Source: Man_City
Yaya's ready for lift off
| Submit Comments| Comments (18)| Printable Version1/1Play SlideshowClose MapBig Brother is watching City new boy Yaya Toure ... and he thinks the ?nipper? will become a Premier League giant. The younger of the two Ivorian siblings scored his first City goal in the efficient 2-0 win at Wigan on Sunday, and has shown glimpses of the power and precision which have made him one of Europe?s top midfielders. But proud Kolo says Blues fans will see much more of Yaya?s talents in the coming months, as the £24m buy from Barcelona gradually settles into English football. His goal at DW Stadium will help with that process, and Kolo feels that, despite his powerhouse 6ft 3ins frame, his brother is finding it as difficult as David Silva to adjust to the pave and physicality over here. ?Of course it?s good that he?s off the mark,? said Kolo, who continued his own impressive start to the season with another accomplished defensive performance at Wigan. ?That goal just finished the game off nicely because we knew 1-0 might not be enough. In the Premier League, there are a lot of late goals but Yaya?s goal made it more comfortable. ?There is still a lot more to come from him, it takes time to adapt to the Premier League. It?s really different from La Liga. At the moment, he is doing his best but I?m sure he can do a lot better. ?Does he come to me for advice? Not at all. He won the Champions League, he?s played for the best team in the world, Barcelona. If anything I?m learning from him.? Yaya has surprised quite a few commentators already this season, especially those who wrongly labelled him as a defensive midfielder, on the back of his anchor role for Barcelona. Surprise Against Liverpool, he and manager Roberto Mancini surprised quite a few onlookers ? including the Scousers? manager Roy Hodgson ? by lining up as an attacking midfielder, almost a second striker behind Carlos Tevez. A similar ploy at Sunderland brought a barnstorming length-of-the-field run which teed up Tevez for his infamous miss. That is his more natural game. His stamina and meticulous passing meant he was very much an attacking midfielder before he moved to Barcelona. The world-class abilities of Xavi and Andres Iniesta meant he was shackled into a more restrained role at Camp Nou, a role which sat nicely with his strength and athleticism. Yaya has also proved he can fill that kind of role in the Premier League, he may be called upon to do so against Chelsea at the weekend, unless Mancini has another ace up his sleeve. But he has also had the shackles removed and played further forward, with Nigel de Jong happy to take on the uglier position, in front of a back four which has looked compact and solid even without probable first- choice full-backs Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov. It is a system that has worked very well at City, with just two goals conceded in the opening eight matches in all competitions. Record Only Chelsea, with two goals conceded in six games, can come close to that miserly record, and the Londoners have had a much easier start to the season than Mancini?s men. Kolo says the bouquets for that sound start to the season should be shared around the team rather than showered on the defence. ?It's going really well,? he said. ?The defenders are doing well but we are also defending well as a team. We don?t concede many goals because we are really tight as a unit and work really hard for each other. ?We hope we can keep going like this. ?The manager wants us to work really hard on it every day in training because when you defend well, it gives you the chance to win games.? Standing four-square in the way of that impressive defensive record are free-scoring Chelsea, and Kolo is well aware that the visit of the champions and runaway leaders to Eastlands on Saturday will be a serious test of City?s top four credentials. ?They have Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, and Frank Lampard but any of their players can score,? said Kolo. ?What we will have to do is defend as a team like we have been doing and stay really focussed. When we can we'll have to be really aggressive with them.? Kolo knows all about Drogba, an international team-mate with Ivory Coast, and he reckons that the powerful Chelsea striker has improved this season. Kolo said: ?He's a goalscorer. All he thinks about is scoring goals. But this season he is passing well and making a lot of assists as well. That makes him a much better player. ?I know his game well but it?s still difficult, he's so powerful. He?s playing so well, with all these assists he seems to have improved his style of playing. ?At the moment, I?d say that he?s on fire. So we?re going to have to defend really well as a team to stop him. We hope that we?ll be really strong on Saturday. ?It seems like he is getting better with age because he?s such an intelligent player. He?s had to change his game, he knows he needs more help from his team-mates now. He used to like to do a lot himself but now he shows he cares about the team and that?s really good.? City will be buoyed by the knowledge that they were the only team to do the Premier League double over Chelsea last season, winning 2-1 at home and 4-2 in west London. Kolo said: ?We were delighted with that and we hope to do it again. It's going to be a really exciting game. We need to make sure we take something from it. ?If we can get one point that would be great but if we can get all three like we did twice last season, that would be fantastic.?
