How do you solve a problem like Carlitos?

The most talked about man in sport at the moment, Carlos Tevez, is perhaps also the most abhorred. As a man (and I struggle to call him that) who earns in excess of £200k a week at Manchester City, his behaviour in Munich was unforgivable.

DISGRACED: Could Tevez's actions impact on his international career?  

©Saadick Dhansay

With a history of winning the admiration of fans before turning his back on them, the 27-year-old disgraced himself with a temper tantrum at being consigned to the bench in his team's midweek Champions League 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich.

The fall out from the whole saga is a two-week suspension for the City forward but there is almost universal agreement that the powers that be at the Etihad Stadium should show the little Argentinian the door.

Of course, he is not the first player to throw a strop at his lack of first team football. Indeed, in the right manner, it is something you don't mind seeing from a sportsperson - a desire to contribute to their team. But what Tevez demonstrated was a complete lack of respect  and disregard for all involved at Manchester City, from his boss Roberto Mancini (who quite rightly voiced his disdain for the striker), right down to the fans, the majority of which want him out.

Tevez is now refusing to apologise to his manager, convinced in himself that he has done nothing wrong and believes he will have the backing of his teammates. If he does receive their support, they are just as bad as him. 

Unfortunately for City, Tevez's actions seemed to confirm an absence of team cohesion and chemistry. There has now been a number of well-publicised incidents at the club of team fall outs - training ground bust-ups involving Mario Balotelli, Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Adebayour the most notable examples.

It is hard to say where the responsibility lies for this. I would like to see Roberto Mancini laying down the law to his players and he has the perfect opportunity to do this through making an example of Tevez.

Or he could go for the Brian Clough approach. The former Nottingham Forest manager didn't take too kindly to some showboating by Nigel Jemson and, following the game, asked him, "Have you ever been punched in the stomach?" When he replied he hadn't, Clough delivered a swift hook to the forward's midriff, reportedly following up by saying, "You have now, son. Don't you ever try those fancy tricks while your mum and dad are in the stand."

Or perhaps he could go for the John Sitton approach, as demonstrated in this video from a half time team talk (WARNING: Contains very strong language)

One thing is for sure, some players need a good boot up the proverbial. With unemployment creeping about 2.5m in the UK, I'm sure plenty would be happy to take Tevez's place on the bench and his exorbitant salary with it.

What the future holds for the estranged striker is yet to be seen. I'd like to see him sacked (although there are obvious financial implications in this for City) and dropped from the national team. He should be made to work, nay grovel, for his place in a team, although the few that could afford him will be wary to take on a player with his erratic track record.

Of course, should City do the right thing and terminate his contract, Tevez will find new employers. Good luck to them, I hope they enjoy dealing with this high-maintenance, full-of-excuses child.

Thoughts so far....

I apologise in advance for any pro-united bias this post might portray....

So, we're about 1/7th of the way through the Premier League season and it's shaping up to be a cracker. We've had goals, upsets, good transfers, dodgy transfers and a Frenchman clinging on to his job for dear life.

But five games in and one thing is clearer than crystal - Manchester United will once again be the team to beat. Few would disagree they have been magnificent so far and certainly as good as I can remember seeing them play since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Sir Alex has once again proved he is the maestro of discovering and nurturing young talent and in players like Chris Smalling, Tom Cleverly, Phil Jones and Danny Welbeck, and yes, even David De Gea (who has come under a lot of unfair criticism in my opinion), the future looks bright at Old Trafford.

It is the perfect mixture of youthful exuberance and naivety combined with the experience and maturity of seasoned professionals in Evra, Giggs, Ferdinand and now it appears even Rooney can be grouped with the latter. After the debacle of the will he/won't he Manchester City transfer last season, the 25-year-old has shown a new-found vigour and maturity towards his football and the goals have flowed as a result. With nine already you'd put your mortgage on him taking the golden boot come the end of the season.

Talking of City, I'm impressed, if unsurprised, at their start to the season. Sunday's result aside, they have looked dangerous and extremely easy on the eye with a style of football and set up not too dissimilar to that of United of the Ronaldo era with countless attacking options to choose from. Whether they can keep it up for the duration of the season with the increased pressure and expectancy of the Eastlands, sorry, Etihad faithful remains to be seen but with their squad depth and quality, they certainly have the artillery to do so.

Several long seasons ago, the above paragraph would have applied to a fiery, adventurous Arsenal side, capable of winning multiple trophies. Now the picture is a much bleaker one. I said pre-season that I thought they would struggle and they have emphatically proved me right.

Some last-minute transfer action prompted by an 8-2 drubbing at Old Trafford appears to have done little to smooth over the cracks at the North London outfit left by the departure of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas and you have to wonder where they go from here after their misery was compiled by a 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park. Personally, I think it's time for a change at the helm but Chief Exec Ivan Gazidis has today come out in support of Arsene Wenger, a man I believe has truly lost the plot but surely with the safest job in football.

The same cannot be said about that of Andre Villas Boas at Chelsea who will of course be sacked should he fail to bring any silverware to Stamford Bridge by May. They have looked, to my eye, rather unconvincing thus far but we all know they will be fighting to the end of every competition they enter. A much-improved performance by frontman Fernando Torres on Sunday should help the Spaniard to regain some confidence if he can forget about that miss which I'm confident he can. He was by far Chelsea's best player at Old Trafford and should begin to finally add to his abysmal goal tally for the Blues. Despite a quiet summer by their standards, the signings of Juan Mata and Raul Meireles should help boost an ageing squad and keep them in the fight in what I hope will be at least a three horse race in the Premier League.

As for best of the rest, Liverpool have to be massive contenders for a top four finish this season and I think they will probably clinch the fourth spot ahead of either Spurs or Arsenal. Despite overspending on players like Henderson, they have secured the signatures of some decent players and have looked fairly promising so far despite two defeats in their last two. A 1-0 away at boring Stoke will be a common result for many a team this season and they can put their 4-0 loss at White Hart Lane down to some poor discipline/harsh refereeing resulting in the dismissals of Charlie Adam and Martin Skrtel.

With 33 games to go, it is still early days but with domestic and European cup competitions now in full swing, we should be able to see who can keep up with the pace in the next few weeks and I am thoroughly looking forward to it.

Predictions? Oh go on then:

Top Four
1. Manchester United
2. Manchester City
3. Chelsea
4. Liverpool

Bottom Three
18. Wigan
19. Swansea
20. Blackburn

And just in case you missed it....