Yaya Touré published an article this week in ‘The Coaches Voice’ where he reviews not only his past, but also his future.
The Ivorian is considering becoming a coach and praises several key figures in his career such as Manuel Pellegrini and Pep Guardiola, and describes Jürgen Klopp as “a genius”.
Yaya Touré says that his legs “still have a few more years” of football ahead of them. He even announced his retirement, but was on the verge of playing for Botafogo again and was even linked with Brest and Cadiz. For the moment there is nothing new with him in this regard.
Through ‘The Coaches Voice’, the Ivorian midfielder reviewed his career and what lies ahead. If he doesn’t play any more, it’s clear to him that he wants to stay involved in football. “I’ve started to realise how good it can be to become a coach,” he says.
It is precisely the figure of the coach that he reviews in his writing. Yaya Touré speaks about how he began, who shaped him the most and how his football was defined
“When I came to Europe at the age of 17 to the Belgian Beveren, I still did not know my best position. At first I was afraid. I was very thin at that time and everyone looked like a giant. When I arrived in England everyone was telling me how strong and how tall all the players were, but my experience in Belgium helped me and I adapted very quickly,” he starts.
He went to Olympiacos, Monaco and Barça, but where he was best was in City: “There I discovered my best position. I have played in every position, including the centre-back position in Barcelona when we won the Champions League final in 2009. But in City, playing as a box-to-box midfielder or as a number 10, I found the position where I was best”.
“It was with Manuel Pellegrini that I had the greatest responsibility. When he came to the team he told me straight out that he saw me as a leader. He gave me a lot of responsibility. He said he didn’t want to see too many passes but rather to run with the ball and attack the opponent’s goal,” Touré continues.
He thanks Pellegrini and also praises Pep: “At Manchester City, Guardiola and I would talk after training about specific things and parts of the game that he loves to analyse. With David Silva we talked constantly. With Samir Nasri, too. If we couldn’t find a way to Agüero, we would make the decision to change things. This is not working,’ we would say, ‘so let’s change positions and see how it works.
He also confesses his admiration for Jürgen Klopp: “He is a genius. He has brought many players to the top of his game: Sadio Mané, Mohamed Salah, Jordan Henderson, Georginio Wijnaldum, Fabinho, Virgil van Dijk, Andy Robertson… They were good footballers, now they are better. One thing I learned at Barcelona is that every footballer is different. If you don’t talk to your teammates and only the coach gives you information, you can’t help your teammates to be better”.
To finish, Yaya Touré puffed out his chest a little bit: “After winning the award for best African footballer of the year four times, I am one of the best African players ever”.
