Why Carlos Tevez Is Exactly the Type of Striker Liverpool Need
Former Manchester United and Manchester City forward Carlos Tevez has been tenuously linked with a move to Liverpool this summer, a signing that would be exactly what the Reds need but is far from likely to materialise.
The latest reports of Liverpool's supposed interest come via La Gazzetta dello Sport (according to the Telegraph), who claim the 31-year-old will make a decision over whether he intends to move to Anfield on Wednesday.
A return to Argentina with Boca Juniors or a reunion with compatriot Diego Simeone at Atletico Madrid seem far more likely than Tevez returning to the Premier League with Liverpool.
But Tevez is exactly the type of striker Liverpool need this summer and indeed needed to sign last summer.
Suarez replacement
When Suarez departed for Barcelona last summer, Liverpool should have been seeking the most like-for-like replacement possible—not ludicrously spending more than £100 million on unproven potential for the future.
They started well enough with the intention of replacing Suarez with Alexis Sanchez, but ultimately they ended up with the calculated gamble of Mario Balotelli—showing a clear lack of strategy or planning on the club's behalf. It proved to be a fatal mistake in Liverpool's 2014/15 season.
Last summer was a time when Liverpool's owners, Fenway Sports Group, had seemingly decided their strategy in order to gain a competitive advantage was to make gambles such as Balotelli and youngsters like Lazar Markovic.
It was a naive strategy.
What Liverpool needed to do was replace quality with quality, ensure a second successive top-four finish, then start to look further ahead thereafter, once they had become established as a Champions League side.
Instead, Liverpool are back where they were two years ago, except this time without one of the world's most talented players and with very few proven players among their ranks.
Tevez would not have suited FSG's strategy 12 months ago, owing to his age—then 30—which shows FSG were looking far into the future rather than the immediate season ahead.
Edge
Tevez is a proven Premier League player, something in short supply in Brendan Rodgers' squad.
He's a proven match winner, something the Reds are extremely lacking.
He also, perhaps most importantly, has that somewhat nasty edge to his game that Liverpool are severely lacking. Call it will-to-win, call it gamesmanship, you need players such as Suarez, Tevez, Javier Mascherano and Diego Costa to name a few—players with that little bit of bite (no pun intended) who will upset opponents and inspire team-mates.
Liverpool's squad is a team of softies. For Mascherano five years ago, see Joe Allen. For Suarez's relentless pressing and energy, see Balotelli's ponderous attacking output. For Steven Gerrard's all-action youth, see Jordan Henderson's attempts at intimidating opponents but not quite fooling anyone.
Liverpool could use some South American grit and determination to embattle Philippe Coutinho's guile and class.
Style of play
According to WhoScored, Tevez's style of play is that he "likes to tackle." A centre-forward who likes to tackle—closing people down, winning the ball high up the pitch, putting defenders under pressure, relieving the pressure on his own team's midfield and defence. Remind you of anyone?
Liverpool fans have forgotten what it's like to have a player working in that way up front, and the worrying thing is that reported target Christian Benteke appears to be far from the player to add such qualities next season.
The Belgian won seven tackles last season, per Squawka, four fewer than even Mario Balotelli (despite Balotelli starting 13 fewer games) and 13 fewer than Tevez managed in Serie A last season; it was also 20 fewer than Suarez's impressive 27 tackles won during the 2013/14 campaign.
A player like Tevez's compatriot Ezequiel Lavezzi (22 tackles last season in Ligue 1) would be far more suited to Liverpool's style of play and enable the team to return to their high-pressing, high-energy game next season.
What Liverpool need
Tevez to Liverpool won't happen, but he is exactly the type of player they need. The Reds' scouts should have spent the last 12 months focusing on finding centre-forwards who have similar attributes to Tevez and Suarez.
Instead, they appear to have avoided South American inspiration and instead watched Match of the Day to find Rodgers' next targets.
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