Player topic : Yaya Toure (2015/16)

[Millwallawayveteran1988]

If you want to interpret my post that way then sure, I do think Pellers has made a rod for his own back by seemingly making Yaya undroppable. There are plenty of games when Yaya will still be more of an asset than a liability - just the games when this isn't the case will hurt us I feel.

Fair argument for this specific match yes it may have been a struggle, I'd counter with did you see Yaya make any tackles? For me today Yaya & Dinho pushed so high in this formation with our slow build up & the space ahead not occupied that we actually ended up with just Fernando vs a couple of there guys numerous times with Dinho chasing back to help & Yaya staying up top - if we'd had a 2 of the guys mentioned the only difference I'd foresee is De Bruyne replacing Yaya as the guy not coming back to help.

The argument that Delph & Fernando aren't near the levels of Pogba or Marchisio is a separate one entirely for me, we should have 2 CM's of at least that quality - so if we don't then how do we expect to compete with teams that are significantly superior to Juve. (Yes it's obvious we need a CM in the summer).

That's fine then. People can't have it both ways. Can't criticise Toure then laud Pellegrini when he picks him in these games even though I stand by my comment that he was one of our better players tonight.

 

[ono]

If you want to interpret my post that way then sure, I do think Pellers has made a rod for his own back by seemingly making Yaya undroppable. There are plenty of games when Yaya will still be more of an asset than a liability - just the games when this isn't the case will hurt us I feel.

Fair argument for this specific match yes it may have been a struggle, I'd counter with did you see Yaya make any tackles? For me today Yaya & Dinho pushed so high in this formation with our slow build up & the space ahead not occupied that we actually ended up with just Fernando vs a couple of there guys numerous times with Dinho chasing back to help & Yaya staying up top - if we'd had a 2 of the guys mentioned the only difference I'd foresee is De Bruyne replacing Yaya as the guy not coming back to help.

The argument that Delph & Fernando aren't near the levels of Pogba or Marchisio is a separate one entirely for me, we should have 2 CM's of at least that quality - so if we don't then how do we expect to compete with teams that are significantly superior to Juve. (Yes it's obvious we need a CM in the summer).

I see where you are coming from, although personally, with the squad in its current shape, I can't justify giving Sterling a shirt of Toure. It's clear we are short in a few areas still, which is a shame because we have spent a lot of money strengthening areas which didn't really need it, at the expense of ignoring areas that clearly needed it. Centre midfield being the obvious one.

 

[stablemcfc]

I see where you are coming from, although personally, with the squad in its current shape, I can't justify giving Sterling a shirt of Toure. It's clear we are short in a few areas still, which is a shame because we have spent a lot of money strengthening areas which didn't really need it, at the expense of ignoring areas that clearly needed it. Centre midfield being the obvious one.

Fair enough, I prefer the unpredictability of Sterling though, whilst he can be very wasteful it's rare to see him not at worst causing defences a lot of problems. And in doing so would put KdB centrally & get him far more involved.

Do believe we probably pushed fairly hard for Pogba but he looks set on Barca (fair enough after watching them yesterday, know who I'd pick if I was neutral) - sounded like the only transfer target we missed out on, sadly probably in the area we most needed someone of quality coming into. Looks nailed on that we'll be out hunting in summer for that position.

 

[fatbloke]

I see where you are coming from, although personally, with the squad in its current shape, I can't justify giving Sterling a shirt of Toure. It's clear we are short in a few areas still, which is a shame because we have spent a lot of money strengthening areas which didn't really need it, at the expense of ignoring areas that clearly needed it. Centre midfield being the obvious one.

Central midfield being the "obvious" area that needed strengthening?

Yet you claim Yaya isn't the problem and in my opinion Fernandinho has been our best player this season.

So where is this "obvious" weakness? Because if its not Yaya and its not Fernandinho I confused.

And to say Yaya is more deserving of a shirt than Sterling, what are you basing that on exactly? Sterling gives us far more attacking options in terms of pace, width and goals. Defensively we have seen from the opening 5 games of the season he's more than capable of protecting his fullback and while he's not as aggressive or as brave as I'd like he still offers more than Yaya.

 

[ono]

Central midfield being the "obvious" area that needed strengthening?

Yet you claim Yaya isn't the problem and in my opinion Fernandinho has been our best player this season.

So where is this "obvious" weakness? Because if its not Yaya and its not Fernandinho I confused.

And to say Yaya is more deserving of a shirt than Sterling, what are you basing that on exactly? Sterling gives us far more attacking options in terms of pace, width and goals. Defensively we have seen from the opening 5 games of the season he's more than capable of protecting his fullback and while he's not as aggressive or as brave as I'd like he still offers more than Yaya.

It's perfectly simple, to get anywhere close to winning things at the very top we should be playing with a midfield 3. This season this should have consisted of Yaya, Fernandinho and an upgrade on Fernando or Delph.

Our obvious weakness was horribly exposed against Liverpool. Fernandinho needed a rest, so we went with a two. Only one of the two is comfortable taking the ball from the back and transitioning the play. As such, he was pressed and doubled teamed to the extent that Mangala, Demichellis and both full backs were repeatedly getting caught with the ball because they had no midfield option to utilise.

I'm basing my preference of using Yaya over Sterling on the fact that he is a much better player. He's scored over 30 league goals in the last two seasons despite missing a fair number of games. Sterling has been predominantly wasteful. Aside from Bournemouth at home and segments of the Sevilla game, I'm really struggling to see what you've seen from him which suggests his game changing ability totally over rides the need for us to use a 3 man midfield against Europe's finest.

 

[Trolleyhead]

Fernadinho misses a fucking sitter (set up by Toure) he has a blinder apparently.

Sterling couldn't hit a fucking 50 foot long wall from 5 yards away.

De bruyne is a shithouse at defending

Ottamendi has a mare

Fernando offers zero

Navas offers even less.

Who get the blame....Toure.

Sums up a lot of City fans for me I'm afraid. Add Sergio to the list who looked about as interested as a veggie in an abattoir - no criticism whatsoever, buts lets have a crack at Yaya instead, perplexing in the extreme.

 

[fatbloke]

It's perfectly simple, to get anywhere close to winning things at the very top we should be playing with a midfield 3. This season this should have consisted of Yaya, Fernandinho and an upgrade on Fernando or Delph.

Our obvious weakness was horribly exposed against Liverpool. Fernandinho needed a rest, so we went with a two. Only one of the two is comfortable taking the ball from the back and transitioning the play. As such, he was pressed and doubled teamed to the extent that Mangala, Demichellis and both full backs were repeatedly getting caught with the ball because they had no midfield option to utilise.

I'm basing my preference of using Yaya over Sterling on the fact that he is a much better player. He's scored over 30 league goals in the last two seasons despite missing a fair number of games. Sterling has been predominantly wasteful. Aside from Bournemouth at home and segments of the Sevilla game, I'm really struggling to see what you've seen from him which suggests his game changing ability totally over rides the need for us to use a 3 man midfield against Europe's finest.

I agree with the need for a midfield three, absolutely. However by accommodating Yaya as part of that three, you're forcing Silva (our best and most influential player when fit in my opinion) to play out of position as a wide forward.

The weakness against Liverpool was nothing more complex than a lack of work rate and fighting spirit. As I have said in another thread Liverpool won that game because we wanted to play but weren't prepared to battle for the right to play. Liverpool did the dirty work, they worked harder than we did off the ball, they were aggressive, they pressed high and made it difficult for us to play. We didn't and Yaya was the prime culprit, in terms of his lack of work rate and more importantly by his lack of leadership.

You say a much better player, in what respect? Other than Yaya's passing range, I genuinely don't know what else he contributes more than Sterling. You mention Yaya's 30 goals, yet Sterling has scored more this season even with the inclusion of penalties (of which Sterling has earned at least two to my knowledge).

 

[FantasyIreland]

I think the only way we're ever going to get the best out of our squad is if we hire a manager who recognises the fact that Yaya is more often a hindrance than a solution.The previous contribution from 'stable' is spot on,Yaya is accomodated at the expense and to the detriment of others,its been the case for some time now,but because our overall quality,and superiority in the majority of games,gets us over the line,the fact only gets highlighted when we play quality sides who expose this problem . We'd be a far better unit, with much better balance and cohesion, if he wasnt in the eleven.

 

[yayas trusty right foot]

Yaya played well last night, you could see that he was trying to drive the team forward but without help from his team mates it was always going to be a hard slog for him..

 

[shemnel]

i think ya ya played well; created a few chances for himself or team mates in a poor performance, only real threat attacking wise. i can see the viewpoint he didnt play well, but i dont really agree with it.

but ya ya was very far away from being the worst problem last night!