Re: bye bye yaya
Yaya is a world beater, no doubt. The problem is, he is so inconsistently a world beater that it has hurt the team tonight. Sadly, the mgmt team did not do what was needed, which was go to a SOLID FIVE MAN MIDFIELD around the 70 minute mark. We were starting to get pummeled down both wings and through the middle, because we love to play narrow on the defensive side of the ball, and wide when we attack. BM set out to open up the middle and play around a largely immobile Yaya. Worked all night!
Yaya is a monster when we have the ball and usually a passenger when we don't. When you look at the possession, and the speed of movement of the BM forward 6-7 players, it is plain to see that Yaya was simply not at the races and his weaknesses were magnified by a Manager who knows this.
Milner looked far better than Yaya when he came on and did not allow too many players to play around him. Additionally, the game was crying out for Yaya to be brought off and either a Lampard or Kolarov to be brought on to out 5 across the middle. With Lampard in the middle with Fernandinho on his right and Navas outside him, it would have allowed us to push Milner out left and tuck Silva inside. At 70 minutes, it seemed pretty clear the odds were that we might be able to break and score, but the likelihood was that the BM pressure would increase and we needed to batten down the hatches. Instead, we left Yaya on as the #10, which he seems to think means that he walks towards his own goal and jogs forward.
Yaya's game is picking up the ball in the middle of the back four and distributing it left and right, receiving it back, shifting the game, and allowing Silva and Nasri to weave inside and out to make passing lanes for him. His game is not, and never will be again, to be a box to box midfielder.
I think Neville said it best...."He looks knackered!" and "He looks heavy." Agree on both counts, and he is relying on others to clean up his mess on the field, which is getting them into trouble with the refs as they stop the opposition players from playing.
I don't know the number, but I would be very surprised if any team in Europe has more yellow cards than City after just a few games. I think our midfield and back four have amassed at least 4 per game this season, and three of our back four get their first yellow tonight. One more and they miss a game. Wonder which game that will be? Let's hope it is not one of the "big games" that we need to win (and don't!) that stops us moving forward!
If Chelsea were not coming to the a Etihad this weekend, I'd give him a few days off and then start his training/weight loss regimen and give a few other players a run out. However, that will have to wait until after the Chelsea game. After that, I hope Fernando is back fit and that he, Ferni and Milner can start bossing the middle of the park for us. Heck, even MDM can play that DM role, if needed, to free up Ferni and Milner to boss the field ahead of him.
And, for me, Milner has earned the right to start against Chelsea, with Nasri dropping to the bench.
In short, I can quite easily see a future without Yaya, especially considering we will lose him for over a month due to the ACON again, and I think Milner has a point to prove and is making it with recent substitute performances.
