Is Carlos Tevez one of the all-time greats?

[Cait Sith]

All-time great?

Top 10 - 15 in the past 10 years?

What's going on here? There are 4 strikers at this moment of time alone who are easily at his level if not above without it being a very controversial opinion IMO: Suarez, Agüero, Lewandowski, Benzema.

Take the last 10 years and you can add David Villa, Eto'o, Drogba, Henry, Ibra, Raul, Forlan, RVN ...

Expand to players in general beyond strikers who are clearly above Tevez like Xavi, Iniesta, Pirlo, Kaka, Ronaldinho and he doesn't even make a top 30 list of the 2000s let alone "all-time".

He is/was a great striker on his day and that's about it. What am I missing?

 

[Peyroteo]

Sorry for the old thread bump but he just won Boca the argentinian title with a 70th minute winner to put them above River in the last matchday.

Also kissed Maradona

 

[UnofficialDevil]

I remember Teves and Mascherano going to West Ham when all the big clubs including us wanted them, how weird was that? Never did understand that.

 

[L1nk]

We made a mistake not signing him permanently in my opinion.

I'll be honest as much as I loved Berbatov, I wished back then we didn't sign him and that we had signed Tevez instead. Again, loved Berbatov, but still not sure why we signed him when we did to be honest, it felt like we had a great thing going on with Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo etc and Berbatov was just a disruption to it with how he played in comparison.

 

[Andersonson]

Legend. That was a crazy way to end the season.

Tevez is a very well liked man in Argentina, the people see him more of a hero than Messi.

His Netflix series is also worth a watch.

 

[Maluco]

Pretty inspiring career. I loved him as a player, his personality grated though. I always regretted that we didn’t buy him and keep him together with Rooney, so much energy and explosive ability with those two.

What an amazing career he has had though. Great stuff.

 

[tenpoless]

For me He could have been in top 20, if not for the RIP banner.
Suarez is a better striker than him and his main competitor for the all time pricks ranking.

The list of strikers better than him (not in order):

1. Lewandowski
2. Suarez
3. Van Persie
4. Rooney
5. Aguero
6. Benzema
7. Ibrahimovic
8. Ronaldo
9. Henry
10. Drogba
11. Kane

Not even top 10. And that is without including the old school legends.

 

[mu4c_20le]

I remember he had great work rate but was inconsistent with his finishing, and could go invisible at times, though he would still chase every ball. Toxic attitude after getting dropped and Fergie rightfully got rid. I think some opinions of him are slightly inflated by the fact that he was part of the holy trinity, but I always felt he was easily the weakest of the three. I wanted to replace him with Aguero.

 

[Raoul]

Would've been immense if he spent his entire career here under Fergie (if such a thing were possible).

 

[TsuWave]

For me He could have been in top 20, if not for the RIP banner.
Suarez is a better striker than him and his main competitor for the all time pricks ranking.

The list of strikers better than him (not in order):

1. Lewandowski
2. Suarez
3. Van Persie
4. Rooney
5. Aguero
6. Benzema
7. Ibrahimovic
8. Ronaldo
9. Henry
10. Drogba
11. Kane

Not even top 10. And that is without including the old school legends.

Kane, Drogba, Benzema, RvP being better than Tevez is extremely questionable. I might even throw Ibra in there too.

 

[RedRonaldo]

No. He is abit like Seedorf, in the way where Seedorf won 4 CL at 3 different clubs, which is even more impressive achievement/career.

But he was never anywhere near the best player in the world at any point of his career, or best player in his position, he just happen to be good player and part of successful squad in winning titles.

 

[Mr.Ridiculous__]

Kane, Drogba, Benzema, RvP being better than Tevez is extremely questionable. I might even throw Ibra in there too.

Kane, Drogba, Benzema, RVP are definitely better than Tevez as good as the latter was.

 

[Isotope]

Kane, Drogba, Benzema, RvP being better than Tevez is extremely questionable. I might even throw Ibra in there too.

You have unique football opinion.

 

[amolbhatia50k]

I'll be honest as much as I loved Berbatov, I wished back then we didn't sign him and that we had signed Tevez instead. Again, loved Berbatov, but still not sure why we signed him when we did to be honest, it felt like we had a great thing going on with Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo etc and Berbatov was just a disruption to it with how he played in comparison.

Berbatov was an exciting player to watch and did well for us but this was an era where the standards at United were incredibly high and that wasn't quite enough. He had spells of excellence but at the end of the day, proved to be a bit of a disappointment - lot of inconsistent periods, often not quite on the same wavelength as the rest, often just a bit lacking in ruthlessness/clinical edge.

Tevez didn't quite hit his City heights with us, but he was generally a better player, had a better mentality and was a better fit for us. He had that fire in his belly and ruthlessness that suited Manchester United and a big club.

As for this thread, Tevez is probably just on the outskirts of the top striker crowd of his generation. Brilliant all round player but a notch below the likes of Suarez and co who would be in the top tier.

 

[SilentStrike]

Lovely player, but the question in the thread title shouldn't really be a question. He comes nowhere near being an all-time great. Not even a decade's great.

 

[TsuWave]

You have unique football opinion.

I guess.

Drogba to me was never the world beater some build him up to be. I think his legacy is augmented because he played for Chelsea at their most dominant, and to be fair to him, him bullying defenders was partially why they were dominant but IIRC over his time in the prem, at his peak he had like 3 or 4 seasons were he didn’t even register double goal figures in the league. I just don’t see him as most do.

Kane’s highs were probably higher than Tevez, but I still think Tevez is an overall better player and more consistent.

RvP is one of my favorite players, and his highs were probably also higher than Tevez, but RvP had like what, 3 amazing seasons?

Benzema is a good player, and Ronaldo benefitted immensely from his unselfish nature. Not better than Tevez to me.

 

[Maluco]

No. He is abit like Seedorf, in the way where Seedorf won 4 CL at 3 different clubs, which is even more impressive achievement/career.

But he was never anywhere near the best player in the world at any point of his career, or best player in his position, he just happen to be good player and part of successful squad in winning titles.

I can see the parallel you are trying to make, but Seedorf was a top, top player, unquestionably one of the best in his position over a very long period. He was much more than just a “good” player, he was world class and contributed massively to the majority of his teams successes.

Tevez has had a fantastic career, but he isn’t the same tier as Seedorf.

 

[Infordin]

I remember Teves and Mascherano going to West Ham when all the big clubs including us wanted them, how weird was that? Never did understand that.

That reminds me of Fornals going to West Ham after being so hyped in La Liga

I never understood how an average club like West Ham are seemingly able to spend so much money and on good players too.

 

[Flanders Devil]

Those comparing Tevez to Rooney, or even suggesting we should’ve kept Tevez instead of Rooney, are surely letting the last couple of years of Rooney’s time with us impact their judgement.

Rooney went on to be our record goal scorer and was an absolute winner for us - it was only his very sharp decline that seems to linger on in the memory.

As someone’s stats show - even with his decline Rooney’s overall career stacks up very favourably to Tevez, and probably most other players.

 

[Varun]

No

 

[rollingstoned1]

I'll be honest as much as I loved Berbatov, I wished back then we didn't sign him and that we had signed Tevez instead. Again, loved Berbatov, but still not sure why we signed him when we did to be honest, it felt like we had a great thing going on with Tevez, Rooney, Ronaldo etc and Berbatov was just a disruption to it with how he played in comparison.

we needed and wanted height up front, especially a targetman. Berbatov didn't quite work out but you could see where we were coming from.

 

[Bondi77]

I thought he was a top player.
I remember Rio said that he never seemed to put much effort in on the training pitch but when it came to Match day he gave absolutely everything.

 

[RUCK4444]

Good player, he and his agent were complete w@nkers.

Don’t get the love in for him in here. Jumped ship to our neighbours to hugely strengthen their side.

“Who’s that TW@T from Argentina...”

 

[RedRonaldo]

I can see the parallel you are trying to make, but Seedorf was a top, top player, unquestionably one of the best in his position over a very long period. He was much more than just a “good” player, he was world class and contributed massively to the majority of his teams successes.

Tevez has had a fantastic career, but he isn’t the same tier as Seedorf.

Well they are both not qualified to be discussed as all-time greats. I don't even think they will get into team of decade. Maybe team of the year on some occasions. But I am not too sure.

For example, during Tevez years, we have Messi and Ronaldo in top top tier and better than everyone else, then we have Suarez, Lewandowski, Aguero, Ibrahimovic, Henry who are clearly better, than we also have Van Persie, Rooney, Drogba, Kane, Benzema who are arguably better.

During Seedorf years, we have Zidane, Xavi, Scholes, Keane, Vieira, Inesta who is clearly better, then we have Davids, Deco, Kaka, Nedved, Lampard, Gerrard who are arguably better or at least on par.

 

[Jippy]

Well they are both not qualified to be discussed as all-time greats. I don't even think they will get into team of decade. Maybe team of the year on some occasions. But I am not too sure.

Dunno about Seedorf- you can say he was in the right place at the right time, but there was a reason he was bought by Milan and Real.
Carrick said he was the best player he ever played against and he destroyed us in that UCL semi, along with Kaka.

 

[Maluco]

Dunno about Seedorf- you can say he was in the right place at the right time, but there was a reason he was bought by Milan and Real.
Carrick said he was the best player he ever played against and he destroyed us in that UCL semi, along with Kaka.

I think he was massively underrated. He came to Brazil at 36 and his pure ability was unbelievable. Technically he was superb. A younger Seedorf had it all and elevated every team he was in. The CLs are no coincidence. I think he was one of the best midfielders of his generation.

Tevez was just very good.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Dunno about Seedorf- you can say he was in the right place at the right time, but there was a reason he was bought by Milan and Real.
Carrick said he was the best player he ever played against and he destroyed us in that UCL semi, along with Kaka.

I am not saying he is not good, but just nowhere near the level of all time greats.

For example, the highest rank he ever got from Ballon D'or is at 19th. That's his absolutely peak level. Majority of time he wasn't even among top 30. Individually he wasn't really rated highly.

Good player? Yes
Important player for his team? Yeh tend to think so
Underrated? Perhaps
One of the best midfielder of his generation? Don't think so, there are many better midfielders around. Too many.
All time great? Nah not even close

 

[amolbhatia50k]

Those comparing Tevez to Rooney, or even suggesting we should’ve kept Tevez instead of Rooney, are surely letting the last couple of years of Rooney’s time with us impact their judgement.

Rooney went on to be our record goal scorer and was an absolute winner for us - it was only his very sharp decline that seems to linger on in the memory.

As someone’s stats show - even with his decline Rooney’s overall career stacks up very favourably to Tevez, and probably most other players.

Rooney was comfortably better than Tevez. And I do the latter. Rooney was among England's best ever players.

 

[Jippy]

I am not saying he is not good, but just nowhere near the level of all time greats.

For example, the highest rank he ever got from Ballon D'or is at 19th. That's his absolutely peak level. Majority of time he wasn't even among top 30. Individually he wasn't really rated highly.

Good player? Yes
Important player for his team? Yeh tend to think so
Underrated? Perhaps
One of the best midfielder of his generation? Don't think so, there are many better midfielders around. Too many.
All time great? Nah not even close

Ballon D'or is a shite measure. He qas clearly world class. Where you rank him all-time is hard- he had an amazing career.

 

[tenpoless]

I guess.

Drogba to me was never the world beater some build him up to be. I think his legacy is augmented because he played for Chelsea at their most dominant, and to be fair to him, him bullying defenders was partially why they were dominant but IIRC over his time in the prem, at his peak he had like 3 or 4 seasons were he didn’t even register double goal figures in the league. I just don’t see him as most do.

Kane’s highs were probably higher than Tevez, but I still think Tevez is an overall better player and more consistent.

RvP is one of my favorite players, and his highs were probably also higher than Tevez, but RvP had like what, 3 amazing seasons?

Benzema is a good player, and Ronaldo benefitted immensely from his unselfish nature. Not better than Tevez to me.

It's all about perspective. Drogba, Kane, RvP, Benzema all carried their teams and/or make the team perform better overall. They're irreplaceable figures, that's what great players do. It's not just about the amount of goals or trophies. And if you talk about Ibra, He's also a strong personality, He helps the team to set the bar higher. Not sure if Tevez is able to do that.

Tevez did a good job at Juventus, but it's Italian league. It's not like Tevez made Juve won the Champions League or something. If you replace those players, during their peak seasons with Tevez on his peak, do you think he will make an impact as big as the them? I don't think so. At best, He will equal their goal scoring tally but that's all. And outside of his achievements at Juve and United (for a short period of time), He has nothing to boast about. What else? that He's the best goalscorer at Westham and Boca Junior? Seems underwhelming to me.

If not for his attitude towards Fergie I'd say He'll be among my top picks for a striker whose job is only to score goal. But If need someone to be an icon of the club and to improve the players around him, Tevez would be last. His best mate was only Evra and Evra was friends with everybody. Good striker, not all time greats.

 

[Champagne Football]

Tevez was a master at linking things up in attack, a bit like Rooney. Rooney was a more deadly finisher. Both had phenomenal work rate. They were quite similar players, and that's why Fergie struggled to find space in the team for both. Tevez was 1 billion times better than Berbatov, but Berbatov was tall and decent at getting on the end of crosses with his head, so maybe that's why Fergie felt a need to sign him. But the signing of Berbatov was the beginning of the end of that lethal 2008 team.

 

[RedRonaldo]

Ballon D'or is a shite measure. He qas clearly world class. Where you rank him all-time is hard- he had an amazing career.

At least its better measure than just some random opinions from internet. If you rated him as all time great or best of his generation, fine, but let's just be clear, majority won't agree.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

For me He could have been in top 20, if not for the RIP banner.
Suarez is a better striker than him and his main competitor for the all time pricks ranking.

The list of strikers better than him (not in order):

1. Lewandowski
2. Suarez
3. Van Persie
4. Rooney
5. Aguero
6. Benzema
7. Ibrahimovic
8. Ronaldo
9. Henry
10. Drogba
11. Kane

Not even top 10. And that is without including the old school legends.

It's a good list that, until you put in Harry Kane over Tevez which is a little bit insane.

 

[tenpoless]

It's a good list that, until you put in Harry Kane over Tevez which is a little bit insane.

Kane is a good stiker, Tevez is a good striker. At worst They're comparable. I might be blinded by how Tevez treated Fergie but hey, it's not insane.

 

[Wing Attack Plan R]

No. A handful as a player, a nightmare to play against, pure adrenaline, but all-time great? No. At United he had an incredible team around him. 4 or 5 of those players would get on an all-time list ahead of him, so unless this list was a very long list indeed, it’s a hard no.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Kane is a good stiker, Tevez is a good striker. At worst They're comparable. I might be blinded by how Tevez treated Fergie but hey, it's not insane.

Disregarding what Tevez won in Argentina, honours:
4 x Premier League titles with 2 different clubs
2 x Serie A
1 x Champions League
3 x South American Footballer of the Year

Harry Kane honours:
NONE

I wouldn't get too hung up on "how Tevez treated Fergie", it goes both ways and not signing Tevez on a perma deal after healping us win the PL And CL double was a shitty treatment as you can give a player. Choosing to use that money to sign another player in his position just condemns it.

 

[tenpoless]

Disregarding what Tevez won in Argentina, honours:
4 x Premier League titles with 2 different clubs
2 x Serie A
1 x Champions League
3 x South American Footballer of the Year

Harry Kane honours:
NONE

Well Kane is 26, Tevez is 36. If Kane played for a great Juventus, ManCity and ManUnited sides and was born a South American He would have at least win one of those things mentioned above. He would also have claimed more of his team mates goal, contributing to his goal scoring records.

 

[Regulus Arcturus Black]

Well Kane is 26, Tevez is 36. If Kane played for a great Juventus, ManCity and ManUnited sides and was born a South American He would have at least win one of those things mentioned above. He would also have claimed more of his team mates goal, contributing to his goal scoring records.

Well Kane has time to prove it then doesn't he? And time to join clubs that win big titles.

But at this point in his career, putting Kane ahead of Tevez is insane.

Matt Le Tiss was a class player, but don't go comparing him to say Eric Cantona, a player's choice of club shows ambition also, and important aspect in being a top top player.

 

[tenpoless]

Well Kane has time to prove it then doesn't he? And time to join clubs that win big titles.

But at this point in his career, putting Kane ahead of Tevez is insane.

In my opinion even as it is, Kane is already a very good striker and at least comparable to Tevez.

Fair enough, if We're talking strictly about current achievements then Kane only has MBE to his name. But still I wouldn't consider Tevez an all time great. Even without Kane, the list could be made longer than those 10 names.

 

[Redcy]

I am not sure what all time greats means tbh, but if I was picking club greats for example he doesnt rank well in it. He certainly isn't in the top 20 in my opinion, and many of those players would not be considered all time greats by the world at large. I say this as someone who liked the energy Tevez gave us, but my memories of him are as a hard working link player. Now he had a great few seasons at Juve and City, but I am not sure that he elevates himself into the stratosphere of ATG based on that.