Source: Daily_Mail
On tour with Manchester United: In a Philadelphia cab with Kolo Toure's cousin!
Taxi drivers all over the world tend to talk too much, but they're always a mine of information - often when you least expect it.[LNB]Take the cabbie who drove me from back to my hotel in downtown Philadelphia after a few drinks last night. [LNB]Realising I was not a local, he couldn't resist asking about what I thought went wrong with England's World Cup campaign, which resulted in a one-way conversation that took up much of the journey.[LNB] Fare chat: Some cab drivers can talk too much... even Kolo Toure's taxi-driver cousin[LNB]I mentioned Vanessa Perroncel, the Capello Index, Frank Lampard's 'goal', Robert Green's butter fingers, Matthew Upson's two left feet, Germany, Wayne Rooney's astonishingly flat performances, John Terry's lack of judgement in speaking out about Fabio Capello's regime (see also Vanessa Perroncel), and the fact that, well frankly, we're not nearly as good as we think we are. [LNB]'So who were you supporting,' I asked. 'Ivory Coast,' he said, pointing to a little orange, white and green flag hanging off his rear view mirror.[LNB]Slow burner: Kolo Toure is not quick enough, according to his cousin[LNB]I mentioned that, as reporters based mainly in the north of England, the group out here following Manchester United's tour of North America sometimes have the opportunity to speak to Kolo Toure at Manchester City and were hoping to have a word with his brother Yaya before the new season starts following his £24m move from Barcelona.[LNB]The driver screwed up his face. 'Kolo is too slow,' he moaned. [LNB]'You have to defend close to your opponent but in the World Cup he was giving them too much space and they were able to shoot.'[LNB]He was becoming loud and a little animated. As if to back up his point, he held up a pair of sweaty shinpads that had been stuffed down the side of my seat, explaining that he'd been playing football this very night and wasn't just any old fruitcake. [LNB]That he would probably be playing in the Premier League himself if he didn't have to do the airport run to Philadelphia International.[LNB]'Kolo got lucky,' he continued. 'He got selected for that French guy's soccer school (Jean Marc Guillou's ASEC Academy in Abidjan) back in the Ivory Coast. They all did - Dindane, Zokora, Kalou. They say it's the golden generation but they've done nothing. Nothing.'[LNB]I suggested then that Yaya had done rather well to land a five-year deal at City worth £200,000-a-week. Not bad for someone who couldn't even get a game at Barcelona.[LNB]'It wasn't that,' he interrupted. 'The coach would have played him more but there was something in his contract that said he'd get a lot more money after so many games, so he was told not to. It wasn't fair.'[LNB]Intrigued, I asked how a Philadelphia cabbie knew so much about the contractual nuances of a player who had just left one of the world's biggest clubs to join the world's richest club.[LNB]'I AM TOURE!,' he boomed with more dramatic impact than the occasion required.[LNB] Moving on: Yaya Toure had to leave Barcelona because of a contract dispute, claims his distant cousin[LNB]With that, he produced his ID from the dashboard and thrust it towards me, knocking the sweaty shinpads into my lap in the process. [LNB]He wasn't lying. It said Toure alright. A distant cousin rather than one of the four brothers and two sisters who receive the lion's share of money sent back to the Ivory Coast by Kolo and Yaya, but a Toure all the same.[LNB]It makes for a decent story and I gave him a decent tip, mindful that if Kolo ever reads this, the cabbie's mum and dad can probably kiss goodbye to their share of the pot.[LNB]My journey was far more eventful than United's Press conference at the NovaCare Center to promote their next game against Philadelphia Union. It's the training base of the NFL's Philadelphia Eagles who are also hosting tomorrow's game at Lincoln Field.[LNB] Eye of the Tiger: Like Rocky Balboa and the Manchester United team, Sportsmail's Chris Wheeler will take to the famous Philadelphia Art Museum steps[LNB] There were welcoming statements from the general managers of the two Philadelphia clubs, one of whom handed over Eagles jerseys to Sir Alex Ferguson, Nani and Wes Brown, while the other invited his young son to present them with Union scarves (a curious gift in 100-degree heat).[LNB] That took as long as the Press conference itself which produced little of note, and there was just enough time to see United train for 20 minutes before the mother of all thunderstorms broke over Philly and everyone ran for cover.[LNB]Today, some of the United players have been running up the 72 steps to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, made famous in the film Rocky. I hope to do it myself before we leave, although I can't say it will qualify as running. [LNB]Work permitting, of course, it's always nice to do something of note at each of the stops on tour. In Toronto it was the CN Tower, here it will be the Rocky Steps. Which means in Kansas City I can look forward to doing, er, absolutely nothing.[LNB] On tour with Manchester United: A perfect playing surface shipped in a day before kick-off... maybe Wembley should do thatUnited are a knockout in Philadelphia! Ferguson's stars visit Rocky stepsCome and get him: Porto want Man United to sign defender Bruno AlvesMANCHESTER UNITED FC
