Carlosing it

So, on Monday, December 6, the Manchester City official club website posted a video interview with Carlos Tevez in which he said all the right things, playing down his supposedly stormy relationship with Roberto Mancini, claiming to be happy in Manchester, and suggesting that the press have blown things like his supposed desire to retire from football soon out of proportion.

Then, this morning, after Tevez missed Saturday's game against West Ham (a 3-1 win) because of suspension related to an accumulation of yellow cards, news started trickling out that Tevez had submitted a transfer request to City which the club had rejected. ESPN Soccernet is now suggesting that Tevez will talk to the press and "blow the lid off" the behind-the-scenes at City and reveal that the club is in fact in the turmoil that the press has been claiming, even as recent wins had seemingly tempered those fears.

To which I would say: GTFO.

Tevez is, undoubtedly, a vital part of the City offense, as he would be at most clubs. But if all the news that's coming out is true - that Tevez, already on one of the richest contracts in England, demanded still more money just to see out the season; that after accepting the captain's armband and insisting in every actual interview that the issues attributed to him were being blown out of proportion, he apparently can't stand being at the club any more - I say dump him. It would be a pain for the rest of the season, for sure. But if this is the behavior of the man chosen as captain of the squad... how can the rest of the players avoid falling into line behind him? If this is leading by example, the club is destined to fracture from the inside, and the owners and Mancini should take pains to stop that happening. (Of course, if the trouble with Tevez is attributable to his relationship with Mancini, one suspects that Mancini will be deemed more expendable.)

Here's my problem. Let's assume that everything coming out today is true. This means that either (a) when Tevez gave the interview last week he was lying through his teeth, or (b) that somehow within the space of a week he changed his mind (perhaps again) and decided that his situation at City was, far from being a happy and successful one, completely unworkable. To which I would say: how is that possible?

Also, okay, Tevez misses his family and this probably informs some of his behavior. The guy is a multi-millionaire. Even if they don't want to or can't live in England, couldn't he afford to fly them over at least occasionally, so he isn't going months without seeing his family? And if they can't or won't leave Argentina for even a few days, maybe he shouldn't have gone to England in the first damn place. Sleep in the bed you made, Carlos. You want to be one of the best players in the world and be paid like it? This is how it goes down. If you don't, I'm sure Boca Juniors would be happy to have you.

It's also possible that the infamous Kia Joorabchian has his fingerprints all over this. City's statement on the transfer request certainly implied as much. The question, though, is what does Joorabchian have to gain? It's highly doubtful that Tevez could make more money anywhere else and City supposedly offered a raise to 250,000 pounds a week which was rejected. With no obvious motive from the agent side, I'm forced to conclude that Tevez is just an utter head case who simply can't deal without having whatever he wants whenever he wants it, no matter how it affects anyone else. To which I say, again, fine: GTFO.