When an incident occurs in football, whether it is on the pitch, in the boardroom or in the media, it is usually easy to find a hundred different opinions about the issue. The Tevez affair (how long before it is called Tevez-gate?) has done the opposite on this occasion. Ask most football fans and pundits about it, and the vast majority would be expressing their outrage by jabbing fingers and accidentally spitting angry saliva droplets within ten seconds.
Manchester City’s one-time captain and a genuine hero in the eyes of the fans, Carlos Tevez has surely gone too far this time. His petulant reaction to being dropped from time to time, and an apparent desire to return to South America, had already led to him seeking pastures new in the summer, so it could surely be sensed there would be a further twist to the whole affair, but what happened in Munich on Tuesday night was extraordinary.
In the aftermath of his apparent refusal to play, there are mixed messages floating around. The player himself has denied it, claiming it to be nothing more than a simple misunderstanding, but City manager Roberto Mancini gave an interview after the game which said otherwise. The Italian, visibly angry, said in no uncertain terms that if it were up to him, the Argentine striker would never pull on the sky blue shirt again.
If it is true that Tevez refused to play, and his body language during the incident appeared to verify that, then surely the Argentine has played his last match for City. It does not matter if the striker is the biggest hero the team has ever had (and he is not by the way), no player is more important than the club itself. There is no ‘I’ in teamwork, they say, but there is one in selfish, and there are two in inconsiderate, so that is doubly important.
The Manchester City fans that made the journey to Munich deserve more from their players, as do all supporters, obviously. A trip to Germany would have cost several hundred pounds, and involved taking days off work, too. The sacrifice made by players is never in proportion to that made by supporters, of course, but in general the faithful are usually prepared to accept that. But when a player on well over £100,000 per week simply refuses to leave the comfort of the bench, it is bound to raise the heckles of the poor souls in the stands.
What is even more galling for everyone is the fact that there were still 35 minutes left on the clock – plenty of time to stage a recovery. It would seem like common sense for a former Manchester United player to know all about the importance of staging late comebacks, but Tevez, for whatever reasons, did not really want to know. It is really difficult to even imagine a slight justification for his apparent actions, even for the most pro-Tevez lobby.
A succession of former players have been wheeled out to give their opinions on the matter in the last few hours, and virtually without exception the anger has been uppermost. A dizzying list of potential solutions to the affair include immediate sacking, withholding of wages and a move to the reserves. All fine suggestions, of course, but there is not likely to be a satisfactory conclusion that suits everyone.
Manchester City probably have more money than the Bank of England now, so they could easily afford to put Tevez in the reserve team, and to make him a virtual outcast. But why should they? Even a mega-rich club like theirs should not have to watch a valuable asset run out his contract until it is time for him to slink away under a blanket to a Buenos Aires-bound private jet.
There is a more radical solution; one which would solve everything, but is very unlikely to be implemented: Tevez should certainly never play for the club again. He has burned his bridges with the manager, the supporters and his team-mates, and should not be allowed to rebuild them. The fans deserve a huge apology, not just some PR-generated ‘sorry’ followed by a kiss of the badge the next time he gets back in the side. His apology should include a sum of money, a substantial one, to be donated to a charity chosen by the supporters.
Then, and only then, should he be told he can leave Manchester City in January. But there should be another caveat here, too. Tevez claims he wants to be closer to his family, so he should only be allowed to go to a club that is west of Manchester. Therefore, Barcelona, Inter, Real Madrid and Juventus, and all those mega-rich Russian clubs, should be told to keep their noses out. And if he does not fancy playing in Brazil or Argentina, there is always Swansea, Blackpool, Liverpool, Everton or Shamrock Rovers.
Sorted.
