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YAYA TOURE – BEWARE THE REJUVENATED BEAST
YAYA TOURE – BEWARE THE REJUVENATED BEAST
Made to look even more impressive by their rivals ineptitude, Manchester City have started the season impeccably, and they’re already being tipped for title success.
City have been revitalised by a summer of stability, with only a Raheem Sterling and Nicolas Otamendi substantial acquisitions.
West Brom were no match for the City juggernaut, but the emphatic nature of their victory over Chelsea signalled their intentions, with some familiar faces earning the early plaudits.
The effervescent David Silva orchestrated the whole thing, Sterling gave the normally unflappable Branislav Ivanovic a torrid afternoon, Sergio Aguero was back to his unplayable best and even Aleksandar Kolarov won praise for the maundering runs down the left.
But what Gary Neville and other analysts sidestepped when waxing lyrical about City’s left-wing combination, Samir Nasri stretching the play on the opposite flank and even Eliaqium Mangala showing previously unseen assurance at the heart of the City defence, was the resurgence of a player who looked to have his best days behind him.
“Every man and every living creature has a sacred right to the gladness of springtime,” Leo Tolstoy once proclaimed, and Yaya Toure looked like his day had come and gone.
One of the Premier League’s top earners, the imposing Ivorian seemed set for a final pay day in Qatar or Saudi Arabia, or to link up with Roberto Mancini once again at Inter Milan in the summer.
After City meekly surrendered their Premier League title crown last season, and Financial Fair Play regulations set to tighten, City’s ageing squad appeared in need of a major overhaul, with Toure one of the few who could still command a substantial fee.
Toure looked a shadow of the player he was, and his brother’s death from cancer at just 28 hit him hard, and he blamed the club for making the experience all the more difficult.
“Club officials knew very well that I was suffering for a few months as the health of my brother declined,” Toure exclaimed before the start of last season.
“This is the reason I had several injuries at the end of the season, because my head had taken control of my body. These last four months have probably been the hardest in my life.”
Toure’s suffering was affecting his game, and forgetting the suffering that he was enduring while simultaneously trying to spearhead City’s title defence, widespread criticism was forthcoming, with many feeling Toure was finished in the English top flight.
“Sometimes people criticise you unfairly. Sometimes people need to understand we are human beings. Things can go wrong. It’s part of the game,” Toure perfectly summarised recently. Why do we always forget this?
It was too easy to write off the game’s top stars. Supposedly past his ‘peak’, Toure should be on the decline at 32, and he will certainly have to adapt his game, unable to replicate that omnipotent threat of old.
However, more intelligent than he is given credit for, and while showing glimpses of his blockbustering best, Toure has acted as the perfect foil for those more creative City stars to do their thing.
With this new look stretched City set up, Yaya has more space in which to operate, and much like Patrick Vieira did in the twilight of his career, he simply uses his experience to overpower mere mortals.
Cesc Fabregas and the supposed ultimate anchoring midfielder Nemanja Matic looked like deer marooned in front of an Ivorian freight train. They had no answer to the power, and are probably still seeing stars now.
“With Yaya, I think we will see the return of the Yaya of one season ago, not last season when he had so many problems.” Manuel Pellegrini never lost faith, and knows that Yaya still has a key role to play.
Footballers are human, despite their riches. I for one thought Yaya Toure had had his day, and the time was right to sell, and how we all laughed at the supposed blundering Pellegrini for showing such loyalty to an out of form top earner.
We are only in the embryonic stages of the new campaign, but the early signs are all pointing to City mounting a more sustained title tilt, and while we eulogise over the likes of Silva’s incredible vision, or Aguero’s endless attacking prowess, Yaya Toure will be happy working in the shadows, exploiting this new found space, and showing us that this rejuvenated giant isn’t done yet.
