Yaya Toure will be judged on defensive show, says Jamie Carragher
Thursday 13 August 2015 10:41, UK
Yaya Toure will be judged on his defensive performances in Manchester City’s midfield this season, says Jamie Carragher.
The Ivorian put in a stellar display in City’s 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday Night Football, driving forward in trademark style as the 2013/14 champions got their campaign off to the perfect start.
Playing in a central midfield two alongside Fernandinho, and with David Silva playing off striker Wilfried Bony, Toure put in an impressive attacking performance, but Carragher says it is his defensive work that will come under most scrutiny.
With champions Chelsea up next on Super Sunday, City manager Manuel Pellegrini must decide whether Toure is suited for the deeper central midfield role in bigger matches.
Carragher said on Monday Night Football: "That criticism could still come again, because it's not in games like this. It's games where he's got to do a defensive job.
"The system looks like (Raheem) Sterling on the left, Silva off the front and Yaya Toure will play central midfield.
"The power and pace he shows going forward, he doesn't show it going back. I've said it time and time again, he's like a sprinter going forward, and a marathon runner coming back. He doesn't want to come back.
"And that'll be the problem for him at the weekend. In those big games can he be trusted to play in the two?
"He was fantastic tonight, but over the course of the season in those big games, Champions League games, that's where the criticism will come from. Not in terms of going forward, because he's still as good as anyone."
City’s second of the game came from Toure driving forward from midfield, playing a fine one-two with Bony and curling home from 20 yards.
He scored 10 goals last season as City surrendered the title to Chelsea, and a string of underwhelming performances saw the 32-year-old come under criticism having netted 20 times in the 2013/14 season.
But Carragher says that in an attacking sense Toure is still a powerhouse, and that a fine season from him could be the difference in Pellegrini's side regaining the title or not.
He continued: “Have we ever seen anyone better in Premier League history, a central midfield player, dominating, sprinting forward from that central midfield with power, coming on to things, but also that finishing.
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"For the criticism he got last year, he was still among the highest-scoring midfield players. But because of the year before, when he got 20, you automatically give him criticism and stick.
"He's driven them to the title before. If they could get the Yaya Toure of the last couple of years, in title-winning seasons, they have a fantastic chance of winning the league."
