Yaya Toure v Colin Bell

[bayblue]

It's impossible to say. The standard of fitness and skill these days is way ahead of the late 60s and 70s; if anyone has doubt about this just read the autobiographies of the players of the time.

Colin Bell was outstanding and for me until 3 years ago easily the best player I ever saw wearing our colours. He was cruelly limited by injury but his presence was such that on the day of his comeback bs Newcastle on Boxing Day he came on as sub at half time with the score nil nil, and in reality despite being able to contribute much we won 4-0. Before his injury he was immense, strong in the tackle, effortless in his movement and a great goal scorer. I don't think he ever got the international recognition he deserved, and is sometimes unfairly remembered for being the sub for Bobby Charlton in the Germany game in Mexico that allegedly turned the game.

Yaya is a freak of a different sort. You can see he scares lesser players and I love his unique combination of power and delicate skill. The contribution to the team is fantastic and it's amazing how many critical contributions he makes.

As someone else says I'd have them both. In fact there is something in the way Fernandinho moves effortlessly around the park that reminds me of Colin The King. Hopefully a good omen for us this year.

[dikdok]

Colin Bell.

And yes.

[Rag_hater]

Yaya 4 me.

[Evenmydoghatesunited]

That's fair enough. I couldn't possibly because I've only seen footage.

What is it with young twats? Yes you little trainee prick. I was going in the 60s. Now go get a girlfriend or do your homework or something

[Goataldo]

Yaya 4 me.

Couldn't help but read that as if you'd scratched it on a school desk with a pair of compasses.

[Rag_hater]

Yaya 4 me.

Couldn't help but read that as if you'd scratched it on a school desk with a pair of compasses.

Sorry a little thing like that hurt your eyes so much

[Mikhail Chigorin]

It's impossible to say. The standard of fitness and skill these days is way ahead of the late 60s and 70s; if anyone has doubt about this just read the autobiographies of the players of the time.

Colin Bell was outstanding and for me until 3 years ago easily the best player I ever saw wearing our colours. He was cruelly limited by injury but his presence was such that on the day of his comeback bs Newcastle on Boxing Day he came on as sub at half time with the score nil nil, and in reality despite being able to contribute much we won 4-0. Before his injury he was immense, strong in the tackle, effortless in his movement and a great goal scorer. I don't think he ever got the international recognition he deserved, and is sometimes unfairly remembered for being the sub for Bobby Charlton in the Germany game in Mexico that allegedly turned the game.

Yaya is a freak of a different sort. You can see he scares lesser players and I love his unique combination of power and delicate skill. The contribution to the team is fantastic and it's amazing how many critical contributions he makes.

As someone else says I'd have them both. In fact there is something in the way Fernandinho moves effortlessly around the park that reminds me of Colin The King. Hopefully a good omen for us this year.

And the ovation he received when he came on was absolutely unbelievable.

Some grown men even had tears in their eyes.

[Goataldo]

Yaya 4 me.

Couldn't help but read that as if you'd scratched it on a school desk with a pair of compasses.

Sorry a little thing like that hurt your eyes so much

Easy mate! No offence; not having a dig. It was a small piece of observational comedy. A throwaway comment, if you will, let's not make a scene.

[Rag_hater]

Yaya 4 me.

Couldn't help but read that as if you'd scratched it on a school desk with a pair of compasses.

Sorry a little thing like that hurt your eyes so much

Easy mate! No offence; not having a dig. It was a small piece of observational comedy. A throwaway comment, if you will, let's not make a scene.

Sorry kid.

[Goataldo]

Yaya 4 me.

Couldn't help but read that as if you'd scratched it on a school desk with a pair of compasses.

Sorry a little thing like that hurt your eyes so much

Easy mate! No offence; not having a dig. It was a small piece of observational comedy. A throwaway comment, if you will, let's not make a scene.

Sorry kid.

No worries, I should have thrown in an apostrophe, but I've been holding them back of late...

On topic: I'm way too young to have seen The King other than in old footage,but given the esteem my dad holds him in, I think I'd have heard by now if anyone was fit to take Colin's mantle.

[Dronny]

Heresy I say, heresy! The King for me but I've got my old blue tinted specs on, having said that this season Yaya has been immense. The difference though is the King was immense every season

[Goataldo]

Heresy I say, heresy! The King for me but I've got my old blue tinted specs on, having said that this season Yaya has been immense. The difference though is the King was immense every season

You say that, but what did Colin Bell actually do?

[Ted Hughes]

In fact there is something in the way Fernandinho moves effortlessly around the park that reminds me of Colin The King. Hopefully a good omen for us this year.

THIS!!

The nearest player we have to Colin Bell is not Yaya, it's Fernandinho. He is Colin bell 'lite'. Nowhere near, but the same idea.

Yaya is what he is; great at some things, not always so good at others. Fernandinho tends to be pretty good at everything, but not as dynamic as Yaya & mostly content to do his job & let others have the limelight. But he does loads of good shit, all over the place. This is what Colin Bell did, but he did it much much better.

Colin Bell was someone who 'did his job'. He wasn't Gerrard or Beckham or Lampard, all trying to impress the media for England; when they hit yet another Hollywood pass straight to the oppo he would have ran back & done the unseen dirty work to minimise the danger, like Gareth Barry.

He wouldn't demand the ball off Silva or Nasri, he would just take it off Rooney or Suarez, nip past a Ramierez or Arteta or Carrick as if they weren't there & give it to Silva or Nasri then watch & wait.

Then when the bus was parked, Silva puts a hopeful ball into the box, he would suddenly appear, jumping with his arse as high as Yaya Toure's head, & bury the ball in the back of the net, or someone would hit a speculative ball over the top, & he'd do 50 yards in about 4,5 seconds, control it with half a touch & actually slow down to slot it past the keeper, or he'd just smack it in the top corner from 35 yards, or hit a volley from 45 degrees, or appear at the near/far post sliding in to stick a poacher's goal over the line.

Did I mention he is probably the best, or equal best tackler I have ever seen ? Oh, & as good as anyone at passing the ball ?

So to recap: Yaya better at; heading, no, pace, no, tackling, no, passing, no, shooting, no, dribbling, no, stamina NO, picking a pass, no, running off the ball, no, reading the game, no, volleying, no, goal poaching, no, anything else related to football, no bigger: yes.

[Goataldo]

In fact there is something in the way Fernandinho moves effortlessly around the park that reminds me of Colin The King. Hopefully a good omen for us this year.

THIS!!

The nearest player we have to Colin Bell is not Yaya, it's Fernandinho. He is Colin bell 'lite'. Nowhere near, but the same idea.

Yaya is what he is; great at some things, not always so good at others. Fernandinho tends to be pretty good at everything, but not as dynamic as Yaya & mostly content to do his job & let others have the limelight. But he does loads of good shit, all over the place. This is what Colin Bell did, but he did it much much better.

Colin Bell was someone who 'did his job'. He wasn't Gerrard or Beckham or Lampard, all trying to impress the media for England; when they hit yet another Hollywood pass straight to the oppo he would have ran back & done the unseen dirty work to minimise the danger, like Gareth Barry.

He wouldn't demand the ball off Silva or Nasri, he would just take it off Rooney or Suarez, nip past a Ramierez or Arteta or Carrick as if they weren't there & give it to Silva or Nasri then watch & wait.

Then when the bus was parked, Silva puts a hopeful ball into the box, he would suddenly appear, jumping with his arse as high as Yaya Toure's head, & bury the ball in the back of the net, or someone would hit a speculative ball over the top, & he'd do 50 yards in about 4,5 seconds, control it with half a touch & actually slow down to slot it past the keeper, or he'd just smack it in the top corner from 35 yards, or hit a volley from 45 degrees, or appear at the near/far post sliding in to stick a poacher's goal over the line.

Did I mention he is probably the best, or equal best tackler I have ever seen ? Oh, & as good as anyone at passing the ball ?

So to recap: Yaya better at; heading, no, pace, no, tackling, no, passing, no, shooting, no, dribbling, no, stamina NO, picking a pass, no, running off the ball, no, reading the game, no, volleying, no, goal poaching, no, anything else related to football, no bigger: yes.

Delicious. Love it.

[Dronny]

In fact there is something in the way Fernandinho moves effortlessly around the park that reminds me of Colin The King. Hopefully a good omen for us this year.

THIS!!

The nearest player we have to Colin Bell is not Yaya, it's Fernandinho. He is Colin bell 'lite'. Nowhere near, but the same idea.

Yaya is what he is; great at some things, not always so good at others. Fernandinho tends to be pretty good at everything, but not as dynamic as Yaya & mostly content to do his job & let others have the limelight. But he does loads of good shit, all over the place. This is what Colin Bell did, but he did it much much better.

Colin Bell was someone who 'did his job'. He wasn't Gerrard or Beckham or Lampard, all trying to impress the media for England; when they hit yet another Hollywood pass straight to the oppo he would have ran back & done the unseen dirty work to minimise the danger, like Gareth Barry.

He wouldn't demand the ball off Silva or Nasri, he would just take it off Rooney or Suarez, nip past a Ramierez or Arteta or Carrick as if they weren't there & give it to Silva or Nasri then watch & wait.

Then when the bus was parked, Silva puts a hopeful ball into the box, he would suddenly appear, jumping with his arse as high as Yaya Toure's head, & bury the ball in the back of the net, or someone would hit a speculative ball over the top, & he'd do 50 yards in about 4,5 seconds, control it with half a touch & actually slow down to slot it past the keeper, or he'd just smack it in the top corner from 35 yards, or hit a volley from 45 degrees, or appear at the near/far post sliding in to stick a poacher's goal over the line.

Did I mention he is probably the best, or equal best tackler I have ever seen ? Oh, & as good as anyone at passing the ball ?

So to recap: Yaya better at; heading, no, pace, no, tackling, no, passing, no, shooting, no, dribbling, no, stamina NO, picking a pass, no, running off the ball, no, reading the game, no, volleying, no, goal poaching, no, anything else related to football, no bigger: yes.

Superb summary of the King, it almost brought a tear to my eye to think how fortunate all of a certain age were to be able to see CB at his peak. Better comparison for Yaya was Paddy Vierra when he was at his peak, altho PV was far more destructive......

[Dunnylad]

As the average age of a user of Facebook and Twitter is around about 40 then the debate on those social media sites is flawed on the basis that the average user won't ever have seen King Colin play and I included myself in that category. Therefore, I cannot judge who is better, but I am fascinated to hear the views of those older & wiser who can provide that judgement.

[Fidel Castro]

THIS!!

The nearest player we have to Colin Bell is not Yaya, it's Fernandinho. He is Colin bell 'lite'. Nowhere near, but the same idea.

Yaya is what he is; great at some things, not always so good at others. Fernandinho tends to be pretty good at everything, but not as dynamic as Yaya & mostly content to do his job & let others have the limelight. But he does loads of good shit, all over the place. This is what Colin Bell did, but he did it much much better.

Colin Bell was someone who 'did his job'. He wasn't Gerrard or Beckham or Lampard, all trying to impress the media for England; when they hit yet another Hollywood pass straight to the oppo he would have ran back & done the unseen dirty work to minimise the danger, like Gareth Barry.

He wouldn't demand the ball off Silva or Nasri, he would just take it off Rooney or Suarez, nip past a Ramierez or Arteta or Carrick as if they weren't there & give it to Silva or Nasri then watch & wait.

Then when the bus was parked, Silva puts a hopeful ball into the box, he would suddenly appear, jumping with his arse as high as Yaya Toure's head, & bury the ball in the back of the net, or someone would hit a speculative ball over the top, & he'd do 50 yards in about 4,5 seconds, control it with half a touch & actually slow down to slot it past the keeper, or he'd just smack it in the top corner from 35 yards, or hit a volley from 45 degrees, or appear at the near/far post sliding in to stick a poacher's goal over the line.

Did I mention he is probably the best, or equal best tackler I have ever seen ? Oh, & as good as anyone at passing the ball ?

So to recap: Yaya better at; heading, no, pace, no, tackling, no, passing, no, shooting, no, dribbling, no, stamina NO, picking a pass, no, running off the ball, no, reading the game, no, volleying, no, goal poaching, no, anything else related to football, no bigger: yes.

Was he really this good? Wouldn't he have won world footballer of the year awards and shit? And hundreds of caps for his country? Or was there a conspiracy against us even back then?

[Tony P]

Jaime Pollock.

[rosbif cuisson 'bleu']

And the ovation he received when he came on was absolutely unbelievable.

Some grown men even had tears in their eyes.

i've posted before about that game and it WAS unbelievable, it seemed like the whole of the Kippax was squashed into about the front 5 yards of terracing , probably my defining moment as a fan ,(closely followed by "Aguerooooooo........ however i'm much older now and i just lost my slippers dancing at home then)
i'm old too and although my memories of those times are just that , memories, and therefore subjective, i'd still go for Bell, Yaya ain't half bad too though

[dick dastardley]

Bob tayor or aguerro? Now thats a question ;-)
Seriously though if CB was playing today, he would be citys 80mil+ player he was that good, and those saying footballs moved on e.g more pace, even r, marsh said the king was the fittest player hes ever played alongside.
Yaya is a fantastic player and when he plays and does those runs he reminds me of the king.