Whether Carlos Tévez is considered a West Ham legend or not, little can be said of his love towards the Upton Park faithful. In his sole season with the club he became an East End hero and is considered by some as an ‘Argentine Cockney’. However, it must be noted that Tévez’s career at Upton Park did not start how everyone expected.
Tévez made his West Ham debut on 10th September 2006 as a second half substitute against Aston Villa, but amazingly he would have to wait until 6th January 2007 to bag his full debut for the club. The club lost seven of their first nine games prior to his signing, as Tévez failed to get a starting place. Tévez showed low levels of fitness and at times was accused of not wanting to be at the club.
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He was treated harshly by the club for reacting inadequately after being substituted against Sheffield United. He was fined a week’s wages and worse of all; the Argentine was also reported to be told to train in a Brazilian jersey. The punishment was relatively severe. It is like telling an Englishman to wear a German jersey. Despite being treated badly by the club’s management the West Ham fans stood by the player.
Tévez’s first couple of months at the club saw him make a number of substitute appearances, but he failed to find the net. Similar to how Andy Carroll and Fernando Torres are struggling in front of goal this season for their respected clubs, Tévez also struggled to find the back of the net for West Ham. However, the Upton Park faithful kept showing their support for the Argentine striker. The fans stood by their player, because they knew he was committed to the cause, always chasing lost causes and was constantly causing havoc for the opposition defenders. Despite not scoring, he was always putting in a valuable shift for the club which kept the fans satisfied.
His first goal in English football arrived on 4th March 2007 in the Hammers defeat to local rivals Tottenham Hotspur when he smashed a superb free-kick past keeper Paul Robinson. It took Tévez twenty games to score his first goal for the club and the Argentine celebrated with a spontaneous show of joy, ripping off his shirt and jumping in the crowd amid ecstatic West Ham fans who engulfed the little Argentine for some time. The whole stadium was singing his name and from this moment on, Tévez and the fans developed a unique relationship.
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The goal started a one man crusade to rescue West Ham from relegation. Tévez started to score regularly and West Ham’s survival hopes started to look brighter. Whenever he scored he would celebrate by running to the fans showing his appreciation for backing him during the difficult season. The fans voted Tévez ahead of Bobby Zamora, who had scored eleven goals during the season to become the ‘Hammer of the Year’. The fans voted for him because his efforts gave the team a glimmer of hope of staying in the Premier League. Tévez went into the last game of the season having scored six vital goals in his previous nine games, which meant he had put West Ham’s survival hopes in their own hands. All they had to do was the beat the newly crowned champions Manchester United at Old Trafford. As we all know, Tévez scored the only goal of the game and the rest is history.
It was always going to be difficult to keep Tévez at West Ham considering the club was found guilty of third party ownership. As a result, Tévez moved on to Manchester United and he received a hero’s reception from the fans when he returned to Upton Park. The ‘Hammer of the Year’ responded with making the crossed Hammers sign and made him the first opposition player to do so. When ever he has scored against the Hammers, he has refused to celebrate and has been apologetic to the West Ham fans for scoring against their club. Actions such like these have made him a crowd favourite at the Boleyn Ground, but questions still remain whether he can be considered a club legend.
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Criticisms against Tévez have been that he could not wait to jump ship when a big club like Manchester United expressed an interest and he only spent one season with the club. Other West Ham legends such as Sir Trevor Brooking and Paolo Di Canio have ignored interest from bigger clubs and become icons of West Ham United. So why could not Tévez ignore these interests? The young Argentine had high hopes and wanted to be successful after being labelled the ‘next Maradona’, which alone comes with huge pressure. However, his never die attitude and contribution towards the team have made him a crowd favourite during a tough season with the club. He has always expressed love for the club that brought him to English football, he scored vital goals that kept the club in the League and because of this he has to be considered a legend of West Ham United Football Club. If he ever appears in the famous claret and blue shirt again (stranger things have happened in football), I am sure the Upton Park faithful with embrace him with open arms.
if only we could buy him now, would luv him back at the boleyn even just to get the home crowd atmosphere back again. Any west ham fans got a load of dosh stashed away anywhere?