Following the infamous incident during the Champions league fixture v
Bayern Munich in Sept 2011 it was widely reported that Carlos Tevez had refused
to appear as a second half substitute, Tevez himself stated that this was not
the case and he was under the impression that the instruction was for him to
continue warming up, something he felt was unnecessary as he felt he was ready
to participate in the game. The aftermath of the incident in the following
days/weeks/months saw Tevez become an outcast at the club many citing that he
was the one and only instigator of this situation, I for one never took this
view and I shall try to outline my reason for this.
Carlos
Tevez was the signing that had excited me more than any other for over 30 years
and from game one he fulfilled, even exceeded, my expectations. Tremendous work
rate and technically blessed, his never say die attitude soon endeared him to
the Etihad faithful, Roberto Mancini arrived at the club a few months later and
all seemed well within the camp with Mancini making Carlos club captain the
following season.
Then
the cracks started to appear, I was at the time in Colin Bell lower and soon
noticed that whenever Tevez was not in the starting 11 he seemed to be
continually pounding the touchline far more than any of the other substitutes,
this was a pattern that was continually repeated and I could not help but think
at the time that all was no longer well within the camp, shortly after Carlos
handed in a transfer request and although the situation was resolved it became
clear to many that the relationship between him and Mancini was by now very
strained, it became a familiar conversation between the people in our section
when Tevez was on the bench that should he be sent on to play he would be too worn
out to perform. In my opinion that night in Munich was the tipping point, the
catalyst for a situation that had developed over a long period of time.
I don't claim to know the full story and can
only make assumptions on events I witnessed and the opinion I subsequently
formed by observing from the sidelines. This is a golden age in the history of
our great club and I feel a deep sadness that the career of one of the most
gifted players I have had the pleasure of seeing perform in sky blue will be
forever tarnished by events that night in Munich. No doubt in time when the
plethora of Autobiographies are published much will be revealed about the Tevez
incident and the Mancini era in general.
Until then we can only speculate and
debate the different perspectives and opinions which are so widely diverse
within the faithful.
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What about Kompany and Mancini? Kompany strikes me as an intelligent, ambitious player, a young man with tremendous leadership potential. By many accounts, Mancini went out of his way to alienate Kompany.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of stories that will come out in the autobiographies, I think...