So is there anybody left..

[Ted Hughes]

Who still thinks Yaya Toure provides good defensive cover, when relied upon to track back ? I've been telling you this for two years. He cost us in Kiev, Munich, Napoli. He was made to look stupid at times tonight.

He is a great free running midfielder & dogshit when given a defensive role.

Anyone other than the forum clown want to argue ?

[carl_feedthegoat]

I thought Lescott played well if Im honest.

[PeterParker]

I think there is a difference between "can''t" and "won't".

He doesn''t want to cover. At Barcelona all he did was to cover.

[Beefymcfc]

Yep, I do. He does both, front and back, but if the combination is wrong, it's all going wrong. Not his best night, looked like he couldn't pass a ball at first, better later. Anybody can have an off game, he looks like he doesn't trust the system.

But, what does Yaya actually do?

[blues-clues]

I think people thought he was bought in to play at the bottom of the diamond as a defensive midfielder. He plays much much better in a more advanced role and I have to agree, his defensive abilities seem to have disappeared. Either not fit enough, given the wrong instructions or is just not up to it.

Find it hard to have a go after the goals he has scored but he is not the midfield general or the defensive midfielder I thought we were getting when he signed.

We are not the only club struggling to fill that position though.

[london blue 2]

He's shit defensively.

But I honestly think that yaya has the ability to be right up there with Messi, Ronaldo Xavi etc if he applies himself right.

[london blue 2]

We are not the only club struggling to fill that position though.

We had that position filled.

[brite blu sky]

Not sure I'd argue with that, but I would just say like beefy he had a poor start and basically got knobbled by Dortmund closing him down. He gets away with his slow turns in the prem as players wont attack him, when they do and I think Swansea or some team did it too he fluffs his lines and gets worse as he knows he is being hounded.
Once again he also starts the season slowly in this respect and seems to sharpen up after eons of games - which i think is pathetic but there you go it also seems to be the reality of it.

Dortmund had done their homework well and they got straight into yaya from the off until he was so fucked up he was just a big yaya shaped shell and then they left him alone cos they knew he was beaten.

He cant defend though unless he is behind the ball by a good way, said that before we even bought him.

[Ted Hughes]

He's shit defensively.

But I honestly think that yaya has the ability to be right up there with Messi, Ronaldo Xavi etc if he applies himself right.

Or is given the right job to do.

For Barca, he was surrounded by little fuckers legging it around & just stepped in & nicked the ball. Tonight, when needed to sprint back, he moved at half the speed he does when going forward. David Silva was much harder working defensively.

Yaya is fine in that role v shit teams or if we fill the City team with grafters. As oneof two, he is a fucking liability.

I felt sorry for Rodwell & Nasty, suddenly thrown into a strange formation with ony Yaya as protection. Absolute joke.

[Green & Blue]

He's no Garcia that's for sure.Honestly Yaya is more than capable if he is arsed.He was carrying an injury tonight but even before that was evident he was looking sluuggish off the ball.At times he looks lazy it's as if he is conserving energy for when he can get a chance to break forward.

[PeterParker]

If i recall, at Barcelona he had a rotation system with Keita, so he couldn't do the same he does now. He had Xavi and Iniesta who were playmakers, while he had the job to stop the opponents. Just that.

The problem is that beside Gaz Baz, the others can't defend and from this our defence looks shit, I would like to see some statistic about how many balls or attacks did our defensive midfielders stopped this season so far in comparance with last season.

Garcia looks shady, one incredible debut game and then mediocre, while Rodwell was very, very shit. Yaya looks the same to me, but at the same time different, because his is now surrounded by players that aren't as good as NDJ and Paddy Vieira.

[Blue Since 76]

His problem seems to be that he has the turning circle of Richard Dunne and is even slower over the first couple of yards. Defensively his pace over a long distance is useless and it's all about being able to dive in, which he can't do.

He's always played best with at least one of Barry or De Jong to free him up from the really dirty work. Without either; we completely lose the midfield battle.

Thing is, I know what Yaya can do and it's just a case of getting him back into the right position with the right support. My concern is the support which is either an ageing Barry; Rodwell or Milner who always seem to be last resort or; Garcia. And I'm really not sure what Garcia does.

[blue 68]

His body language said two things I'm tired and I'm not going to try any harder, Roberto should have pulled him.

[Ted Hughes]

I thought Lescott played well if Im honest.

Not you, I meant the other one.

Fucking good job JL didn't play tonight, he would have got the blame for the lot.

[Ted Hughes]

His body language said two things I'm tired and I'm not going to try any harder, Roberto should have pulled him.

Not sure that would have made him play any better.

[Douglas Higginbottom]

Yaya's role tonight was surely more to dictate the play from a deep position more than to be a defensive midfield player.He has immense confidence in his own ability to receive a ball in any situation with his excellent first touch control.He has great strength and awareness so rarely loses the ball and we know given the opportunities he can make great long runs as well as making key passes.

BUT he does need the rest of the players around him to be able to play in a similar way.They have to be creating space for passes and have good touch as well so that they can move the ball around,move the opposition players around and create openings.Teams know that's how we want to play and can make it very hard as Dortmund did tonight by pressing Yaya early but also pressing high up the field so that the likes of Nasri and Silva find it hard to get involved.

I thought Yaya tried really hard tonight but there was little help from others around him both in quality and simple basic effort but I do agree he didnt have a great game especially early on.Mancini seems to always want to play Nasri and Silva when they are both fit so it seems destined that Yaya will be the one to play a deeper role. If we also have 2 strikers in the team it can often mean we have 4 forward players out of the game when teams counter attack us plus Yaya who really isnt suited at all to a defensive cover role.So we are defending with a team of 7 which currently isnt great as half of the are making bad decisions and simple errors.

[bobby brows]

I think its hard to criticise a player when he's been closed down by 4 players for ninety minutes cos he's playing centre midfield on his own and as a result barely crosses the half way line.

There are many many issues about midfield before we discuss Yaya:

1. Why will he not pick Milner?
2. Why is Garcia so shit?
3. Why will he not pick Milner?
4. Why is Rodwell the new Spencer Prior?
5. Why will he not pick Milner?
6. Would the £7m saved in wages and transfer from De Jong stacked up in tenners just in front of the penalty area be better defensive cover than Garcia and Rodwell?
7. Why will he not pick Milner?

[carolina-blue]

I think its hard to criticise a player when he's been closed down by 4 players for ninety minutes cos he's playing centre midfield on his own and as a result barely crosses the half way line.

There are many many issues about midfield before we discuss Yaya:

1. Why will he not pick Milner?
2. Why is Garcia so shit?
3. Why will he not pick Milner?
4. Why is Rodwell the new Spencer Prior?
5. Would the £7m saved in wages and transfer from De Jong stacked up in tenners just in front of the penalty area be better defensive cover than Garcia and Rodwell?

I would like to add to that and say Why will he Not pick Milner .

[DoomMerchant]

Who still thinks Yaya Toure provides good defensive cover, when relied upon to track back ? I've been telling you this for two years. He cost us in Kiev, Munich, Napoli. He was made to look stupid at times tonight.

He is a great free running midfielder & dogshit when given a defensive role.

Anyone other than the forum clown want to argue ?

i'm not sure if i am the forum clown, but if so i would love to take you for a ride in my car. Plus i would like you to honk my horn. And squeeze my big red nose. And i will shove my big clown shoes up your ass. If you want...no pressure.

Related, i think yaya....played a fantastic match at CB vs the scum to win the CL.

that is all.

[bobby brows]

I think its hard to criticise a player when he's been closed down by 4 players for ninety minutes cos he's playing centre midfield on his own and as a result barely crosses the half way line.

There are many many issues about midfield before we discuss Yaya:

1. Why will he not pick Milner?
2. Why is Garcia so shit?
3. Why will he not pick Milner?
4. Why is Rodwell the new Spencer Prior?
5. Would the £7m saved in wages and transfer from De Jong stacked up in tenners just in front of the penalty area be better defensive cover than Garcia and Rodwell?

I would like to add to that and say Why will he Not pick Milner .

seriously it deserves to be asked twice.