Player topic: Yaya Toure 2014/15 (continued)

[BillyShears]

The only reason I think he should go is if we get Pogba, then Yaya would spend more time on the bench and I don't think he's a good personality to have around if he's not getting the game times he thinks he should. That and the cost of his wages on top of Pogba.

The club need to convince Toure that he should stick around to mentor Pogba, Bony, and some of the other younger players such as Kelechi. Especially if the idea is to play 433 in the manner in which we have been doing for the last six matches - just imagine a midfield of Pogba, Toure, Fernandinho, with Silva, Kun, Sterling ahead of them.

I have.

I want Toure to stay but he has to want to.

I think both he and the club would be daft to part company now.

I don't think Txiki and Ferran go in for sentiment though. If they think a wider purpose is served by getting rid of him, they will get rid of him. Reminds me very much of Eto'o's final season at Barca. Felt like a success. Felt like he should stay. Still they got rid of him.

 

[pavelsrnicek]

The club need to convince Toure that he should stick around to mentor Pogba, Bony, and some of the other younger players such as Kelechi. Especially if the idea is to play 433 in the manner in which we have been doing for the last six matches - just imagine a midfield of Pogba, Toure, Fernandinho, with Silva, Kun, Sterling ahead of them.

I have.

I want Toure to stay but he has to want to.

I think both he and the club would be daft to part company now.

I don't think Txiki and Ferran go in for sentiment though. If they think a wider purpose is served by getting rid of him, they will get rid of him. Reminds me very much of Eto'o's final season at Barca. Felt like a success. Felt like he should stay. Still they got rid of him.

Would anyone be surprised if we had agreed with Yaya last summer to stay another season, hence the cakegate stuff was suddenly dropped by Seluk. Our hands were tied last year but not this.

Yaya has been incredibly important to us for the last 5 seasons but I think he's made his mind up that he's leaving and if that's the case it's pretty hard to keep him.

 

[blueparrot]

As conflicted about Toure's potential departure as I was about Tevez's.

Personally I think we should offer him as much money as it takes to get him to stay. Will be the kind of loss which we won't truly feel until he's gone. And then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

The only reason I think he should go is if we get Pogba, then Yaya would spend more time on the bench and I don't think he's a good personality to have around if he's not getting the game times he thinks he should. That and the cost of his wages on top of Pogba.

The club need to convince Toure that he should stick around to mentor Pogba, Bony, and some of the other younger players such as Kelechi. Especially if the idea is to play 433 in the manner in which we have been doing for the last six matches - just imagine a midfield of Pogba, Toure, Fernandinho, with Silva, Kun, Sterling ahead of them.

That would work if he wants it, though I've been busy imagining Pogba Fernandinho and Silva with Sterling Aguero and one other ahead of them.

 

[Mr HJ]

I was pleased that we saw the old Yaya during the game yesterday. The sight of him charging through other teams is a sight I will fondly remember. I do think the club needs to move on, and like all big clubs players do leave no matter how good they've been. Yaya has had a tough season and it would have been sad if we hadn't seen those charges forward one last time. Better for him to leave on a positive thought than to whimper out of the door - Compare that to the way Edin and Jovetic seem to have ended their City careers, if as we all expect they go. We need to add youth, pace and power and looking back I like a lot of fans will think of Yaya as one of the greats - he took us to another level and should rightly be proud of that. The problem is if he stays is that I cannot see him at his age being a bit part player. He would extend his time at the top playing in Italy, so thanks big man, come back and see us anytime but leave your agent in Italy!

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

As conflicted about Toure's potential departure as I was about Tevez's.

Personally I think we should offer him as much money as it takes to get him to stay. Will be the kind of loss which we won't truly feel until he's gone. And then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

I hope you're not being serious when you suggest we should offer him more money to stay. At a time when he is already City's highest paid player, and when others have signed new contracts on reduced basic terms but with higher performance related bonuses, one would have to ask how much Yaya would be prepared to lower his basic to achieve such higher bonus payments, but at 32 and when he is struggling to maintain his old physical standards then I would guess there being little chance of his contract being re-negotiated successfully.

On an actual playing business, if he is genuinely happy to stay, maybe he could fulfill a Lampard type role where he has his defensive duties taken off him and to let him just be an advanced midfield general with an additional defensive midfielder behind him to keep it tight and in this way we could squeeze a year or two out of him, but he will have to be replaced in the not too distant future whatever happens and so I expect City to already have his replacement lined up.

 

[sir baconface]

Keep him or sell him, the Yaya of 2013/14 has already gone. This often seems to be overlooked.

 

[City_Sean]

There was some glimpses of his brilliance yesterday, but I was disappointed he didn't applaud us fans in the lap if honour.

 

[yayas trusty right foot]

As conflicted about Toure's potential departure as I was about Tevez's.

Personally I think we should offer him as much money as it takes to get him to stay. Will be the kind of loss which we won't truly feel until he's gone. And then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

Post of the day..

It will need 2 players to do the things he is capable of...

 

[BillyShears]

As conflicted about Toure's potential departure as I was about Tevez's.

Personally I think we should offer him as much money as it takes to get him to stay. Will be the kind of loss which we won't truly feel until he's gone. And then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

The problem though is that Yaya doesn't present value for money as our highest paid player. He's 32 and those steam train like runs and deft moments of brilliance are becoming more inconsistent. I wouldn't mind him running his contract down if absolutely necessary which has 2 years left, but I'd rather we got him down the wage structure rather than giving him more.

Much of Yaya's game relies on the physical and to prolong his top level career he will need to be managed around his physical decline. I seem to think he'll probably still want to be the main man.

This seems like a handshakes all around situation. He will want something that we shouldn't really give him and we want to use him in a way where he doesn't really want to be used. No hard feelings, we've just outlived the usefulness to each other and he can move on with a lot of affection from the City fans.

Yeah you're right about giving him a new deal. Ideally he'd be happy to see out the remaining two years of his contract.

It's not gonna happen though for all my wanting. It's last we've seen of Toure in the PL. Shame, I think he's my generation's Colin Bell in terms of his ability.

 

[cleavers]

As conflicted about Toure's potential departure as I was about Tevez's.

Personally I think we should offer him as much money as it takes to get him to stay. Will be the kind of loss which we won't truly feel until he's gone. And then it'll be too late to do anything about it.

Post of the day..

It will need 2 players to do the things he is capable of...

I understand the comment "It will need 2 players", but we can't do that, assuming he's going, and I am assuming that, we need to find a different player to replace him, and use our other assets to adapt to his loss. We are not a one man team, we can win when he isn't playing, we'll adapt, that is what all great teams do when they lose a great player.