Yaya Touré says Manchester City's second team could beat most rivalsThe Ivory Coast midfielder says he was signed to change the ambition of a club that has 'amazing potential'
Tweet this
reddit this
David Hytner guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 November 2011 23.00 GMT Article history
Manchester City's Yaya Touré at an African Cup of Nations event in London where he predicted major success for his club. Photograph: Sean Smith for the Guardian
Yaya Touré believes that Manchester City's second XI would be good enough to qualify for the Champions League, as he articulated his confidence that the club could win major trophies this season and redefine people's perceptions about them.
The Ivory Coast midfielder has started every game so far in the Premier and Champions leagues and he has contributed vital goals in the past week, scoring twice in last Wednesday's 3-0 win at Villarreal and getting the winner at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. The towering header maintained City's five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League while they are well placed to emerge from a difficult Champions League section.
Yet it was when Touré was given the night off in the Carling Cup at the end of last month that he was struck by the intimidating extent of City's power. As he had done in the previous round at Birmingham City, when the team won 2-0, the manager, Roberto Mancini, made wholesale changes for the visit to Wolverhampton Wanderers. The result was a 5-2 victory and, hard on the heels of the 6-1 derby triumph at Manchester United, another fearsome statement of intent.
"What I have always said is that we have more than one team now. We have got two teams," Touré said. "If you see Wolves in the Carling Cup, people said it was the second team but for me, it is not the second team because everybody is good enough to play.
"The team that played that night won 5-2 … the team that played against Wolves at the Etihad [in the Premier League] won 3-1 but it was difficult. We have got two teams now that can both play in the Champions League. We have got a fantastic squad and fantastic players, everybody is improving. It is amazing."
Touré's words tumbled out excitedly. The 28-year-old is steeped in humility and he repeatedly stressed that the Premier League was an intensely difficult competition to win. But he could not hide his feeling that City could do it this time and effectively tear up the established order, not least in their own town, where United have ruled the roost for so long.
City were criticised last season for their cagey approach in some matches and they have long been derided for an ability to craft defeat from the brink of victory. The team's explosive start to the season, though, has been defined by enterprising football and a glut of goals, and if the FA Cup final victory over Stoke City last May ended the trophy drought, Touré feels that further breakthroughs can be expected.
"Last year was a difficult year," he said. "We didn't play such good football. But we've got that now, with a couple of players coming [in] ... Agüero, Nasri, Clichy and Savic. They're good players, young players. The future of the club is very important. I signed at the start of last season but now it is a different contest because we have the quality players who have come in. And, more importantly, players have responded ... like Dzeko, like Balotelli. Dzeko is fantastic now.
"One thing that I want to achieve with this club is to change the ambition of the club. That's why the club signed me from Barcelona, that's why the club has signed a lot of quality players. The club going step by step and reaching the top is the most important thing because Man City need something. We need a change of ambition. I came here because I wanted to make history. I want to be part of history at this club. I think about us being close to making it."
The tests keep on coming. Four of City's next five league fixtures are against Newcastle United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal; they face the decisive Champions League ties against Napoli and Bayern Munich and there is also the Carling Cup quarter-final at Arsenal. Form and momentum, though, are with them.
"The team's performances are improving, the mentality is getting stronger and the team is doing something that, honestly, I didn't expect," Touré said. "It's not enough. We have to keep improving. But I have confidence. We've got the squad. We've got the quality. We all expect ... players and fans, the players especially ... we expect to win something this year."
Touré spoke at Puma's African Cup of Nations kit launch and the competition in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, which begins on 21 January and runs for three weeks, will see him take a working sabbatical from Premier League duties. Ivory Coast will start as many people's favourites; Touré knows that City's squad will cope without him. He talked on other subjects, including his bewilderment that his City team-mate Micah Richards had been omitted from the England squad, but it was a different shock that made his smile widen.
"Some people back at home asked me: 'Is it real? You beat United 6-1?'" he said. "But people understand now that City is becoming a big team. Everyone understands now. City are coming in the top."
_________________ "It felt like a really pointless version of ketamine: no psychedelic effects, no pleasant slide into rubbery nonsense, just a sudden drop off the cliff of wrongness." "i'm gonna wreck you so bad we're going to have to change church"
|