Jon Mcleod
Andrew MacdougallThe final word on the weekend - Is Tevez the Tasmanian devil and Eduardo's left ankle?
Manchester United’s quest for the quintuple remains firmly on track thanks to the Tasmanian Devil -aka Carlos Tevez.
The Argentinean scored twice as United sauntered into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. It was a typically ravaging display from Tevez, who not only looks like the famous cartoon character, “Taz”, but acts in on the pitch.
A being possessed, Tevez tears around the field to a devastating effect prompted by his ravenous appetite. But more than his work rate and desire, it is the unpredictability of Tevez that defines him as a player. It both helps and hinders him.
Like Wayne Rooney he has so many strengths and such willingness to adapt that he becomes difficult to define for opponents and colleagues alike. His ravenous nature means during a game he will drop deep, he will drift wide, he score goals, he will make goals, and he go up top. What is more is that he has the ability to hurt opponents from almost all positions – as demonstrated by his wonderful curling effort on Saturday. Such unpredictability as to when and where this whirlwind will strikes causes havoc for defences.
But that unpredictability is also the reason why he has become a habitual bench warmer at Old Trafford. While Dimitar Berbatov has a specific role in the United side – the pole which his team-mates can dance around – Tevez’s remit is less defined. Sir Alex Ferguson does not want to cage him to a specific role and his attributes do not lend him to such straightjacket restraints. It means he is more difficult to fit into a game-plan and a style of play.
It is, of course, the nature of the beast.
Elsewhere, it may have taken a year but Eduardo’s left ankle is back. Last February it was shattered, some said beyond repair, but on Sunday it fired Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a sublime finish on the volley. Burnley, the victims on this occasion, will surely be demanding that the Brazilian-born Croatia is put under the knife once again to determine whether any high-class military technology or titanium plating was used in the reconstruction of Eduardo’s left ankle. They are unlikely to find anything un-toward, except of course some compelling Brazilian genes.
As for Middlesbrough, beaten 2-1 by Everton, it is a question of whether of defeat in the FA Cup will bring a crippling end to their momentum as they fight against relegation or whether it will allow them to focus on Premier League survival. But does either way does it matter – the real question is whether they are good enough to stay up?
In the other FA Cup clash of the weekend Coventry showed Chelsea the kind of benevolence they have been praying for all season.
The Argentinean scored twice as United sauntered into the semi-finals of the FA Cup with a 4-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage. It was a typically ravaging display from Tevez, who not only looks like the famous cartoon character, “Taz”, but acts in on the pitch.
A being possessed, Tevez tears around the field to a devastating effect prompted by his ravenous appetite. But more than his work rate and desire, it is the unpredictability of Tevez that defines him as a player. It both helps and hinders him.
Like Wayne Rooney he has so many strengths and such willingness to adapt that he becomes difficult to define for opponents and colleagues alike. His ravenous nature means during a game he will drop deep, he will drift wide, he score goals, he will make goals, and he go up top. What is more is that he has the ability to hurt opponents from almost all positions – as demonstrated by his wonderful curling effort on Saturday. Such unpredictability as to when and where this whirlwind will strikes causes havoc for defences.
But that unpredictability is also the reason why he has become a habitual bench warmer at Old Trafford. While Dimitar Berbatov has a specific role in the United side – the pole which his team-mates can dance around – Tevez’s remit is less defined. Sir Alex Ferguson does not want to cage him to a specific role and his attributes do not lend him to such straightjacket restraints. It means he is more difficult to fit into a game-plan and a style of play.
It is, of course, the nature of the beast.
Elsewhere, it may have taken a year but Eduardo’s left ankle is back. Last February it was shattered, some said beyond repair, but on Sunday it fired Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup with a sublime finish on the volley. Burnley, the victims on this occasion, will surely be demanding that the Brazilian-born Croatia is put under the knife once again to determine whether any high-class military technology or titanium plating was used in the reconstruction of Eduardo’s left ankle. They are unlikely to find anything un-toward, except of course some compelling Brazilian genes.
As for Middlesbrough, beaten 2-1 by Everton, it is a question of whether of defeat in the FA Cup will bring a crippling end to their momentum as they fight against relegation or whether it will allow them to focus on Premier League survival. But does either way does it matter – the real question is whether they are good enough to stay up?
In the other FA Cup clash of the weekend Coventry showed Chelsea the kind of benevolence they have been praying for all season.
