Should Manchester United have kept Carlos Tevez?

At a time when El Apache is in the form his life, We ponders whether the Old Trafford favourite should have been at all allowed to leave for their arch rivals...

The Argentinean has scored twelve goals and has five assists to his name in his time with Manchester City. His winner against Chelsea and the Blackburn hat-trick have been the highlight so far.

If you compare the above mentioned statistics with that of Dimitar Berbatov, the man whose addition into the squad meant Tevez had to be benched and eventually banished, and Michael Owen, there is a stark difference. The Bulgarian has a paltry six goals with two assists while, the former Liverpool striker is a touch better with seven goals and a single assist.

At a time when the Red Devils are struggling to win, Wayne Rooney seems to be their only hope from where goals come regularly, which was even acknowledged by the club’s skipper Gary Neville recently.

While the usual talk around the club is about missing the services of Cristiano Ronaldo, the even more vital question is whether the hole left by Tevez’s departure was ever filled in?

Despite being on the bench for much of the time last season, ‘the Argentine Prophet of the 21st century’, which Maradona referred him as, was very influential. His four goals in the 5-3 win over Blackburn in the Carling Cup, the fastest goal in the Champions League against Aolborg for the 2008-09 season, and who would ever forget his goal against Porto in the Champions League quarters?

On their way to the third successive Premier League title, one of the stiffest tasks United faced was against Tottenham at home where they found themselves trailing 2-0 at half-time. Out went Nani and in came Tevez, and thereafter United turned it around to win 5-2 in what was one of the greatest comebacks in the English game. Ristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney attributed the change of fortunes to Tevez’s presence.

United are certainly missing his energetic runs and an unwavering work rate, which was second to none. Tevez was always seen chasing the defenders when not in possession and thereby, pressurizing them, something which neither Berbatov nor Owen have done much.

Tevez has the speed coupled with good ball skills, and can easily wave off a defender when in possession. He is also a dead ball specialist.

More than anything else, Tevez is a team player and it was certainly a sad moment for United fans to see him leave the club. While critics may point that £32million was way too much for the Argentinean, it wasn’t much given the kind of success he is enjoying at the other side of Manchester.

Reported by: Rahul Bali.- Goal.com