Saturday, March 24, 2012

Did Mancini Pull a Fergie?



The sound you heard on Wednesday afternoon in the blue part of Stockport was the sound of treachery. It was the sound of morals being torn to shreds and then tossed into the garbage disposal to circle the drain and head for the bowels of Manchester’s sewage system. Four months ago, City got what we thought was the final bitter taste of the ibid that we call Carlos Tevez. His refusal to warm up and play against Bayern Munich when his team trailed by two goals in the much coveted Champions League was what we all thought to be the final straw for Roberto Mancini. He vowed that day that Tevez would never play for Manchester City ever again. He called everyone he thought would be willing to take on this awful, cursed burden that had once lit up the scoreboard for both teams in Manchester, but to no avail. On more than one occasion Tevez was headed to Italy with rumored destinations to be Juventus or Inter or even AC Milan. When that didn’t pan out, he was off to Brazil, then not. Then nothing since.

His antics for us and for City were forgotten for most of the season as this year’s two top teams battled it out each week for the Prem title. We couldn’t be bothered to worry about Tevez. When the childish refusal to get off the bench and warm up happened, even City fans wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. They wanted his head on a stick. We laughed at them because we knew that when he signed with City, he was a poisonous player who masked it all with devilish hustle and goal scoring panache. Some say we treated him unfairly by denying him a new contract in mid-season, but ultimately I think it was the right move because this would be happening to us if we had resigned him. We dodged that bullet. Alas, City fans and United fans – who once loved the boy from Argentina – wanted him out of the city for good. Then Wednesday night happened and once again City fans and United fans found another thing to argue and hate each other about.

The same City fans who had tossed his kit in the trash, or burned it in protest, were now the same fans waving shirts bearing his name when the final whistle blew against Chelsea. There is absolutely no doubt that when he came on he was the reason that City got three points. They looked flaccid and resigned to the fact that a newly upstart Chelsea team was going to be the first team to get points off them at home. Our four point lead looked intact through the 60th minute with Chelsea leading 1-0. It was destined to happen though, wasn’t it? The rumblings around the league when Tevez even made the bench were foreshadowing that he’d either come on and help them win or take the field and sink their title hopes. There was no middle ground. Luckily for City, he earned them the three most critical points they’ve won this entire season. But when the dust of it all settled, something even more alarming was surfacing – the comparisons that people were drawing between Mancini and Alex Ferguson.

I read an article today where someone was likening Mancini’s decision to play Tevez to Fergie’s decision to give into Rooney’s wage demands two seasons ago. United fans will say that it’s unfounded and ridiculous and City fans will say that there is no difference in the actions. Knee-jerk reaction aside, the claim on the outside could be deconstructed simply by saying that both managers caved to a world class player’s behavior, showing a lack of pride and principle. You could apply that same argument to Wenger ‘s spat with Fabregas or even AVB’s decision to field a team penciled in by the team’s owner. There are more complexities to each situation than just trying to draw any parallel possible. Given the many dynamics at play, here’s how I’d analyze our situation and City’s situation – While it seems plausible to compare the two on a basic, perfunctory level, the situations and managers are very, very different. The one key variable in this comparison’s validity, or lack thereof: Winning.

Let’s examine this a little more closely. Since coming to City, Mancini has been a true enigma. His spats with Balotelli, his line-ups, his scarves. You never really knew where he stood or what he was thinking. Then about a 1/3 of the way through this season – with City playing amazing football – he started being a manager with a backbone. He spoke publically about Balotelli’s behavior, even making a joke that if Balotelli hadn’t stayed out until 4 in the morning he might’ve scored more goals in City’s match the day after. He disciplined outlandish behavior on the sideline and in the locker room. Then, when want away Tevez refused to warm up, he made the ultimate statement by saying Tevez would never again play for City. I applauded him and I think the vast majority of other fans did the same. It was a brave decision, even if it was just him flexing bravado and puffing his chest. While it showed true gusto, I think it came down to two things – 1) He thought he could win (and was winning) without Tevez, and 2) He thought he could sell Tevez with no problem. But something happened. With City in a downturn and losing its grip on the Prem title, he became desperate for a spark and threw Tevez in the melee. For me, as a United fan, it was desperate, but United fans have been used to winning – and that’s the key variable. I don’t say that as a jab at City at all. It’s a fact. With his back against the wall with 30 minutes left to pull back at least a point, the man got desperate and played Tevez. To his credit, the act of desperation resulted in three vital points for City. He and Tevez called each other’s bluff, but just like gambling, it was a crapshoot. Getting the three points was THE ONLY thing that would ever have justified Mancini’s action. So to those who backed the decision, well done.

The fact of the matter is that he was the one who made the statement that Tevez would never play for City again and he went back on that. Act of desperation and result aside, that’s what he did. City fans are happy to live with the three points, as I’m sure United fans would be, too, but the aftermath and how the two sets of fans would deal with it are completely different based on the history of winning. When you’ve been successful like United have, giving into a temperamental player like Tevez wasn’t going to happen at the sacrifice of the club’s pride. City are desperate to win and willing to let his atrocities slide. For example, United took back Cantona after assaulting a fan, but he was always willing to die (and fight) for the club. He didn’t disgrace us by doing that. He embarrassed himself and he has to live with it. Also, Fergie never said that Rooney was done as a United player. In fact, during the whole thing, he publically said that he’d love to have Rooney sign a long-term deal. Rooney embarrassed himself there and United fans let him know about it. Some haven’t forgiven him. With Tevez, he made a mockery of himself over the last four months (closer to a year) and tried to make a mockery of the club by crawling back when no one wanted him. Some say it's all about winning, but Mancini sacrificed the power of his word and the pride of the club by letting Tevez back into the team after everything that happened.

But, in the end, it all has to do with winning or not winning, and what you’d do to get there. If you want to justify the actions of Mancini and Tevez all in the name of winning, so be it. What I’m saying is that Fergie would never have done that because the honor of the club is more meaningful than a trophy. Then again, we have a lot more than City, so who knows.