With the saga surrounding Carlos Tevez’s apparent refusal to take to the pitch in a Champions League match last September and the subsequent disappearance, many would have found it hard to believe that he was to be applauded back onto the pitch in March. Some City fans obviously remain sceptical over the re-introduction of Tevez into the team at a crucial point in the season, but the majority in the stadium gave the Argentinian their backing when he took to the pitch against Chelsea.
It’s always a good thing to see in top-level football when the fans support their manager’s decisions when they are put under pressure and the City fans seem to have entrusted Mancini to initiate a turnaround in Tevez’s attitude and commitment. This shows good faith from the supporters in that they have given time for the striker to prove himself, rather than dropping the proverbial sword on the manager’s head for going back on his word of ‘never letting him play again’. An easy route to take for any Manchester City fan would be to say that any player who shows that level of disrespect to the club shouldn’t be allowed back. But they trust their club in giving Tevez a chance to redeem himself and it could ultimately be this gamble that keeps them in the running for the title.
There’s definitely a strong argument for saying that Carlos Tevez should never have stepped onto the pitch against Chelsea, and that City should do everything in their power to sell him. After all, the club have three other top strikers and an abundance of riches to spend on a replacement if needs be. If they own a player who really didn’t want to play for the team, then why give him the opportunity over other squad members. The incident in Munich happened way before the January transfer window, and you wouldn’t have blamed the City fans for being frustrated at the fact that Tevez was still on their books when it shut. But after the initial overblown reaction had died down, it soon became apparent that they would need all the resources they have to fend off United’s challenge for the Premiership title.
If you’re going to bring back a player after such a high profile incident as this, you can’t do it half-heartedly. If the fans or players were up in arms over the decision to bring Tevez back, then the controversy would continue and uncertainty would compromise the manager in terms of selection and dealing with the fallout. The fact that the reception for Carlos’ return was on the whole positive, was a huge step in the right direction for Mancini to now be able to use him as their ‘secret weapon’ for the rest of the season. The way he played against Chelsea and his involvement for the winning goal will also have helped the situation. Yaya Toure said recently that after the game Tevez had told him that the fans’ applause and acceptance gave him a lot of confidence.
With Tevez looking like a probable candidate to start against Sunderland on the weekend, it looks like he now has the backing and opportunity to use his undoubted talent to enhance his reputation and the club’s standing. Now that he has apologised and the harmony with the squad appears genuine once again, he can focus on doing what he did so well last season – score goals. Whether the club and manager have made the best of a bad situation and accepted him back because they could do with the extra fire power, or they actually forgive his actions is now somewhat irrelevant if Tevez scores the goals that help City to the title. Let’s not forget that without the barrier of ill-discipline, lack of commitment and poor form, Mancini has a potentially lethal set of options in attack. Not only can Tevez get in and amongst goals, but he can help re-ignite the form of those around him. A partnership of himself and Aguero, plus Silva and Nasri behind, looks enough to put the knife through any buttery defence that stands in their way.
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What a load.