Yaya

[Manchester_lalala]

Accommodating a player like Yaya will always unbalance a team, we've put up with it for years because our ambition was simply to win the league.

We were so good individually, the team didn't really matter in domestic competition but we were exploited in the Champions League. To progress in Europe you need to have a balanced team, a group of talented individuals isn't good enough. Leicester are now proving how big an impact having a team who work hard for each other and fight for each other can actually get you, if we can combine that teamwork with the individual talent we have we will be unstoppable in domestic and European competitions.

That's why I think we need to move on and do what is best for the team, even if that means we lose an amazing individual talent.

Definitely need to move on in the summer.

 

[george22]

A midfield of Fernandinho, Fernando and Delph wouldn't frighten anyone.

It's not their fault, Fernandinho has done a good job for us but none are a patch on Yaya.

The signings we have made over the last two seasons have all been about scoring goals and trying to keep them out, something that we have always been pretty good at.

Sterling, De Bruyne, Bony - £130m plus. Mangala and Otta another £70m. Getting next to nothing in transfer fees for Jovetic and Dzeko.

That's lot of cash that perhaps could have been better spent getting a left back who knows what he is doing, someone creative to take the burden off Silva and a midfielder to bed in and be ready to replace Toure when the inevitable was going to happen. Poor judgement from the top.

Furthermore it seems like the past assessments at years end were based solely on an upgrade of talent. For me and my hindsight Im not sure how much was talent upgrade or getting everything out of the talent we had.
It's ironic to me that Mancinis aggressive nature was reflected on the defensive end of the pitch
And now Pellegrinis' "holistic" approach
and "expansive attractive football" theories
started well but have slowly deteriorated.
This team at heart is the skeleton of what's left of Mancinis point of view.
And Yaya is the soul of that.
It has been privilege to watch him play
I support him and don't pretend to know more than Pep but it seems his time is up
Thank you for your service

 

[ono]

De Bruyne takes the burden off Silva.

Even if Ferns and Delph does not frighten anyone it has the advantage of being solid and capable of going box to box. And De Bruyne, Aguero, Sterling would frighten defences.

We should not be limping along now with the same core of players. We should have moved on.

I wonder if Pellegrini has known for a long time that he was on his way at the end of the season and decided to play safe and stick with his team rather than change it.

I don't think there's much for Guardiola to do. We just need to replace Toure, but it would have to be a quality addition.

Maybe, but what if KDB or Sterling have one of their fairly frequent off-days? You're losing a match winner and replacing him with an energetic but fairly mediocre player.

When you lose 'ability' in the middle in favour of 'solidarity and energy' it hinders the other technical players in the team because firstly, they have nobody to help them control the game through possession, and secondly teams can easily double up on them knowing they don't really have to focus on Fernando, Fernandinho or Delph because neither will hurt you with the ball.

 

[evianglass]

Does anyone ever check that Yaya is wearing his own boots?

My husband and I always think he walks and runs like he's put Silva's boots on by mistake. Watch him walking back down the tunnel after he's been subbed. As a woman who has on occasion jammed her feet into a 3 and a half in order to boast smaller feet than her sisters (women, eh? I blame the whole Cinderella story), I recognize that walk.

And then... Someone walks down the tunnel after Yaya with a pair of boots half hidden under some coats! Is there a saboteur in the stadium?

that's funny!!! but what people conveniently forget is that Yaya has been playing hurt since November... he will not come out and say it because the most likely answer will be "if you are fit enough to play (add your cliché here)"

 

[crmcfc]

Say what you want about Yaya but we still look miles better with him in the team than without, a bit of an inconvenient truth for us at the moment.

 

[Saddleworth2]

Say what you want about Yaya but we still look miles better with him in the team than without, a bit of an inconvenient truth for us at the moment.

That is so true. Our link between defence and attack is nowhere near as effective without him. I don't think he is quite done yet. He made a big effort on Saturday to track back! Mind you, he was knackered for 5 minutes after he had done it. What I do think, is that Pep will be very thoughtful about his role . Yaya has a unique set of skills so he will not be discarded without very careful consideration.

 

[Sir peace frog]

pep always has a passer playing deep midfield, busquet at barca and Alonso at Bayern, yaya would fit that role perfectly with a couple of high energy skilful midfielders.saw a stat on Alonso ,he touched the ball in a game on average every 26 seconds and passed the ball more often than the whole team Bayern were playing,yaya is the man to do that sort of job.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

Say what you want about Yaya but we still look miles better with him in the team than without, a bit of an inconvenient truth for us at the moment.

Correct. Nobody in our entire squad is brave enough or good enough to take responsibility for the possession when Yaya doesn't play. Without Yaya we are just a collection of players with no gameplan who can't pass well enough and we have no link from defence to attack.

When Yaya does play the players always want to pass to him and some even stand and watch him to see what he does rather than move for him. Our gameplan is pretty much Yaya.

 

[MasterOfKnees]

pep always has a passer playing deep midfield, busquet at barca and Alonso at Bayern, yaya would fit that role perfectly with a couple of high energy skilful midfielders.saw a stat on Alonso ,he touched the ball in a game on average every 26 seconds and passed the ball more often than the whole team Bayern were playing,yaya is the man to do that sort of job.

It's really a question of whether Yaya is disciplined enough to hold his position as a defensive midfielder, his positioning is questionable to begin with and I'm not sure he wants to be a more defensive-minded player than he currently is. I'd absolutely love to see it work, but I have a hard time seeing it happen.

 

[Sir peace frog]

It's really a question of whether Yaya is disciplined enough to hold his position as a defensive midfielder, his positioning is questionable to begin with and I'm not sure he wants to be a more defensive-minded player than he currently is. I'd absolutely love to see it work, but I have a hard time seeing it happen.

I think he would be perfect for the role,but I agree about his defensive discipline , i certainly would like to see him/pep give it a go.

theres been a bit of talk about midfielders we have bought or strongly linked with pogba and gungadin :) with yaya behind them would be brilliant imo