MANCHESTER City have suspended star striker Carlos Tevez for a maximum of two weeks. This follows the extraordinary incident, which seems to highlight that the wantaway Argentine forward refused to come off the bench during City’s 2-0 defeat in the UEFA Champions League at Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.
Early on in the match, the former Manchester City captain was seen warming up alongside fellow subs Pablo Zabaleta and James Milner. They had to witness a dismal first half from the English side, falling two goals behind to tap-ins from Mario Gomez. On the hour mark, the disappointed Edin Dzeko was replaced by Nigel de Jong. With the game looking out of the reach, it initially looked like a negative move by Coach Roberto Mancini to restrict the damage of a heavy defeat. However, more met the eye by the argument Tevez seemed to be having with one of the coaches. Whether the instruction was ignored, misunderstood or misheard, he sat on the bench for the rest of the match, arms folded, looking just as miserable as he did when Mancini decided to bring on Mario Balotelli rather than him in Saturday’s Premiership success against Everton. Only after the final whistle did Mancini confirm to the media that serious attitude problem that Tevez had shown;
“If I have my way, he will be out. He is finished with me. If we want to improve as a team, Carlos can’t play with us. With me, he is finished. He refused to come on the pitch. What I said to Carlos is between me, him and the team, but I am really disappointed because it is Carlos. I decide the changes.”
Yesterday morning, Tevez released a statement, denying that he had refused to play in Munich hours earlier;
“I would like to apologise to all Manchester City fans, with whom I have always had a strong relationship, for any misunderstanding that occurred in Munich. They understand that when I am on the pitch, I have always given my best for the club. In Munich on Tuesday, I had warmed up and was ready to play.”
Last night, the club released this statement on the matter;
"Manchester City can confirm that striker Carlos Tevez has been suspended until further notice for a maximum period of two weeks. The player's suspension is pending a full review into his alleged conduct during Tuesday evening's 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich. The player will not be considered for selection or take part in training whilst the review is under way."
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| FINISHED: Tevez's career at Manchester City is surely over |
Personally, I can’t see how Tevez can ever play for Manchester City again, no matter who is telling the truth. However, for someone who is earning at least £200,000 a week; a ridiculous salary for a football player to apparently refuse to play. I was shocked to hear how the relationship has disintegrated between Tevez and Mancini and City are now in a very tricky position. No club will surely want to buy a player who doesn’t have the mojo to play for all potential occasions and even a loan move would be tricky, due to his wages. The club can’t really sack him, as it will cost them the best part of £40million and even for Manchester City; that would be an immense fortune to write off a contract for. Player power in the game has now gone way over the top and this is a dangerous precedent. What happens next in this saga is anyone’s guess.
