind the scenes will be just as important.

He is regarded at Boca as highly as Maradona and Riquelme, rightly so after he did so much for the club including winning the Copa Libertadores in 2003. His move to Corinthians was the most expensive ever in South American football and shows how highly regarded he was at that time. He justified his move winning the best player award while taking the team to the title. It was his move after that brought to light that although brilliant on the pitch, he was equally as explosive of it.

The issues surrounding Tevez go from court cases involving his transfer to West Ham, controversy over ownership, suspicious two year loan deals and of course the saga of the past 12 months. What Tevez has shown on the pitch epitomises his personality; a fighter who is determined, strong and a winner who will clearly never give up. His attitude on the pitch is unquestionable, yet it is his antics off the pitch that must make City fans worried about what he brings to a club looking to win the domestic title. Too much controversy follows this man which creates negative press and unwanted media attention especially to a team with high aspirations.

It is no surprise that Tevez did well at West Ham, after finding his feet in England he relished, like in Boca and Corinthians the sole forward role, having the hopes of the team and fans on his shoulders. Did he get that at Man Utd? No, he was part of the team but he wasn’t the team and this did not sit well with him as we clearly know. Without psychoanalysing the man I can imagine that he enjoys being the underdog, what with his roots in a Buenos Aires barrio, in what must be the most traumatic and difficult upbringing. To come out of that requires inner strength and belief and a will to fight. Individuals are required to escape a barrio, we fathom his upbringing especially for a boy disfigured because of being burnt by scolding water which his mother then covered in a cloth which was then torn away, this man has been through a lot to get where is.  

And so his attitude to life is to fight and so it is for football. He takes the game by the scruff and drives his team on with intensity and skill, his performances warranting the plaudits and acclaim that are bestowed on him. Go to Buenos Aires and it is not Messi they adore, it is Tevez, he is one of them and they are proud of their man. He has the weight of expectation on his shoulders and he relishes it. And so after being in the background at United, his move to the blue side of Manchester gave him a chance to be the main man again, to be the saviour in a team of underdogs or should I say being the main man in the newly hated super rich side. Quite simply he was in his element.

This year this City team is better than last season, there is a balance and a quality that runs throughout and the most important thing they have going for them is that they actually look like a team. The previous two seasons it was the Tevez show, he was made captain, CAPTAIN! Why? Because he was the best player, not because he was a leader, a real leader does not just perform on the pitch, they instruct, guide and bring together a group. The team lacked leadership, focus and togetherness. Tevez restricted others from being dominant and this restricted City from being challengers.

With City’s wealth and quality and with the poor standard of the other teams around, City should have been up the top before. However, it was this one man who held them back, one man who puts himself before the rest in order to receive the acclaim. He is a man suited to the underdog world where the fighter prevails under all obstacles. Yet Man City and especially United are above that, they are teams who have quality throughout and more importantly managers who understand that being a team is more important that one individual. I cannot fault Tevez’s contribution to Man City and that he has certainly played a part in their rise, however he is not the man to take this team further. I believe that his presence will unsettle the dressing room, cause divisions and tensions and ultimately destroy City’s attempt for the title.

And so, by having Tevez return they risk the same problems occurring.  How long before a training ground bust up? If you were in this team would you not feel that this man has turned his back on the team these past few months? This kind of attitude should never be tolerated, whether he received his pay or not, he abandoned them. He has returned for two reasons; one is that no-one else wanted him and two is because he stands to make money from the club. Neither point to any desire to help the team, only to aid himself.

It is no surprise that those teams interested in him last summer and this January decided against him, he is not a man that is easy to work with and a team like Milan and PSG need to consider if this man was right to take the club forward, will he play for them or for him and will when things go badly, he pack up and leave?! This is a man who is confused and in need of help; the biggest help Man City could have given him and them was to release him from his contract, they should have taken a hit on a player last summer when he wanted out, they did not need that type of atmosphere.  

This season Man City have played better in Tevez's absence, even before the Bayern game Tevez was deemed surplus to requirements with the improved performances of Dzeko, the maturing Balotelli and the excellent Silva and Aguero. Tevez was just not needed anymore. Performances improved, the mood at City appeared better in his absence, a few years ago fights were common place, however it has not been common this year, they have matured. 

Tevez has not, even now he still proclaims his innocence yet all he shows is his insolence. Whether it is his advisors or agent the man is toxic and like a cancer which spreads and destroys. Mark my words that if Tevez is around the camp then City will not win the league. A team requires everyone pulling together and playing for each other. I cannot doubt Tevez’s quality yet I doubt his ability to be a team player who is willing to sacrifice himself for the team. His return will only favour one team, United.