Carlos Tevez
taunts Manchester United after scoring at
Eastlands
Carlos Tevez's English may not be fluent, but you could
not fail to understand the message he sent Manchester United and
Sir Alex Ferguson on Tuesday.
As Tevez inflicted the blows that gave
Manchester City a slight advantage amid the domestic warfare of
this Carling Cup semi-final, he went through his
tick-list of targets as he remembered those who dared to doubt
him.
Tevez reacted to equalising from the spot by gesturing in the
general direction of Gary Neville,
who backed Ferguson's assertion that
financial demands made the Argentine too expensive to keep at Old
Trafford.
And when Tevez headed the winner, he was off again.
The cupped ear gesture towards the directors' box mirrored his
celebration towards the Old Trafford hierarchy after scoring
against City last season as negotiations on a permanent deal
started to sour. He was determined no-one should feel
left out.
Whether Ferguson will make the final gesture of this little
squabble will be decided after next week's second leg,
but Tevez is proving an inspired
arrival at City and a loss for United, at least for
now.
The final reckoning on whether Ferguson was wrong not to sign
Tevez can only be made at the end of this season when the
successess of the respective clubs are measured.
But there is a fact that is currently beyond dispute. Manchester
United would benefit from having Tevez back in their ranks - 13
goals in his last 10 starts tells you that.
Ferguson would never admit he erred in allowing Tevez to fall
into the grateful arms of Manchester City, but
the striker looked driven by a
personal mission to torture his former manager on an atmospheric
night at Eastlands.
Barracked when he returned to Old Trafford earlier this season
and clearly aware of Neville's less than flattering assessment of
his value to United,
Tevez could barely contain himself as
he tormented United. The man who declined to celebrate
when he enjoyed successes against another former club, West Ham,
had no qualms about rubbing United's nose in it here.
And how City's fans revelled in it. The familiar cry of "Fergie,
Fergie sign him on" (the rallying call of the Stretford End
pressure group pleading for United to land Tevez) swept around
Eastlands off the back of every decisive Tevez contribution.
It all added further weight to the arguments coming from those
who suggest Ferguson has dropped an almighty clanger. That said,
there were reasons why the Scot did not pursue the deal.
Tevez was unexceptional and not a regular goalscorer at United
last season. As he basks in the glow of his achievements at City,
it should also be remembered that he did not make a cast-iron case
for Ferguson to regard him as indispensible.
Often, the adulation Tevez received was out of proportion with
the contribution made. Yes, there were some key goals, but Ferguson
perhaps thought he had a better version of the Tevez template in
Wayne Rooney.
Also, Tevez's attempts to use Old Trafford adulation as a lever
against Ferguson and the United board were ham-fisted and a
distraction when the serious business of winning the Premier League
still needed to be done.
With Cristiano Ronaldo gone, Rooney was going to be operating
even more through the centre, so with Dimitar Berbatov in the ranks
it was understandable that Ferguson would not regard Tevez as an
essential purchase in an extravagantly rich deal.
As I stated in an earlier
blog, none of these reservations that United would have
justifiably expressed made him a dubious purchase for City, and he
has proved to be a wonderful signing so far.
When assessing whether to sign Tevez, City will have asked two
questions: Could they afford the transfer? Yes. Was he an upgrade
on what they had? Emphatically so, althought I suspect the impact
he has had so far this season has outstripped even their most
optimistic expectations.
The danger for Ferguson was that Tevez had the quality and
capacity to be a potential success elsewhere - and when that
elsewhere happens to be Manchester City, then his absence is
highlighted even more.
City conducted a parade of legends from their 1969/70 team
before the lights were dimmed as usual at Eastlands - and
the way Tevez was greeted when he was
substituted late on suggests he is on course to join those
illustrious names.
Tevez may have been the match-winner on Tuesday, but Rooney is
still the player most would take ahead of him. This is not to decry
Tevez, it is simply an acknowledgement of Rooney's brilliance,
which he showed in full force as time ran out.
But as Tevez stood on the halfway line in almost mocking pose
after scoring his second goal, Ferguson may just have wished for a
moment he could take him back to Old Trafford - if only for a
little while.
This is because the drive and urgency Tevez brought to
everything he did was lacking in United's work until the last 20
minutes, when Rooney embarked on a magnificent one-man mission to
take his team into next week's second leg at least on level
terms.
United, with extra forces deployed in midfield, dominated the
first 40 minutes and led through an early Ryan Giggs goal, but they
appeared content to stroll, declining to kill off a desperately
nervous City, and paid for it.
In a strange season on and off the pitch at Old Trafford, this
was further confirmation that they are not the team they were.
United are too average too often in games, and they are not getting
away with it as often as they did.
They still possess some of the old instincts that allow them to
remain in the hunt for silverware - and City's euphoria at beating
the arch-enemy and moving close to a first major Wembley final in
29 years was tempered with large helpings of caution.
Goalkeeper Shay Given formed a barricade on his own in the
closing stages, usually against Rooney, perhaps a taster for next
Wednesday at Old Trafford.
Ferguson had paid City the compliment of fielding a strong side
and ditching his plans to play a young team - and his fierce,
fists-clenched reaction to his side's early strike showed how
important this was to him.
Make no mistake, Carling Cup or not,
Ferguson will be badly hurt if City finish the job off in his own
house next week and will surely use every weapon at his
disposal at Old Trafford, something that should flatter their
rivals after being downtrodden for so long.
For City, to come from behind and beat United will only add to
their confidence and conviction that special things are happening
at Eastlands. Next Wednesday could be a seminal day for the club
-or confirmation of just how far they still have to travel.
