Vieira: City can cope without Tevez

Frenchman Patrick Vieira believes Manchester City can cope with the loss of captain Carlos Tevez and still achieve their goals this season.

Vieira, who retired from professional football on Thursday, was unveiled as the English Premier League club’s new Football Development Executive.

The former City, Arsenal, Inter Milan and France midfielder said he expected other players to lift to make up for the loss of Tevez, who was joint-top scorer in the Premier League last campaign with 20 goals in 28 appearances.

“It is never easy to lose players like Carlos. In the last two years he has been fantastic for the football club, scoring goals,” Vieira said on Monday.

“The club has grown that fast and Carlos has made a huge contribution to it, like all the players. But in football, it is not the first time a big club has lost a big player.”

“I believe we can still challenge our target and we still have a really competitive team because the players will take more responsibilities on their shoulders and that will make them better players.”

“Life goes on and if Carlos left, we just have to wish him good luck and everyone should say thank you for what he has done.”

It comes after City boss Roberto Mancini said an agreement for Tevez’s transfer had been reached with Brazilian side Corinthians for the Argentine’s services.

But Corinthians deny the claims, revealing the Eastlands club had offered a counter-proposal.

Vieira, who won three Premier League and four Serie A titles as well as the 1998 World Cup, said he knew the time was right to bring an end to his career.

“Listen, this is a part of football. You get to a time when you have to accept that you can’t perform to the level you want to,” he said.

“When you can’t perform at the level you expect to perform, the best thing to do is to stop and I’m proud when I look back at my career. I’m proud and I’m really pleased with what I have achieved and that’s what made it an easy decision.”

The 107-time France international also played down the public row between Mancini and Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

The Italian was accused of being ‘disrespectful’ by Wenger after revealing he was interested in the services of midfielder Samir Nasri.

“I see it from the outside and it makes me smile. It happens all the time. Mancini and Wenger, Wenger and Ferguson the next day, Ferguson and Mancini after that,” Vieira said.

“It’s a part of the game and what is important is not to disrespect anybody and I don’t think anyone has. Life keeps going – every club wants the best players. It’s part of the game.”