Manchester City fans told to lay off under-fire Yaya Toure - 7M sport

Manchester City fans told to lay off under-fire Yaya Toure

Manuel Pellegrini launches staunch defence of verteran midfielder after latest fan criticism.


Posted Saturday, January 09, 2016 by Manchestereveningnews.co.uk

Manuel Pellegrini has launched a staunch defence of Yaya Toure - but concedes he will have to manage the number of games the Ivorian plays in the future.

The 32-year-old came in for fierce criticism from his own fans after Manchester City’s 2-1 defeat to Everton on Wednesday.

He was mocked for being marked out of the game by Muhamed Besic as supporters vented their frustration on social media.

But Pellegrini insists the midfielder is too often the scapegoat.

The Chilean believes Toure can be an easy target because of his languid style.

"Maybe it’s the image, the body language," said the City manager. "But if you review the numbers of Yaya, each game he runs as much as every team-mate.

"Maybe against Everton he didn’t play very well, but every player has better or worse games.

"But you can’t talk always about it’s because he’s older.

"Everyone can have a bad game."

Manchester City fans told to lay off under-fire Yaya Toure

Toure could be rested for Saturday’s FA Cup third round tie with Norwich after attending the African Footballer of the Year awards in Abuja, Nigeria on Thursday.

And Pellegrini accepts that the veteran cannot be expected to play every game as City compete for an unprecedented quadruple.

"He’s not so old,” he said. "I think he’s a player who is very important, an experienced player and he knows how to play every game.

"Maybe to play the whole season three games a week, he is not able to do it. But I think he can play in the way he’s playing now."

Asked if it was difficult to drop such a pivotal figure, Pellegrini added: “It’s not difficult for me.

"It’s difficult for him because he’s a very good player. He can make a difference. But every time people say we have not got the squad we need, people always look at Yaya.

Manchester City fans told to lay off under-fire Yaya Toure

"Remember he scored three times in the last few games."

Meanwhile, Pellegrini says fears that City’s pursuit of four trophies will lead to a fixture pile up - but remains determined to challenge on all fronts.

"If you review the calendar of the games, you start postponing games from the quarter-final and semi-final you must postpone games from the Premier League and those you must play in midweeks," he said.

"If you continue in Champions League you don’t have time to play those games so that is a problem in the future, but it doesn’t matter - we want to continue.

"The priority for my team is to have the mentality to try to win every game, it doesn’t matter which competition you are playing."



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