Stuart Brennan on TLMLF..

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-citys-yaya-toure-facing-9061152

I agree in part, with some of his comments, BUT:

It will be a terrible shame if that happens, and the Ivorian leaves the club under a cloud, as he has been the driving force behind the Blues’ success in the last four years.

From day one, Toure has had his critics – he has been dismissed as lazy, as lacking interest in the more meaningless games.

And in big games, notably in Europe, the fact that his defensive instincts do not match his attacking bent – which cute opponents have stifled anyway – has restricted his effectiveness.

It is a dilemma for Pellegrini, and the best solution would be to sit with Yaya and try to extract one last effort out of him – that would consolidate his legacy as a City great, and pave the way for an amicable parting of the ways in the summer.

...................................

City great? He'll never be a City 'great' in my eyes. City great's like Summerbee, Bell, Lee, Tuart, Goater, Rosler, Silva, Aguero to name a few....have never, ever spoke with anger or disrespect of the club the way he has on more than one occasion....and all as the clubs highest paid player in our history!

He'll be a City great in the same way Rodney Marsh is.  Okay on his day, but otherwise a right liability.

But more fondly remembered than Ben Thatcher or Danny Mills, I suspect.

I've never thought of any city great as a cunt

Paulpowersleftfoot wrote:I've never thought of any city great as a cunt

Does make you wonder where a respected Manchester journalist like Brennan gets this picture from?

I honestly don't know of ANY City fan I personally know, who thinks he's nothing short of a twat, that was great for 2 seasons for us, but spoiled it all with his comments last summer and his effort and attitude this season.

I know I've always said I don't like him, and especially his attitude after last summer...but I look at it like this;

Carlos Tevez was a twat for what he did against Munich. He was a twat for basically going on strike in Argentina. However, where the two differ, is that for all his annoyance - and remember how much he got fined over his stance (something TLMLF and his agent would never do, as it involves money), when he came back into the fold, he gave nothing short of 100% every single time he played in a City shirt and was instrumental that final season.


So TLMLF...."thanks for last season, but do me a favour, score 2 goals a game until the end of the season, and then fuck off in the summer"

Spot on Blue, detest the bloke for his complete lack of interest.
As I've said in the past, we've had worse players, technically, before we got the investment, but most of them gave everything they had when they got on the pitch. And I would prefer a player like that any day of the week.

Completely agree, TBW. I want to see players play like it matters, no matter how poor they are. TLF is the complete opposite of what I want to see.

And Franny Lee pissed on his playing legacy when he bought the club, cos all he gave us was relegation, that stupid restaurant with seats up the wall to replace the old Kippax and Alan fucking Ball. But that's another story...

On his day, he was a great. That days gone now though, he's 32 and a big bloke.

I do think one of the few things lazier than Toure nowadays is some of the criticism he gets though, at least for on pitch activities. He deserves all he gets for off field.

Really? I don't think the criticism he's received this season has been unfair, whatsoever. Considering he's the 3rd highest paid player in the PL and no doubt in the top 10 best paid players in world football, his performances haven't been anywhere near a level that warrants that money.

Guess the Manager thinks the same:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3044052/Yaya-Toure-not-happy-performance-neither-says-Manuel-Pellegrini.html

There's a been a few games where I just don't think he stood a chance with it being 3v2 and the age he is now.

I would have used him a lot less than Pellegrini has this season, or had another midfielder in there when he did.

He's looked poor but the system has contributed a lot to it is my point.

I understand that and you are correct with regards to the system...but IF he was to have at least looked like he wanted to track back, follow the run of an opposition player, but couldn't because his legs would give in...then fair enough.

For a player of his calibre and the money he is on, it's the very least that's expected.

He's always been languid...which contributes to him looking lazy, but it's been there for all to see this season on so many occasions - he just hasn't bothered to do his defensive duties that any 'decent' professional would do as a minimum contribution.

His attacking play and shooting has been awful for most games as well.

I agree, if MP would have dropped him more during the season, we may have had more effort from him...but you expect your highest paid player to be giving 100% every single game - and he simply hasn't, regardless of formations.

Yeah that's fair enough.

If you take away his free kicks and penalties from last season, how many goals did he actually score? He made the difference is some games with his dead ball specials and the odd wonder strike from outside the area. But he also seemed to want it much much more.

Maybe he's tired or just being lazy. But the manager has to take some responsibility for not resting him more and for keeping him as a DM when maybe he should just be used as an AM.

I was thinking about this earlier, Negredo made a big difference as he pressed so well from the front. It allowed Toure behind to be have to deal with an overload in a lot of games.

Not have to deal that should have said!

I think that's the key when it comes to formations.

We even said it last season on a few occasions..."why does he persist with him in a CDMF role?"

However, this season, the Manager has just gone through the motions and tactically, he's been lazier than TLMLF has on the pitch.

For once, it would be great to see him playing just behind Aguero with Silva. Yes, that negates the lung-busting runs of last season, but he's still strong enough to have a quick burst of pace and get past a defender into the box. His hold up play is generally very good, so that would help Aguero as well with Bony being out.

Silva can then float across the final third looking for those spaces and join in the attack with both of them. This would mean ensuring the 3 behind play in a way that ensures security, with one only attacking at a time, the other two holding....which is pretty much like a 4-4-2 that the manager favours.

It may even mean sacrificing natural width with Navas, drawing the full backs in field which may give more space for Clichy/Kolorov and Zaba to get down the flanks and in behind their defence.

But that's all dependant on the Manager being flexible....which he's not.

4-3-2-1

I think I mentioned that yesterday. It's worth a shout.