Stevan Jovetic: I am ready to make my mark against Manchester United
The Montenegrin’s time at Manchester City has been blighted by injuries and, he believes, a lack of opportunities
Stevan Jovetic did not face Manchester United last season and is eager to play for City on Sunday. Photograph: Tom Jenkins for the Guardian
Stevan Jovetic smiles and pulls up the left sleeve of his T-shirt and begins pointing to the tattoos he had done recently. There are several and they reach down towards his wrist to make a vibrant, colourful mosaic. “I did these like four or five months ago. Each has meaning,” Jovetic says, then indicates some lines of writing. “This is something for the family. I also have this big watch because I like watches. What else do I have? This is Venice because I like Venice. And here, I have some angels to protect me.”
While Jovetic says his right arm may soon also feature tattoos, heavenly protection would have been welcomed during his injury and illness-blighted debut Manchester City season.
He says: “Last year, honestly, was frustrating because practically I never played. And when I was fit I was playing like 20 minutes, half an hour. It is difficult, you know. I can be happy because in the last three or four months, I was fit and I was playing well and I scored some important goals. That was good – I prepared well.
“At the beginning of the season I played well. Now I have come back again from injury. I came back one month ago but I’m still not getting a [consistent] chance. But I’m ready, that’s important and when I play I will do well.”
Early September’s hamstring problem was the third such to hamper Jovetic’s progress. The Montenegro forward had been flying. On 26 August his two goals helped hand Liverpool a 3-1 lesson at the Etihad Stadium but seven matches were missed until Jovetic made an eighth return from infirmity since he arrived from Fiorentina in the summer of 2013 for £22m. There have been three substitute appearances since and the start in Wednesday evening’s dire 2-0 defeat to Newcastle United that ended City’s Capital One Cup defence.
Last term’s unwanted file featured knocks in August and September, a shin injury in October, illness before Christmas, and then hamstring problems in December and February. Asked to explain, he says: “I would like to know. Maybe because I didn’t make my preparation with the team. I came when they started to play [pre-season] games and I was training alone. I was always a step, two steps behind. And then I was with the national team [in August] and I wasn’t ready and I said: ‘It’s better to play 90 minutes to help me.’ That was a mistake. In the game against Newcastle I came back injured and had not prepared well. And the team played well – Edin scored, Kun [Sergio Agüero] scored, everybody scored. When I came back I played just one, two matches [before the next layoff], and it was like that all year.”
Adjusting to the Premier League can be notoriously tricky. Factor in Jovetic’s rotten luck and the eight goals he returned in 20 appearances looks an impressive statistic – particularly for a player who describes himself as a second striker and has never been prolific.
“I’m very happy because it’s not easy in all those circumstances to do well,” he says. “And I always did well. Sometimes I scored, sometimes I made assists.”
There was no problem coming to terms with the hurly-burly of English football after Serie A’s modest tempo. “When you look from the side everybody says: ‘Maybe he’s not ready for the Premier League.’ But that’s not true because every time I played I played well. If you are good you can play everywhere.”
In their past three matches the champions have wobbled. Before Newcastle’s visit, Manuel Pellegrini’s team allowed a two-goal half-time lead at CSKA Moscow to become a 2-2 draw in their Champions League group game. Then last Saturday City were beaten 2-1 at West Ham United.
Jovetic believes City must defeat Manchester United in Sunday’s 168th derby. “It’s so important because they are a very good team, they have very good players, and we are from the same town,” he says. “We need to show we are better and I hope we’re going to do that.”
Jovetic is yet to face United, although it is made clear he was available for last season’s encounters. “I was fit both games,” he says. “But I did not play. I don’t know why. Hopefully for this one I will.”
Last year City won 4-1 at their own stadium and 3-0 at Old Trafford. Despite his absence Jovetic understands what the derby fixture means. “Yes, because of the Red Star-Partizan game,” he says, having represented the latter club for two seasons before moving to Florence in 2008. “So I know what the derby is, and that’s the reason we play football, for the big games. I’m sure it’s going to be a great game. It’s a better feeling when you play derbies and games in the Champions League – against Bayern Munich and Roma. It’s something more.”
Jovetic’s ability to create means he may force the currently misfiring Edin Dzeko out of Pellegrini’s XI for Sunday. A few years ago Dejan Savicevic, part of the great Milan side of the early 1990s and now president of the Montenegro Football Association, said of Jovetic: “He is utterly fearless and I don’t see a limit to his potential. Is he the new Savicevic? No, he can be even better. He reminds me of Johan Cruyff.”
Jovetic smiles. “I’ve heard it. I love him so much because he was a great player and a very good person. It’s nice when some legend speaks well about you. But I’m just concentrating to do my job,” he says.
This focus has been a driving force of a career that began with a debut at 16 for Partizan before Jovetic was handed the armband just a year later, leading the club to success.
“At 17 I was captain and we won the title and cup, and after that I was gone to Florence,” he says. To be named leader was a surprise. “Because there were a lot of older players, more experienced. They chose me – I don’t why – but I was happy, you know. This is a big team, Partizan. I was a kid. Maybe some older players wanted to be and were a bit angry – not with me, with [the club]. So they never said anything to me, they were very correct. And because of that we won everything.”
The experience helped when joining City. A squad captained by Vincent Kompany is packed with leaders including Joe Hart, Pablo Zabaleta, Yaya Touré, Agüero and Dzeko. “That’s because every player here came as a star of his last team,” says Jovetic. “That’s normal, it’s a big competition and that’s good. I’m sure we are one of the best teams in the world, the best three or four, if you look individually. We need to show that on the pitch.”
Away from the field Jovetic has demonstrated other sporting talents, beating Touré in a pre-season ping‑pong tournament. “Yeah, I won. He is much better on the pitch. We were all there and who wins stays playing. It was David [Silva], Kolarov, Edin. Edin is good – we are the same.”
Dzeko has four goals in 13 appearances, the lethal Agüero 11 in 12, and Jovetic two in seven. All he asks is to remain healthy and have a fair shot at establishing himself. “They are my friends and I never have a problem. If he [Dzeko] plays well he will play. If Kun plays well he is playing. I just want to be fit and to have the same opportunity as them.”
