Yaya

[bluetev]

Having Yaya in the team makes it absolutely impossible to press as a team, he's not physically or mentally capable. Hence why we get systematically beaten by every half decent team who is prepared to have a go at us. We're simply to easy to play against with him in a two.

The options are either drop the pressing style, which then means your opponents are allowed to dominate possession if they want or play Yaya in a three, which then means you have to drop Silva or play him out of position wide left. Both stupid ideas fundamentally.

The nearest equivalent is Pirlo or Xavi in their declining years, and no sane manager would play either in a midfield two for the reasons you pointed out. They were crucial players for their teams and so could yaya given the right tactics.

A sensible option would be to play Yaya +1 against weaker, non-pressing teams like Villa or when chasing games, and play Yaya + 2 (two out of Fernando, fernandinho, Delph, garcia) against top notch teams

That would require a degree of tactical flexibility and pragmatism, analysis of opponents, and willingness to play youth or non-star players when the situation demands, rather than just sticking in the 11 most expensive players you have on the field.

 

[I'm no cynic but...]

It will be interesting to see how Pep handles the Yaya situation this summer. Difficult to replace, we know, especially when on his game, but at his age it is his mental ability that sees him through rather than the physical side of the game. Pep has already sold him once and has proved himself to be the game's most sought after coach so he's hardly likely to look back on the sale of Yaya as being a mistake. There is another thing to look at, one which could affect other players too, and that is background influence. Any manager worth his money will want his players totally on board with his decisions and anyone who shows the slightest bit of dissent will be out. I don't know how Pep and Yaya got on together at Barca, but Yaya's beliefs that he will likely be off won't give his staunchest backers every bit of confidence.

 

[BigOscar]

I don't think he'll be hard to replace at all. Maybe the Yaya of 3 or 4 years ago would be hard to replace, but the current Yaya is very replaceable. The combination of the ability to control the game with passing and the ability to break powerfully from deep is rare, but Yaya has barely done one of those runs all season. There are plenty of players who can control the game, while offering a lot more than Yaya does without the ball, we just bafflingly haven't bothered signing any in the past 5 years so have been entirely reliant on Yaya doing that job for us with no alternative.

 

[OB1]

Or play Fernandinho on the right where he looked great against Liverpool and Kiev, and then play Yaya, Silva and Fernando centrally. And of you wanted to go down your road, on recent form, dropping Silva would be more sensible than dropping Yaya.

It tends not to be a popular opinion but Yaya is the one that we should currently be accommodating if there is not room for both. TBF, Dave did get two useful assists yesterday but Yaya knits the team together and his relative form is better at this point. However, we need them both to step up in the remainder of the season if we are to move up the table and progress further in Europe.

 

[OB1]

I don't think he'll be hard to replace at all. Maybe the Yaya of 3 or 4 years ago would be hard to replace, but the current Yaya is very replaceable. The combination of the ability to control the game with passing and the ability to break powerfully from deep is rare, but Yaya has barely done one of those runs all season. There are plenty of players who can control the game, while offering a lot more than Yaya does without the ball, we just bafflingly haven't bothered signing any in the past 5 years so have been entirely reliant on Yaya doing that job for us with no alternative.

Whoever stays or goes, we have to overhaul the midfield and it will be very interesting to see first hand how the new players compare to Yaya at his finest and in decline: if we don't get Pogba, we might get a bit of a nasty shock on one for one basis; team wise, I expect Pep's system to conquer all.

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

It tends not to be a popular opinion but Yaya is the one that we should currently be accommodating if there is not room for both. TBF, Dave did get two useful assists yesterday but Yaya knits the team together and his relative form is better at this point. However, we need them both to step up in the remainder of the season if we are to move up the table and progress further in Europe.

The two games in 3 days against Liverpool were all the evidence you'll ever need for this. In the first, Ya Ya played, acted as the fulcrum for everything good we did and generally lent us a physical presence that the dippers couldn't ruffle, and in the second he didn't and we looked like an Under 9's team up against their dads, pushed over and bullied out of possession again and again and again. Ya Ya and the two Ferns need to start every game from here on in, and if Merlin has to occasionally be the fall guy then so be it

 

[ono]

I used to subscribe to that view. "he just needed to get his head right, and work had in pre-season" but for whatever reason he has declined. Quality on the ball remains, but the physical phenomena that was impossible to stop has gone

Yeah he has lost a yard of pace, he no longer had the ability to win the apparent 50-50 sprints like he could a few years ago.

I do also think that without Nasri and with Silva being out at times, we channel too much through him and as a result he is easy to double up, which obviously increases the risk of him having the ball taken from him.

 

[ojeme]

Yeah he has lost a yard of pace, he no longer had the ability to win the apparent 50-50 sprints like he could a few years ago.

I do also think that without Nasri and with Silva being out at times, we channel too much through him and as a result he is easy to double up, which obviously increases the risk of him having the ball taken from him.

True and if I may add a thought, the argument has not really been whether or not Yaya's game has seen some decline but whether the alternatives have stepped up to the plate

 

[ono]

True and if I may add a thought, the argument has not really been whether or not Yaya's game has seen some decline but whether the alternatives have stepped up to the plate

They haven't but I don't know if that's their fault. They just don't have the same ability.

 

[malg]

It tends not to be a popular opinion but Yaya is the one that we should currently be accommodating if there is not room for both. TBF, Dave did get two useful assists yesterday but Yaya knits the team together and his relative form is better at this point. However, we need them both to step up in the remainder of the season if we are to move up the table and progress further in Europe.

If it's one or the other, then we need Yaya.