Carlos Tevez downed tools at Manchester United, says Gary Neville

Gary Neville has accused Carlos Tevez of downing tools in the months leading up to his acrimonious departure from Manchester United in 2009.

Tevez spent two years at Old Trafford following his arrival from West Ham in 2007 but angered fans by leaving for bitter rivals Manchester City, where he would add a third Premier League title to the two he won at United.

Neville feels that, at their peak at Manchester United, Tevez, Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo were the best front three in Premier League history, but the Sky Sports pundit admits he was angered by the Argentine’s behaviour towards the end of his second season there.

“Let’s be clear here, Tevez, for a year, with Ronaldo and Rooney, was just breath-taking,” Neville said on The Football Show.

• Maguire: Rashford most talented I’ve played with
• ‘LVG to blame for Man Utd sacking, not Woodward’
• The next steps towards a Premier League restart

“It was out of this world, it really was. Not just because of the quality of the players, but because there was a real selfish, horrible, nasty determination to those three.

“Ronaldo in a different way on the pitch, in the sense that he wouldn’t go around kicking people, hassling people and hustling. He was just immense in terms of his performance levels. But Rooney and Tevez were street fighters, with unbelievable ability.

“We talk about the best front threes in the Premier League. You’ll never beat those three for me. You can talk about [Sadio] Mane, [Mohamed] Salah and [Roberto] Firmino, I love them to bits. [Raheem] Sterling, [Sergio] Aguero and [Leroy] Sane at City as well.

“But that front three of Rooney, Ronaldo and Tevez at their peak was out of this world.”

‘Tevez didn’t act in the right way’

“What annoyed me about Tevez was that he downed tools in his second season,” added Neville.

“He started sitting on the treatment table, started coming out late for training, started messing around.

“He was playing the club and I couldn’t stand that, particularly being how I was at the time, which was a ferocious Manchester United person who never thought of anything else in my life, only United every single day.

“I understood that he had circumstances, but his people were in his ear all the time and he was so led by his people. It was always going to come to an end like it did.

“I felt disappointed that, as a professional, he didn’t act the right way.”

Neville saw plenty of big players come and go during his time at Manchester United but admits Tevez’s departure rankled with him more than any other.

“I never had a problem with people leaving the club,” he added. “David Beckham left the club, Cristiano Ronaldo left the club, Ruud van Nistelrooy left the club. Great, great players.

“But there was a way to leave the club and the way to behave while you’re there.

“The problem that I had with Tevez wasn’t that he went to play for Manchester City. That wasn’t the main issue for me. It was the way it played out in those last few months. I didn’t like it.”

(c) Sky Sports 2020: Carlos Tevez downed tools at Manchester United, says Gary Neville