Ahh, come on now... I think there's more overlap between Kroos & Yaya than most here would admit (on either side of the argument), but I think we're getting carried away if we start attributing "always makes himself available for the ball" as one of Yaya's strong suits.
No no, I don't think he hides from the ball. He is permanently open. Kinda like Yaya used to be a few years ago. I agree with how we'd look and play with the ball. Germany is a good example. I'm saying without the ball, he is... How do I put it? Not as into it :)I beg to differ, he never hides and always makes himself available for the ball, his link up play with Silva/KDB/Aguero/Gudogan to name a few would be the best football you'd ever seen in City shirts, I have no doubt in saying that.
Wow. Someone should tell Low that Kroos wasn't playing as a number 10 because here on the official teamsheet he's submitted to UEFA, he's got him down as a 10 in a 4231.
You could say Pirlo is in the same mould as Kroos, both of their range of passing and vision are second to none. Yaya is a different animal as he's well known for his power, strength and lung busting runs which unfortunately are few and far between now.I recon Juve got quite a few years out of Pirlo past his 'pomp' & imo he was also way better than Kroos.
Arhh! 'Check the heat map' you show me team sheet. Talk about red herrings. :(
You could say Pirlo is in the same mould as Kroos, both of their range of passing and vision are second to none. Yaya is a different animal as he's well known for his power, strength and lung busting runs which unfortunately are few and far between now.
He's not in the same league as Pirlo or Kroos to sit, dictate possession and pace of the game.
I would say it is.
I imagine yaya has more passes than any other city player in 90%+ of all games he plays in and that's because everything does go through him - hence the entire teams performance has so often hinged on his own for the last few years.
That's exactly what I mean about him dictating the possession and pace of our play, how many times did we see it last season where we had possession of the ball and we "slowed" the play down to nigh on walking pace through Yaya side to side, back, middle, side to side?My two cents: I think a motivated & fit Yaya could in theory do what we're asking Kroos to do, but I have no idea how we could ever know that we're getting that Yaya. I'm not particularly worried about the ground Yaya would have to cover under Pep, and I'm likewise not terribly bothered by the lack of ground Kroos covers. It's more the urgency Kroos has (and that Yaya doesn't these days)... when Kroos gets the ball, he immediately has his head high and looks for the most advanced safe harbor up the pitch. That process happens very quickly. Doesn't matter if Kroos isn't quick in a foot race, the ball is quick up the pitch when it goes through him. I think Yaya has those passes and that ability in his locker, but I don't see him making himself constantly available, and I feel like our play occasionally slows when he gets it (compared to Kroos). If the ball went from backline, through Yaya, to an attacking midfielder in only a few seconds, with regularity, then sure... I'd hear the case. Just doesn't feel like that's always his natural tempo.