Tevez suspended for refusing to play

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."

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.     

FA Barclays Premiership Report (14th - 16th August 2010)

In a new feature, I will be rounding up the Premiership action on this website every single weekend, with brief reports of each game.  This first weekend of the season bought twenty-six goals, a fairytale start for one of the new boys, a farewell goal from an England international and horror goalkeeping blunders from some of the Premier League’s best.

Saturday 14^th August – Wigan Athletic 0-4 Blackpool

Blackpool fans saw their players make a dream start to their maiden Premiership campaign, with a convincing 4-0 away day result at a dreary and awful Wigan.  Gary Taylor-Fletcher opened the scoring and Marlon Harewood added another two goals before half-time, to give the Tangerines an unforgettable first 40 minutes.  Wigan barely improved after the interval, and luckily, only conceded one more goal, when Chris Kirkland made a meal of Alex-John Baptiste’s cross and palmed the ball into the net.  This was the sort of day that Blackpool fans could only dream about, but the pressure will be already on Roberto Martinez, otherwise he could become a very early Premiership casualty. 

Saturday 14^th August – Chelsea 6-0 West Brom

Chelsea started this season as they finished last season, as the defending champions ripped newly promoted West Brom apart at Stamford Bridge.  After a dismal pre-season, Carlo Ancelotti’s champions made short work of the Baggies, who wilted once Florent Malouda put the Blues ahead on six minutes.  Didier Drogba earned himself a deserved hat-trick, whilst Malouda scored another late effort and Frank Lampard added a sixth.  This was a big warning of intent from the champions, ‘catch us if you can.’  For West Brom, their season effectively begins against Sunderland this Saturday.

Sunday 15^th August – Liverpool 1-1 Arsenal

A nightmare moment for Pepe Reina in the last minute cost Liverpool a deserved three points against Arsenal in a hard-fought clash at Anfield.  A poor first half came to life when Reds debutant Joe Cole was dismissed by Martin Atkinson for an unnecessary challenge on Laurent Koscieny.  Moments into the second half, David N’Gog capitalised on some slack Arsenal defending to smash Roy Hodgson’s side infront, beating the under-fire Manuel Almunia at his near post.  Reina was on top form to deny Thomas Vermaelen and Tomas Rosicky during the match, but made a hash of a simple cross from Rosicky, being beaten in the air by Marouane Chamakh and off-balance, palming the ball into his own net for an unfortunate own goal.  Koscieny were sent off for two silly yellow cards in stoppage time, but Liverpool will wonder how two points got away, whilst Arsenal will be the happier of the two sides, after a timid opening display.

Monday 16^th August – Manchester United 3-0 Newcastle United

Manchester United made a masterful start to their campaign, kicking off with an easy 3-0 win over Premier League returnees, Newcastle United.  Although the Magpies kept Sir Alex Ferguson’s side contained for the first half hour, they were broken down by Dimitar Berbatov cool finish, then a second on the stroke of half-time from Scot Darren Fletcher.  Substitute Ryan Giggs added a late third, keeping his record going as the only player to score in all 19 Premiership seasons.  There was also a wonderful display from Paul Scholes and although Wayne Rooney’s goal drought continued, this was a near-perfect start for the Red Devils.

Saturday 14^th August – Aston Villa 3-0 West Ham United

It was a strange atmosphere around Villa Park at the weekend, especially after the shock departure of Martin O’Neill from Aston Villa just five days before the start of the season.  However, his ex-players responded in superb fashion, comfortably getting the better of a very limp West Ham unit.  Stewart Downing opened the scoring, taking advantage of some dodgy goalkeeping from England reject Robert Green.  Stilian Petrov headed in a second, before James Milner, on his farewell appearance for the Villains before joining Manchester City smashed in a Marc Albrighton low cross.  West Ham will need to improve on this dismal display, but it was the perfect tonic for reserve team coach and caretaker boss, Kevin McDonald.

 

Saturday 14^th August – Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Manchester City

Joe Hart proved his worth to Roberto Mancini with a breathtaking goalkeeping display to keep Tottenham at bay in the first game of the new season.  Picked over Shay Given, the recently appointed England No.1 produced a number of quality stops to deny Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and co from a winning start.  Tottenham’s performance was impressive, bar the result.  For City’s big spenders, they were battered and lucky to leave White Hart Lane with a goalless draw.

Saturday 14^th August – Sunderland 2-2 Birmingham City

Sunderland threw away a two-goal lead infront of their home fans on a day when the skippers had a day to forget.  After deliberately elbowing Garry O’Connor, Lee Cattermole was lucky to stay on the field for longer than 40 minutes.  He did commit two yellow card challenges and quite rightly, got his marching orders.  Birmingham captain Stephen Carr conceded a penalty converted by Darren Bent and then, looped a header over a bemused Ben Foster early in the second half.  Dreadful Sunderland defending led to a spirited fightback from Birmingham, with scrappy goals from Scott Dann and Liam Ridgewell. 

Saturday 14^th August – Wolves 2-1 Stoke City

Wolves came out on top of an entertaining opening clash at Molineux with Stoke City, inspired by a brilliant free-kick from David Jones.  Having lost new record signing Kenwyne Jones to an ankle injury early on, Stoke lost their way and conceded twice in three minutes.  First, to a 20-yard volley from Jones’s free-kick, teed up by Karl Henry, then to a simple header from new Wolves signing Steven Fletcher.  Although Abdoulaye Faye headed in a consolation, Wolves deserved to shade this match and continued their momentum from the end of last season in fine style.

 

Saturday 14^th August – Blackburn Rovers 1-0 Everton

Tim Howard gifted Blackburn a deserved opening day success, by dropping a simple ball forward from Steven N’Zonzi.  His glaring error allowed Nikola Kallinic the chance to slot the ball into an unguarded net and hand Rovers a day one win for the first time in seven years.  Everton, playing in absolutely disgusting pink away shirts huffed and puffed, but lacked the creativity required to beat Paul Robinson.

Saturday 14^th August – Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Fulham

This game had a 0-0 draw written all over it and sure enough, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham lived up to expectations.  Mark Hughes’s first game back in football management since his achromous departure from Manchester City last Christmas turned into a damp squib, as his side looked happy with a point.  Bolton forced the best of the action, but they were denied by fine goalkeeping.

Slovenia 0-1 England: Energetic England Progess Into Knockout Stages

Now that’s more like it.  Once more, when the chips are down, England pull out a performance full of blood, sweat and determination.  A tense, but thoroughly deserved 1-0 win over Slovenia at the Nelson Mandela Bay in Port Elizabeth sees Fabio Capello’s men edge into the knockout stages, with a performance that will make the nation belief again.

It was a match that England had to deliver, after two stuttering and abject displays against the USA and Algeria.  Capello made three alterations to his line-up, with Matthew Upson replacing Jamie Carragher at the heart of the defence, due to Carragher’s suspension.  James Milner, fully fit after a virus took over from Aaron Lennon on the right-side of midfield and Jermain Defoe was drafted in for the inadequate Emile Heskey upfront.  All three made significant contributions to the winning performance.

Upson made a last-ditch challenge in the dying stages to deny Slovenia their best chance, but it was Milner and Defoe who were the main men, becoming English folklore heroes in the process.  The moment came on 23 minutes, when Milner, who combined well on the right-hand side with Glen Johnson all day, swung in a wicked ball into the penalty area.  Defoe, who had barely had a touch upto that point, stole half a yard on his marker, and powered a rasping drive past the despairing Slovenian goalkeeper, Samir Handonovic, despite him getting both hands onto the effort.  The relief in the celebration could be seen, as could the cheers in Port Elizabeth and back home in many houses, pubs, offices and schools across the UK.

After that, England should have had more goals, and were unlucky to not win by more than the final 1-0 margin.  Defoe missed a glaring chance moments after the interval, with Handonovic increasing his price tag at Serie A side Udinese, by producing a string of top-class saves to keep Captain Steven Gerrard frustrated.  His best save, was when a hard-working and committed Wayne Rooney escaped the offside trap, but scuffed his shot when in a glorious position.  Handonovic did enough to get a fingertip onto the shot, and diverted it onto the post.  Slovenian chances were few and far between and when they came, either John Terry would throw some body part at it, or David James would comfortably hold onto the controversial Jambalaya ball, which would have made Robert Green squirm on the dugout, after his glaring error in Rustenberg eleven days ago.

Despite the major positives, there are the usual negatives.  Rooney limped off with twenty minutes to go, with an ankle problem and the doctors will be hoping it is only a knock, and nothing more severe.  Also, Landon Donovan’s 91^st minute winner in Pretoria for the USA not only broke Slovenia hearts and sent them tumbling out of the competition, but booted England out of top spot in Group C.  It means a trip to Bloemfontein awaits on Sunday afternoon, with the old enemy Germany the possible opposition, should they get the three points they require against Ghana in Soccer City tonight.

For now though, England won’t worry about that.  Pride, confidence and belief is restored; the criticism and lack of team harmony can be forgotten now.  The job has been done, although via the hard route and the knockout stages begin at the weekend, with England still in business and very much alive and kicking in the World Cup.

Phew!