What Does Yaya Toure Actually Do?

[Wooders]

retweeted those bad boys - very funny indeed

[Pretty Boy Lee]

Very interesting article. Who would've thought that Big Sam is a football intellectual !

his twitter feed is a dead give away

@thebigsam
There's few things as sexy in this world as a very short girl with massive tits.

His tweets the other day on the Montreal Screwjob were hilarious. One of the best things on the internet

I thought of you when i read that the other day.

[Ted Hughes]

My favourite: 'Cujo has the raw ferocity of a Baboon, along with an adorably idiotic expression that makes you think he didn't mean it. Like Joey Barton.'

[freshie]

Fuck all so far this season - can't tackle or shoot - his passing is hit and miss

[Lee_R]

Fuck all so far this season - can't tackle or shoot - his passing is hit and miss

Maybe he needs to be 'rested' for a few games.

[Kladze]

Yaya scored the goal which took us to a cup final, then followed up by scoring the goal which won us that cup (our first trophy for several generations). That should give him legendary status.

There is no way he should be the subject of a CONTINUING thread criticising him.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

Fuck all so far this season - can't tackle or shoot - his passing is hit and miss

99 successful passes from 108 against Fulham would suggest he's a tad better than hit and miss.

( if you were fishing with that post then congrats you've caught a live one )

[stommy]

Yaya is the engine in the midfield, class player, indispensable for us, but there is one little thing, he's getting tired and looses concentration after 70mins

[Wooders]

Have to agree his fitness seems to be his biggest issue

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Have to agree his fitness seems to be his biggest issue

Don't agree.If his fitness was a problem Mancini surely wouldnt pick him for every game and pretty well keep him on the pitch for the full game most times as well.Or is Mancini wrong?

Unless you are referring to mental tiredness but even then, is Mancini missing this? All I see with Yaya is a quality player who occasionally gives the impression of having nothing left after one of his surges but then moments later will be fully at it again. His immediate recovery when doing this can be non existent but he leaves the team to cover him.Other times his lack of a sprint start makes him look knackered but I think it's just that he isn't great over 5 yards or so.

[Ted Hughes]

Have to agree his fitness seems to be his biggest issue

Don't agree.If his fitness was a problem Mancini surely wouldnt pick him for every game and pretty well keep him on the pitch for the full game most times as well.Or is Mancini wrong?

Unless you are referring to mental tiredness but even then, is Mancini missing this? All I see with Yaya is a quality player who occasionally gives the impression of having nothing left after one of his surges but then moments later will be fully at it again. His immediate recovery when doing this can be non existent but he leaves the team to cover him.Other times his lack of a sprint start makes him look knackered but I think it's just that he isn't great over 5 yards or so.

I've just watched him in detail yesterday v Fulham & he's either unfit, can't be arsed or has no peripheral vision as he's right there in the thick of our midfield jogging around whilst Fulham players run past him with or without the ball, taking up dangerous positions goal side of him, or behind him in a clear goalscoring position, waitiung for a pass which he is failing to position himself to stop; just jogging in little circles using the absolute minimum of effort. You could give him a chair to sit on & our defending wouldn't suffer as he's contribututing nothing. This isn't after a sprint, it's after a ten minute half arsed jogging session. Barry in contrast is constantly covering gaps, cutting off angles, picking up runners. Yaya isn't.

He's good at passing imo, strong, intelligent, skillful, good at intercepting the ball if it's close by him & bloody useless as a defensive mid in a 2 man system. That's why Bob doidn't play him as one last season. My prediction: we can get away with him v some lesser teams & if our attack plays brilliantly but if we play him as one of two v Utd, unless Dzeko & Aguero score a bucketfull, we'll get truly fucking thrashed because they will run straight through us.

[Kladze]

It was around about this time last season that he first came in for some criticism, then he started to pick up.

Hangover from Ramadan?

[Ted Hughes]

It was around about this time last season that he first came in for some criticism, then he started to pick up.

Hangover from Ramadan?

It's when he has to play a too many games; he's not fit enough to keep playing to the same levels, everyone starts to notice & then Bob starts talking about us being tired. He improved after we got knocked out of Europe by Dynamo, where he looked like Vieira's grandad.

[Foreverinbluedreams]

I tend to agree Ted, the defensive side of his game leaves a lot to be desired. However what he brings to our midfield is invaluable, he is almost impossible to dispossess, he is unstoppable on them surging runs, and his passing and vision in general is better than any of our other "holding midfielders".

In fact out of the four players we have in that position you can take characteristics from each to make the perfect midfielder. Yaya's possession and passing game, De Jong's tackling ability, Barry's brain and Milner's energy.

[Ted Hughes]

I tend to agree Ted, the defensive side of his game leaves a lot to be desired. However what he brings to our midfield is invaluable, he is almost impossible to dispossess, he is unstoppable on them surging runs, and his passing and vision in general is better than any of our other "holding midfielders".

In fact out of the four players we have in that position you can take characteristics from each to make the perfect midfielder. Yaya's possession and passing game, De Jong's tackling ability, Barry's brain and Milner's energy.

Add Dzeko's heading ability, Aguero's finishing & Clichy's pace & you'd almost have Colin Bell.

That's what we need; a true world class great allround player (or two) in midfield. I love DeJong, Barry & Toure but they are bits of players who do specific jobs, albeit very very well. If we could find two young superstars (Bell & Roy K***ne/ young Vieira types) we would win every single game we played against anyone. It's time a couple came along as nobody of that calibre has appeared since dirty Roy & Vieira became past it. Athletes with supreme talent. Hargreaves was actually the nearest thing to RK.

[Hazy2]

I tend to agree Ted, the defensive side of his game leaves a lot to be desired. However what he brings to our midfield is invaluable, he is almost impossible to dispossess, he is unstoppable on them surging runs, and his passing and vision in general is better than any of our other "holding midfielders".

In fact out of the four players we have in that position you can take characteristics from each to make the perfect midfielder. Yaya's possession and passing game, De Jong's tackling ability, Barry's brain and Milner's energy.

Add Dzeko's heading ability, Aguero's finishing & Clichy's pace & you'd almost have Colin Bell.

That's what we need; a true world class great allround player (or two) in midfield. I love DeJong, Barry & Toure but they are bits of players who do specific jobs, albeit very very well. If we could find two young superstars (Bell & Roy K***ne/ young Vieira types) we would win every single game we played against anyone. It's time a couple came along as nobody of that calibre has appeared since dirty Roy & Vieira became past it. Athletes with supreme talent. Hargreaves was actually the nearest thing to RK.

Roy Keane was nothing more than a cunt.

[Bridge'srightfoot]

Honestly, in one on one situations he's as good as anyone. Never seen a player so powerful when running with the ball.
However I disagree that he is a a defensive midfielder. All his good work is going forwards, so play him and De Jong.

[Burt]

HIt the nail on the head Hazy2.

Keane is an utter cunt. No two ways about it. Look at the assault on Alfie.

A fuclin COWARD of the highest degree and I fuclin hate it when Blues big him up.

I'd luv him to be in with Alfie in a locked room for ten minutes.

There. I've said it!

[FA cup winners 2006]

hopefully when de jong is back fit, yaya will be moved further up the field like last season for some games and rotated for others. yaya offers very little defensively and actually looks uninterested if he has to do anything to help out when we don't have the ball.

yaya, tevez, agureo, silva, nasri & johnson should be competing for the 3 spots behind the striker, some games will require yaya to be dropped, some times it will be nasri or barry

[freshie]

99 successful passes from 108 against Fulham would suggest he's a tad better than hit and miss.

( if you were fishing with that post then congrats you've caught a live one )

No I wasn't fishing. He has been poor in most of the games he has played this season. Whether that is down to a lack of form or not being played in his best position I am not sure. One thing I am certain of, however, is that if Milner or De Jong are fit he currently does not deserve his place in the team.

With regard to the passing stats you have pulled up, I am afraid they do not tell the whole story. Most of the time he receives the ball with his back to goal and then proceeds to pass either square or backwards (not exactly difficult to do) because he has the turning circle of an oil tanker, which slows our play down.