Yaya Toure's Manchester City Form Threatens Ivory Coast Rebuilding Operation

Anyone who still believes in the fallacy of immortality in football ought to take a look at Yaya Toure.

At the end of last season, the Ivorian midfielder was untouchable at Manchester City. He had just scored 20 goals in the Premier League, becoming only the second central midfielder (after Frank Lampard) to hit the 20-goal mark in the EPL era.

His goals had also brought a tangible reward as City claimed only their third-ever English title. Toure, a veteran of Roberto Mancini’s own championship victory of 2012 and the FA Cup win a year earlier, is adored by Citizens fans and, as the last campaign drew to a close, could do no wrong.

However, the summer’s farce has soured the relationship, and has shattered the illusion that all is well at the Etihad.

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The behaviour of Toure and his agent doesn’t need to be replayed here; by now everyone’s heard the stories of the birthday, of the brother and of the Bernabeu. Despite assurances, once it became clear that the midfielder would not be leaving the club, that all was well between player and management, there appear to be deeper, underlying problems here.

To say that the midfielder has started this season slowly would be an understatement.

In the Premier League, he has looked at best uncoordinated, at worst disinterested, and his listless, clumsy performances in the heart of midfield have affected City both offensively and defensively.

As Africa Football Shop’s Ivory Coast correspondent John Fernandez pointed out, “Often playing as part of a two-man midfield alongside Fernandinho for Manchester City, Toure’s role dictates that he takes part in both transitions of play—dictating attacks and shielding the defence.

“Is that the kind of quality you’d expect from a 20+ goal-a-season player? Not likely.

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“These traits which set him apart from almost any other footballer occupying this planet at the moment.”

Things have reached a nadir, however, following his poor showing against Bayern Munich in City’s opening Champions League fixture.

Group E is a particularly difficult opening pool; not only do City have to contend with Bayern, they also face AS Roma, who put five past CSKA Moscow—not too shabby themselves—on their return to the European Cup.

BBC Sport pundit Phil Neville was one of the first to criticise Toure’s display following the defeat to Bayern, "I thought Yaya Toure was really disappointing. That wasn't the Yaya Toure we've seen in big games over the past three or four years for Manchester City.

“He didn't look happy. He was strolling around the pitch and his body language wasn't right." 

Neville’s former teammate Paul Scholes, writing in his column for The Independent, was next to air his views on Toure’s inadequacies.

"

Yaya Toure’s lack of defensive work in midfield has become a major problem for them.

The amount of time I saw opponents get in behind him in the game in Munich was quite remarkable. He just did not look interested. Alongside him, Fernandinho is having to do the work of two players defensively and against Bayern that was always going to cause City problems.

"

Toure certainly didn’t act like a player aware of his struggles and keen to improve following the match with Bayern. He faces a “fan backlash” according to David McDonnell of the Mirror, having been spotted laughing and exchanging pleasantries with former boss Pep Guardiola after the final whistle.

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As noted by McDonnell, one City fan had this to say about the midfielder’s post-match enthusiasm compared to his in-game lethargy, "Yaya put more energy into hugging Pep after the game than he did during the game."

After his midweek showing, Toure will be under intense scrutiny to perform over the coming weeks and months. Unless he can achieve something close to the influence he managed last term, Chelsea might storm ahead in this season’s title race.

However, beyond his influence at club level, one could argue that Toure’s malaise may have an even greater effect on the Ivory Coast national side.

The Elephants are entering a particularly delicate period at the moment. Following (another) World Cup disappointment, the Golden Generation are gradually retreating into retirement. Emmanuel Eboue had fallen from grace long before the trip to Brazil, Didier Drogba and record cap holder Didier Zokora have both announced their international retirement, while Kolo Toure was also overlooked from new boss Herve Renard’s first squad.

Previous stalwarts such as Christian Romaric, Igor Lolo and Didier Ya Konan have also drifted away from the international scene.

The departure of those aforementioned names leaves a vacuum both of experience and of quality. Kolo and Zokora both had their frailties, while Drogba is certainly past his prime, but these three (with a combined 335 caps between them) possessed an aura which underpinned the talent across the rest of the side.

With these players having walked away from the fold, and with Renard keen to incorporate younger players like Junior Tallo and Eric Tie Bi, Yaya takes on an even more important role within the side.

No longer is he simply the team’s best player, he is now the senior statesman.

Of the Elephants squad named by Renard for the two recent Cup of Nations qualifiers, Yaya was the most-capped player and the second-oldest outfield player.

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One of the new manager’s first acts as Ivory Coast boss was to hand the captain’s armband to the former Barcelona midfielder. Whichever way you look at it, Yaya Toure is now the Elephants’ key man and their emotional heartbeat in this post-Golden Generation era.

If the West Africans are to retain their continental standing and to avoid the kind of descent that other African nations, such as Egypt, have suffered after the passing of one established collection of players, then Toure needs to step up and make his considerable experience and qualities count.

He was, ominously, a shadow of his former self as the Elephants were crushed 4-1 in Yaounde in the recent African Cup of Nations qualifiers.

Certainly, Manchester City may need to change their approach and reinvest in their midfield if Toure fails to rediscover his fine form of last season. For the Ivorians, shorn of their other stars, his decline could have much greater consequences.