Darren Norris
SO the Carlos Tevez saga is approaching the final turn. Like Cristiano Ronaldo the Argentine striker is off to pastures new and all of a sudden the Man United squad looks less formidable than it did two weeks ago. When you consider Liverpool missed out on the title by only four points last season despite the frequent absences of Fernando Torres, there's a case to be made for installing them title favourites at this juncture. Then again United are sure to spend big before the season starts. The loss of Ronaldo, for all his petulance, is a massive blow for United. £80m does soften the blow but there aren’t many players who score 42 times a season from midfield and follow it up by netting 25 in a campaign disrupted by injury.
It’s hard, though, to understand why pundits and United supporters are so devastated by Tevez’s exit and why the player and his advisor seem to have such a persecution complex about how he was treated. It's argued Tevez was shabbily treated and didn’t see sufficient action last season. This is not the case. Tevez made 29 Premier League and 51 appearances in all competitions for United last season. The argument simply doesn’t stack up. For example the much maligned Dimitar Berbatov only figured in one more Premier League and played in nine less in total.
Tevez’s goal per minute ratio offers a compelling basis for Alex Ferguson’s reluctance, at least until recently, to pay the £25.5m asking price to sign him up on a full-time basis. He scored only five league goals in total, an average of one in five, a poor return for a striker in any side, a dire one for a striker in a title winning team. Overall the Argentine scored 15 goals in all competitions, an average of one in three, hardly prolific.
By contrast Berbatov, who was savaged by critics and United fans alike for large chunks of last season, scored nine league goals and 14 in total, an overall average of one in three. The Bulgarian also made 14 assists in his first season at Old Trafford, not that bad for a player who, by his own admission, had an underwhelming season at the club. By contrast Tevez made just three assists in the league and a mere seven in total, half that of Berbatov. And yet Tevez is perceived as a superb team player while Berbatov is constantly derided as lazy.
Interestingly when you combine Tevez’s total return and assists made last season he is behind not only Berbatov but West Ham’s Carlton Cole, Bolton’s Matthew Taylor, Tottenham’s Darren Bent (Jesus wept!) and Bolton’s Kevin Davies.
Statistics don’t tell the whole story of course but it’s hard to make a compelling case for spending £25.5m to sign Tevez on a permanent basis. Tevez undoubtedly has his qualities and his all action style and phenomenal work rate has made him a firm crowd favourite wherever he has played and will no doubt continue to do so - even if it is at Manchester City - but the simple fact is the asking price was simply too high, his goals return didn’t and couldn’t justify such an outlay.
Historically players who leave Old Trafford - think Jaap Stam, Ruud van Nistelrooy, Paul Ince and David Beckham - don’t go on to greater heights.
Cristiano Ronaldo might buck that trend but I suspect Tevez won’t.
