Tevez: No Pressure On Me …
Sporting Life: Carlos Tevez insists he feels no pressure to make a name for himself at Manchester United.
The Argentina ace was confirmed as a United player on Friday, despite training with the club for almost a fortnight - and he’ll now be thrust into action against Portsmouth on Wednesday following the injury to Wayne Rooney.
The expectation is therefore on Tevez to hit the ground running. But the former Boca Juniors player - sent off in a friendly on his first appearance at Old Trafford in 2002 and a scorer on his second, netting the goal that kept West Ham up on the final day of last term - shows no sign of being overwhelmed by it.
“I have never felt pressure when I play football,” he said. “Whenever I go on to the pitch I try to enjoy myself.”
Tevez acknowledges it has been “impossible” to avoid the controversy surrounding his proposed move to United.
Yet it was only as the Copa America reached its conclusion that he began to get some idea what a fuss his long-time association with Kia Joorabchian was causing.
“I started to realise - because each game passed in the Copa America and still the matter was not resolved,” he recalled. “But I never felt I would be forced out of the game.
“It hurt me to leave West Ham anyway, but the lure of Manchester United was just too much.”
Ironically, a move to United was recommended by a man now doing his best to leave - Tevez’s international team-mate Gabriel Heinze.
Whether he is cleared to join Liverpool next week or not, Heinze would be regarded as a success story at Old Trafford - unlike compatriot Juan Sebastian Veron, or fellow South Americans Kleberson and Diego Forlan, who all failed to make much of an impression.
But having already adapted to life in England, Tevez should be a different case -and the player himself is eager to make his mark.
“It is a big blow to lose Wayne,” he said. “He is a great player and he will be very difficult to replace. But at a big club like Manchester United you hope to have a number of players who can slot in.
“This is a massive step for me. Now I need to write my own piece of history at the club and do everything I can to help Manchester United be successful.”
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Times: Three days into his Manchester United career, Carlos Tévez said yesterday that he would happily lay down roots at Old Trafford and while the club’s hierarchy may prefer breathing space after the saga of his transfer from West Ham United, there can be little doubt that the Argentina forward has an opportunity to establish himself immediately after the loss of Wayne Rooney to injury.
With Rooney ruled out for at least seven weeks with a hairline fracture of his left foot, Tévez will be thrust into United’s starting line-up for the Barclays Premier League match away to Portsmouth tomorrow evening. It is not the gradual introduction that Sir Alex Ferguson had in mind, but, as he was finally paraded at United’s training ground yesterday, Tévez appeared to be warming to the idea of filling Rooney’s boots.
“I have never felt pressure when I play football,” Tévez said when asked whether he felt daunted by the prospect of standing in for Rooney. “Whenever I go on to the pitch I try to enjoy myself. All I can do is prepare myself and to try to adapt as quickly as possible. It is a big blow to lose Wayne – he is a great player and he will be very difficult to replace – but at a big club like Manchester United, you hope to have a number of players who can slot in. I will do everything I can to help Manchester United be successful.”
Ferguson smiled upon hearing such sentiments, having bought a player whom he feels can handle the pressure of playing for such a big club. United’s previous experiences with South American imports have been largely disappointing; Juan Sebastián Verón, Diego Forlán and Kléberson were sold at substantial losses, while Gabriel Heinze, after an encouraging start, lost his place and is pushing for a move to Liverpool. But Ferguson believes that Tévez’s experience of English football with West Ham last season means that this is a different case.
It was the 23-year-old’s performances for West Ham in the final months of last season – when he scored seven goals in the final ten league matches, having failed to find the net in the previous 16 – that convinced Ferguson that he was worth the significant amount of time and trouble invested in his signing.
With his economic rights owned by two companies, Media Sports Investment (MSI) and Just Sports Inc (JSI), he had to be released by West Ham – who were compensated with a fee of £2 million – leaving United to lease him on a two-year contract at a cost of £10 million, with the option of buying him from MSI and JSI for a further payment in the region of £15 million at any time before June 30, 2009.
It is a situation that had Ferguson shaking his head in mock confusion and David Gill, the United chief executive, calling for Fifa, world football’s governing body, to clear up the mess that surrounds third-party ownership, but Tévez seems happy to contemplate a long-term future at Old Trafford. “Speak to David Gill,” he said with a smile. “If he offers a contract for five years, I will take it.”
The reality is far less straightforward – with Kia Joorabchian, the player’s representative, calling the shots – but if Tévez can make light of Rooney’s absence in the coming months, that conversation may not be too far away.
