Good article on Toure by Howard Hockin

daztrueblue91 said:
Not sure about that just yet. He still has plenty more to offer and is the guy who gives our midfield control. I rate both Fernandinho and Delph but neither of them can draw two men on them and still keep the ball. Yaya can do that and create space for others. On top of that he is capable of moments of brilliance like against Arsenal and Watford.
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I agree, but that's the flip side of the coin: midfielders just run past him. I don't mean he should be a sub for the rest of the season, but I think he needs to be used at the right times and in the right games: on the left of a midfield three in tight games against top opposition, off the bench when we need a goal, behind the striker when we want to bully teams around their box through the middle.

We can't keep exposing him to be run at as part of the defensive two, or leave the other midfielder chasing shadows because YaYa is jogging back from a failed burst forward.
 
Good article and it would be great if we could play entirely to Yaya's strengths but doing that whilst accommodating our other players is pretty difficult.

It will be interesting if (when) Pep arrives to see whether he implements his normal tactics (press to quickly recover the ball) or adapts them to the players that are available.

When Yaya does leave and the highlights reels are compiled maybe everyone will realise what he has given us.
 
Didsbury Dave said:
I agree, but that's the flip side of the coin: midfielders just run past him. I don't mean he should be a sub for the rest of the season, but I think he needs to be used at the right times and in the right games: on the left of a midfield three in tight games against top opposition, off the bench when we need a goal, behind the striker when we want to bully teams around their box through the middle.

We can't keep exposing him to be run at as part of the defensive two, or leave the other midfielder chasing shadows because YaYa is jogging back from a failed burst forward.
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I think it is impossible to disagree with that.

In the really tight games I think we have to choose between Yaya or Silva. It's a controversial decision but we need the Delph and Dinho work rate in there. We also benefit from the work rate/pace/width from Navas and Sterling which means do we go with the control of Yaya or the more advanced Silva. It leaves Pellers with a tough decision to make.

However, I don't rate Yaya one bit in the number 10 role. He's at his best when he can run from deep and get on the ball. When he is too far up the pitch he doesn't get the time or space he needs. Also, why play Yaya there at the expense of KDB and Silva who are two of the best number 10s in the world. He's much better as a CM with a free role.
 
The most complete footballer I've seen, has it all, defence, attack, dribbling, pace, dead ball kicking and goal scoring. I know of no other player with that skill set. Enjoy while it lasts folks.
 
tweety said:
The most complete footballer I've seen, has it all, defence, attack, dribbling, pace, dead ball kicking and goal scoring. I know of no other player with that skill set. Enjoy while it lasts folks.
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Personally i think you could/should have added, at his best. Not wanting to bemoan an absolutely fantastic contribution to this club,
but this season he has been a long way off. I note that when he was at his brilliant best no one was bemoaning how he was being
played or in what position. I get he is getting older and not able to play the minutes but it's up to Manuel to fit him into the team
and not fit the team to Yaya.
 
The article sums up his strengths well, but you can't simply dismiss his weaknesses. We all know what he can do and what he's poor at, the question has always been do his strengths outweigh his weaknesses? And the answer has always been a resounding yes so far. However, the question is getting increasingly harder to answer. As his influence dwindles it's getting harder to overlook his weaknesses, I think both Yaya and the team would benefit from his role being restricted to the Lampard role of last season.

The reason people get so frustrated with him is in my opinion because most of his deficiencies are not because of a lack of ability. When he continuously lets his opponent jog past him and receive the ball in a dangerous area, saying "oh but Yaya can't defend" isn't a valid excuse as there's no reason why he can't track runners, it's laziness regardless of how much distance he's covered over the game. If he's too knackered to track a runner into the box then it's poor game management.

The other problem is he now doesn't really fit into our side. A few years ago the team was built around him specifically. He's not a number 10, especially since he's seemingly lost his lung busting runs and not to mention we have better players in that position so he has to play in centre midfield. Ideally he'd be excellent in a midfield 3 consisting of Yaya and two energetic midfielders around him (just like Sevilla away) but then that means we can't have a number 10 playing and leaves space for only two from Silva/KDB/Sterling/Navas. Which leaves the question is he worth dropping one of those? For me, in certain games he is worth that sacrifice, and others he's not and that would suit him in a reduce role, however Pellegrini doesn't have the balls to do it on a regular basis and just shoehorns them all into the team.
 
Whatever side of the debate you are on with regard to his contribution today, it is the lack of loyalty to a club legend that I find distasteful.

For what it's worth I think he still has a huge part to play in this team. You simply can't ignore the continual critical contributions he makes to this team. Game winning contributions. You also cannot underestimate the experience of having done it in the BIG games when it starts getting towards squeaky bum time.

I have been mightily impressed with Delph but I don't for a minute believe he is ready to be Yaya's full time replacement. That's not to say that Pellegrini can't use him more effectively to ensure he is ready and primed for the big games, write Yaya off at your peril..
 
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