Barry praise for focused Tevez

Gareth Barry was never worried that Manchester City team-mate Carlos Tevez might be affected by his latest scrape with authority.

Last Updated: 11/03/13 at 07:04 Post Comment

Carlos Tevez (r): Hat-trick against Barnsley

Carlos Tevez (r): Hat-trick against Barnsley

Tevez is due at Macclesfield police station to answer bail after being arrested on Thursday on suspicion of driving whilst disqualified.

The charge carries a possible six-month jail term if Tevez is subsequently found guilty.

Yet he was not bothered in the slightest on Saturday, scoring a hat-trick and setting up the other two as City sauntered to a 5-0 FA Cup quarter-final win over Barnsley.

Maybe it was no surprise. After all, Tevez had an extended stand-off from his club last season when he returned to Argentina and vowed never to play for City again as he demanded a move away.

Certainly Barry never thought focus would be a problem for the South American.

"It takes a lot to take Carlos' mind off football and get him agitated," said Barry.

"If you had seen him at training this week, it's as though he has got no problems away from the pitch.

"Nothing really fazes him. In general, if a football player has problems off the pitch the best place to be to get rid of them is on it, either in training or in the stadium.

"It can certainly help take your mind off them for 90 minutes anyway."

Tevez's City future is open to debate with his contract due to expire in another 12 months.

So far, there have been no talks, even if manager Roberto Mancini seems relaxed enough about the situation.

In that sense, Barry is in a similar position, with another year remaining on the five-year deal he signed following his move from Aston Villa in 2009.

And it is fairly obvious that after leaving Villa Park with the stated aim of landing some silverware, the 32-year-old is in no mood to exit the Etihad Stadium having already collected FA Cup and Premier League winners' medals.

"I want to finish my career still challenging for trophies and this is the perfect club at which to do that," said Barry.

"I am very settled here but at the same time I have got a lot of respect for the people who have come in. They are going to have a good long look at the way they want to go and the players they want to go with it so as individuals we need to work hard when we get the chance."

In "the people", Barry means new chief executive Ferran Soriano and sporting director Txiki Begiristain, who are responsible for shaping City's future, and doubtless implementing ideas gained from their time at Barcelona.

And that must create a sense of uncertainty for Barry, Tevez and Joleon Lescott, whose contract also expires in 2014 and has been used sparingly by Roberto Mancini this season.

"Obviously they are the sort of conversations the lads have now and again," said Barry.

"We've got the rest of this season and then one more year and there have been changes upstairs.

"But everyone is pretty relaxed because they will take time to have a look at things, the way they are going to go in the future.

"The players are pretty comfortable with that too but it is important we keep performing on the pitch."

The FA Cup clearly offers City's best route to silverware given the current state of the Premier League, not that Barry is abandoning all hope of the championship being retained just yet.

"We are still desperate to retain the title and we are not going to write that off completely yet," said Barry.

"United's points total is immense at the moment and if they keep winning you've got to hold your hands up and say they have had a fantastic season.

"But winning the FA Cup will go a long way to saying it has still been a good season.

"Once you win that first trophy and then the second you are hungry to keep winning them and when you don't it is a big disappointment."

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