Yaya Toure hits back at manager Manuel Pellegrini over Man City form criticism

Yaya Toure strikes for goal

YAYA TOURE has hit back at manager Manuel Pellegrini and other critics who said he was not at his best for Manchester City last season.

 

Toure insists the whole team have to take the blame for City’s failure to win a trophy and that it is unfair to single him out for criticism.

He points to Ivory Coast’s African Nations Cup triumph, City’s second place in the Premier League and his tally of 12 goals in all competitions to show it was not as a bad season for him personally as people have made out, even though his agent Dimitry Seluk claimed his apparently disillusioned client was “90 per cent certain to leave” in the summer 

After being hailed for his two-goal performance in City’s impressive 3-0 win at the Hawthorns on Monday, Toure rejected suggestions from Pellegrini among others that he is back to his best.

“I’m not back,” he said, “I’m always there. People have to understand football is not just about one player, it’s about the team.

“Last season people were talking all the time and for me I was quite surprised. There’s been a lot of criticism but it wasn’t a bad season. Last season was not the best for us as a team but second in the table is not bad at all, I scored 12 goals and won the Africa Nations Cup for my country.

“Sometimes people criticise you unfairly. Sometimes people need to understand we are human beings. Things can go wrong. It’s part of the game.

 

Yaya Toure Celebrates his goal with Bacary Sagna

 

“But I don’t care what people are saying about me. I know what I want and I know what I have to do. I love my job, I love playing football and I want to win all the time. My job is to make people happy and myself happy as well. I don’t worry what people are saying about me.”

City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak had clear-the-air talks with midfielder Toure – who has two years left on his contract – at the end of last season to assure him he was still an important part of the club’s plans, despite their plans to bring in Raheem Sterling, Fabian Delph, who they have since bought, and their interest in Kevin De Bruyne and Paul Pogba.

A summer free from football has left Toure with re-charged batteries for the new season where he said City will be fully focussed on reclaiming the Premier League title from Chelsea.

Despite Monday’s win, Toure insisted City cannot get carried away and a truer test of their title credentials will come on Sunday when they face last season’s champions in front of a 50,000 crowd at the newly-expanded Etihad Stadium.

“It was a great start at West Brom,” he said. “The team did a massive job, we played very well against a difficult side. People said West Brom made it easy for us but we made it easy because we played our own football with the belief and intensity.

“In the first half, maybe we could have scored four goals. In the second half we just controlled the game and it was a brilliant [third] goal from [Vincent] Kompany.

 

“But the Premier League is very tough, there’s a very long way to go yet – 37 more games. Now we have a massive game on Sunday against a direct rival.

“I hope it’s going to be three points for us. Sunday is going to be a tough game but we want to start well in front of 50,000 fans. Then we have Everton. It is a tough start.

“But we are fully focused this year. I hope this year is going to be fine for us. The important thing is we have a target. That is to bounce back like we did two seasons ago. We have to keep working hard.

“We want to do it for the fans, for the chairman [Khaldoon Al Mubarak] and Sheikh Mansour [City’s owner] who are doing a lot to make this club great.”

Toure is claiming both City’s first two goals on Monday, even though the Dubious Goals Panel will look at his first which took deflections off David Silva and then Albion defender Craig Dawson.

He said: “I think I will get a look in, but to be honest I want both goals. We will see how the referee will decide it. My second goal was a great goal. It was a one-two with [Wilfried] Bony – my international mate – so we know each other well.”