Go train on your own! City playing hard ball with Tevez as Argentine returns to Manchester

According to the coaches he has worked with, Carlos Tevez has never been the greatest lover of training grounds. 

On Thursday— on his return to Manchester City — things will get a whole lot worse for the club’s former captain. 

It may be only five months since Tevez finished the last Barclays Premier League season as City’s top scorer with 24 goals in all competitions. And it may be less than half a year since he helped them into the Champions League places.

But as City manager Roberto Mancini begins the process of preparing his squad for crucial games in the league and in Europe, Tevez will be told to train alone.

Having served a two-week club suspension in the wake of an explosive night in Munich, Tevez will find the gates of the City training ground open to him again. That, however, is as far as the welcome will go.

Tevez will find, perhaps to his surprise, that he no longer has a seat in the first-team changing room and he certainly has no place on the field.

He will be sent out to train with a specially designated member of Mancini’s fitness team. Only after his state of mind and fitness has been assessed will the Argentine be considered ready to work with the reserve team.

As Mancini sat on the plane home from Munich two weeks ago, he spoke fervently to his staff of how there would be no way back for Tevez. 

 Whatever happened to other players in terms of form and fitness, his publicly declared intention to banish the player from his team would hold firm.

On Thursday, at the club’s training ground, Tevez will discover that this remains very much the case.

Mancini was told by the City hierarchy on Wednesday that the decision on how to deal with Tevez on a day-to-day basis would be left up to him. 

If he wanted to include him in his first-team plans until his future was determined one way or the other then that, he was told, would be a decision the club would respect.

Mancini, though, never contemplated it for a second. The Italian, once a bit of a loose cannon himself, knows how a disaffected player can spread unrest through a group of footballers and this is a risk he is not prepared to take.

 While Tevez’s future is thrashed out by City’s own disciplinary procedure in the coming days, the player will be told to work to a specifically designed training programme put together to reflect the poor state of fitness Mancini believes him to have carried in recent weeks.

As such, he will not even always be told to report to Carrington at the same time as the first-team players he so recently used to lead. 

When deciding in the aftermath of the defeat by Bayern Munich two weeks ago that he would take Tevez on, this is the scenario Mancini envisaged. It is not ideal.

Saturday’s game at home to Aston Villa and then a Champions League meeting with Villarreal next Tuesday are important games that will be played against a backdrop of something approaching soap opera.

As for Tevez, he never really liked this city. He does not like the food and does not like the weather. On Thursday it is expected to rain. Again.

Welcome back to Manchester

source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk, www.bet365.com, www.teamtalk.com
 

Only thing that will stop Manchester City this season is Itself

Flush with more cash than most of the other teams in the English Premier League combined, City has been tapping up the best and most expensive talent in the game since it was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. It has also been buying their excessive baggage.

Robinho, Emmanuel Adebayor, Carlos Tevez, Mario Balotelli and Sergio Aguero to name a select few who have come into Eastlands on massive fees in recent years. With that though, comes the media rants, the contract qualms, the all-too-public manager spats. And of course, the dart throwing.

Yes, it shouldn't be debated too much that Roberto Mancini has one of the hardest jobs in soccer. Daily dealings with the happiness of his bloated squad, the Italian is almost judged more for the handling of egos than his tactics on the pitch.

Obviously, Tevez is the most important player for Mancini and City. But that doesn't mean Balotelli and Aguero and Yaya Toure and James Milner and Gareth Barry and David Silva aren't important. For them to succeed and reach the lofty goals put before it by the club's ownership, the Citizens stars will have to put the old "no I in team" mantra to work.


It doesn't end with Tevez, however. City's team sheet is full of players who, to the outside observer, are self-involved individuals with only personal gain in mind. That may be a slight over-exaggeration, but a lot of it comes with the gaudy purchases the club chooses to repeatedly make.



Another example? Mancini's pet project Mario Balotelli. The young Italian has had about as many run ins with the team's disciplinary department than he has trips to City's human resources department to pick up his paycheck - which is to say, it's a weekly occurrence.

For Mancini and Co., the solution is simple. If you're trying to beat teams like Manchester United, Chelsea and even Arsenal to the English Premier League title, teams that have dominated the league for the last, well, always, it doesn't hurt to copy their professional and 'team first' approach to the game.

You very rarely hear about trouble in United's camp from players. Wayne Rooney's incident last season was quite surpising, and ended amicably. Ronaldo's enlongated exit a few years back was handled professionally by all parties, most of the time.

Arsenal has traditionally been one of the best managed and most honorable clubs in England, despite the harder times it has fallen upon lately.

Even at Chelsea, a team managed by a handful of managers in the last few seasons, has something of a 'no messing around' attitude that has perculated down from the fridgid top of the organization.

The team which is best at this is current European Champions and world beaters Barcelona. Harmony is an understatement when it comes to that club and it appears unlikely that anything but a full-blown team scandal of epic proportions could upset what Pep Guardiola has fervently fashioned in Catalonia.

And it's not like these teams don't have big stars, because they do - and lots of them. They have just been conditioned to understand that topping the table and winning medals as a team comes before personal drama, pay raises and excessive speeding tickets.

If City can continue to meld the superstar-caliber personalities on the pitch, something Mancini has done a progressively better job of since taking over in 2009, and keep them in check off of it, there will be no stopping it. Not Manchester United, not Chelsea, not Liverpool and not Arsenal. Only one team will be able to slow the Citizen machine: Manchester City.

source: Goal.com, picture from Guardian.co.uk

6 Top January Transfers potentially in the move in next year

Here is the list of 6 top of players who potentially transfer to the new team in January. The list is made by Goal.com and those whose moves have already taken place - such as Ibrahim Affelay's to Barcelona.

1.   Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)	Any club in the world would love to have Tevez and he, enigmatic and unique as ever, could take his pick of them. Potential buyers: Any club would love him. Few could afford him. The difficulties around Carlitos' rights are well-known. Jose Mourinho wants a striker at Real Madrid, but is Tevez the man for that job?
2.    David Luiz (Benfica)	David Luiz has been in poor form since autumn and is now the subject of heavy criticism. He's also recently turned down a contract extension and could be on the move. Potential buyers: Manchester City are thought to be in the lead.
3.     Glen Johnson (Liverpool)	Roy Hodgson is known to dislike Johnson  and would surely love to recoup some of his transfer fee in order to bring in some men of his own.
4.  Thiago Alcantara (Barcelona)	His contract runs out in June 2011, and although there is a two-year option on it, it's not a given that the so-called "new Xavi" is going to stay at Camp Nou for long. He's very highly rated by fans and technical staff alike, so what is going on here is anyone's guess.
5.   Fabio Coentrao (Benfica)	One of the most sought-after left-backs in Europe, Fabio Coentrao will only leave Benfica for big bucks.   Potential buyers: AC Milan and Manchester United are said to be top of the list to sign the 22-year-old.
6.             Ronaldinho (AC Milan)	His time in Europe appears to nearly be at an end. Ronaldinho apparently wishes to remain until the end of the season but AC Milan would be appreciated if he leaves earlier. Potential buyers: The list pretty much begins and ends with Gremio. The club from Ronaldinho's home town of Porto Alegre have apparently lined up the funds already.

source: www.goal.com

Tevez's Future Hangs In The Balance

Manchester United striker Carlos Tevez says he will only know what his future holds at the end of the season.

The barrel-chested Argentine is contracted to United until June, having initially arrived on a two year loan from West Ham.

The Red Devils are reportedly in agreement to pay around GBP 30 million for the player's services to a third party, but this has yet to be contractually sealed.

Tevez, however, hinted he would like to remain at Old Trafford. "I have the head start in Manchester and my idea is to stay here for a few more years," Tevez told Radio del Plata.

"It would be very difficult to have to leave one of the biggest clubs in the world.

"I spoke with the president of the club, but nothing is signed yet."

Source: soccer365.com