Pundits: Don Howe
Telegraph: As Sir Alex Ferguson tries to integrate Carlos Tevez into his Manchester United team, I am sure there will be plenty of conversations between the manager, his coaching staff and the Argentine striker.
They will be working hard to find out, for example, how he feels he can express himself better or contribute more to the United cause, all with a view to helping him settle into the team.
I would imagine that Tevez will tell the United management that he is at his most dangerous when he is playing deeper than the side’s attacking spearhead - some 10 yards deeper than the frontman.
From what I’ve seen, he’s at his best when he picks up the ball 25 or 30 yards away from goal and looks to create havoc by running at packs of players, aiming for ones-twos to pierce the back-four.
He likes to come away from defenders and drop off into areas where they find it difficult to pick him up.
Unfortunately, United’s options are limited at the moment with Wayne Rooney out injured. When he is back in the fold I am sure they will do well in harness together, when they alternate roles.
There is no doubt about it, he did not play so well in the 1-0 defeat by Manchester City at the weekend, but Tevez seems to possess the personality that will enable him to make the most of the tactical and technical expertise on offer at Old Trafford.
Also, it’s far too soon for people to start writing him off. He’s relatively young, at 23, and as well as getting used to a new club he’s probably still adapting to living in a foreign land, which is hard enough in itself. He needs to be given a chance. It will take time before Manchester United fans see the best of him, but in Sir Alex he will have a patient boss.
It didn’t help the striker’s cause that United seemed to have strayed away from the tactics that have served them so well throughout the years.
As Andy Gray pointed out on Sky at the weekend, the constant supply of crosses being whipped in, with three or four players charging into the penalty box, was absent against their neighbours.
Although Tevez fluffed a header late on from a Ryan Giggs corner, the sooner they revert to traditional style of play the sooner the points will start mounting up.
