December 2009 - Posts

• Toure remains a key player for Barca

  Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure is not happy that he has only had a bit part role for Barcelona this season and there has been plenty of speculation about his future but it would be a big mistake to allow him to leave. All successful teams need a hard man as well as the skilfull and creative players. If you look at teams in the past like Manchester United, they had Roy Keane, Arsenal had Patrick Vieira and Frank Rijkaard himself was a physically imposing midfielder for Arrigo Sacchi's AC Milan team in the early 1990s. Toure signed a new deal with Barca hoping to play regularly as he had been doing at the end of last season and was an integral part in the side that won the treble. Since then though his star has started to fade and coach Pep Guardiola has chosen instead to field Seydou Keita who has been in blistering form. The agent of Toure is famous for being outspoken and was was quick to claim that the player was not happy and wants to leave the club because he is not playing enough. He says that while Toure was playing the big matches he also wanted to be involved in the regular games in a similar way to Xavi and Iniesta. As a result it was particularly disappointing for Toure when he was not included in the side which faced Real Madrid at the weekend and the player himself came out in 'France Football' to say that he needs to play more games. There are no shortage of admirers especially in the Premiership for Toure and there is no doubt he would be a big success there. For that reason it would be an error to let him go and it would probably rebound on the club. Toure's physically prowess was especially valuable against Chelsea and Manchester United in the Champions League and they are two of the clubs who are now keen to sign him. Playing in Europe it is necessary to have someone like Toure who can come out on top in a battle for example with Didier Drogba. Of course at the moment it is difficult to drop Keita but Guardiola would not be making a mistake by rotating his midfield more and giving more time to Toure because if he doesn't then he risks losing him and that may well come back to haunt him. Posted Dec 02 2009, 05:22 AM by Tim with 4 comment(s)