This post is somewhat hypocritical as I also currently reside in a foreign country, and have not yet mastered the language.

Watching the press conference welcoming Tevez to Manchester City I found myself wondering why a player who has been playing in England for the last 3 years has not yet learned any English?  Surely players must understand they are not being paid 100K a week just to play football; there is much more to it than that, such as meeting fans, attending press conferences, going to events, talking to press after the match etc..

Maybe I’m being too critically but I think footballers, being public figures, and so highly paid should make an effort to learn the language of the country they play in.  At least learn some footballing cliché and mix them together, “I’m happy to be playing for this club”, “I think things will go well”, “We played well”, “We could have played better”…

In a somewhat surprising move Sir Alex Ferguson has handed Michael Owen, ex-United winger, Christiano Ronaldo’s prized Number 7 jersey.  And more shockingly declared that he will not be buying any more players this summer.

Like many people I was fully expecting Owen to be a bit part player, probably 4th choice striker used as a backup in case of injuries.  Obviously the manager has other ideas, and Owen has received a massive vote of confidence by receiving this shirt, and having the transfer doors closed behind him.

This will also give some of the young player, such as Macheda, Wellbeck and Gibson a chance to shine.  It’s time to stand and be counted for many United players, but Ferguson believes they are ready.

Although I’m a Manchester United fan, even I wouldn’t wish Samuel Eto’o onto Manchester City.  Mark Huges has dodged a major bullet this week as the negotiations for Eto’o broke down.  However he seems determined to commit managerial suicide by signing overindulged prima donnas to the club.

City had agreed to sign Eto’o from Barcelona for £25million. Barca seemed all too happy to see the back of Eto’o, who has only 1 year left on his contract, and has had a series of disciplinary problems, and falling outs with previous managers.

City were also willing to make Eto’o the highest paid footballer in the world at a whopping £250K per week!  But the deal broke down, one might think because Eto’o loves his current club and doesn’t want to move; WRONG…it was because, unbelievably, he wanted even more money.  Not only did he want to be the highest paid footballer, but also wanted a cut of the £25million transfer fee.

Don’t get me wrong, Eto’o is a very good player, and he can definitely stick away the goals, but his ego and greed are out of the control.

It would take a “big” manager to handle Samuel Eto’o; a manager who has the unconditional backing of the fans and board, and if push came to shove it would be player to get the axe before the manager.  There are very few such managers around, and sadly Mark Huges is not one of them.  He still basically on probabation at city; if he does not deliver this year he will surely get the boot.  The last thing he needs his a disgrutalled “superstar” stabbing him in the back at every chance, and disrupting the changing room.

At the end of last season Tevez had become a fan favorite due to his tireless work rate.  And many fans also felt sympathetic towards his inability to break into the regular starting 11, and the lack of contract being offered by Manchester United.

However Tevez seems to be burning his Old Trafford bridges as fast as possible.

I don’t think many United fans would have begrudged him looking for work elsewhere in order to cement some guaranteed first team football, and possibly a wage increased.  Even if meant signing for local rivals Manchester City.

It seems that every week since the end of the season Carlos has come out with a new, and increasingly more obnoxious, set of comments.  Starting out with digs at Ferguson Champions League Final tactics.

Tevez was then officially offered a new 5 year contract at Old Trafford, which would make him one of the highest paid players at the club, but he turned this down saying the offer had come too late, and had made him feel unwelcome.  Up to this point he still have a great deal of fan respect and appreciation.

His most recent comments have surely vanquished a significant amount of that respect; saying that Manchester United would have won the Champions League Final if he had started the match.  And saying that he was “kicked out” of Manchester United, when in fact he was offered a good contract and turned it down of his own free will.

Tevez seems to believe that he has managed to earned more fan support in his 2 years at Old Trafford than Alex Ferguson has earned in his 20 years.  He is going to be in for a rude awakening when he realizes that the fan backing has quickly evaporated as he has tried to turn the fan against their beloved manager.

It appears that everyone else, except Tevez himself, can see that his money hungry agent and “owner”, Kia Joorabchian, is nothing but a bad influence.  Hopefully he can be detached from the young Argentine before he over inflates his head, and destroys his career.