Pep Guardiola worked with exceptional players throughout his time in charge of Manchester City, from Sergio Aguero to Erling Haaland.
The Spanish head coach had the pleasure of training great talents through the field in all kinds of positions, such as Vincent Kompany and Ruben Dias, or Joao Cancelo and Josko Gvardiol.
He had stars simply sublime in the central positions of the midfielder, in particular, and one of the best with which he ever worked was the Ivorian power Yaya Toure, who played under him in Barcelona and Manchester City.
Why was Yaya Toure important for Pep Guardiola
In these two clubs, the feeling of the midfielder provided a powerful and quality presence in the middle of the park with its marauding races and its technical capacities.
The star now retired Made 128 Apparitions In all competitions under the Spanish head coach for the two clubs, scoring 11 goals and providing 12 assists at that time.
This return helps to show why Yaya Toure was an important player for Manchester City and Guardiola throughout his career because he provided a threat as a marker and creator of a midfielder.
The Ivorian dynamo, which Product 80 goals And 45 assists in 316 appearances for the Cityzens in all competitions, could intervene with great moments to win matches for City thanks to his abilities in front of the goal, and Guardiola found his new Yaya Toure today.
The new Yaya Toure de Manchester City
Rodri may seem to be the obvious comparison, given its powerful size and play in the midfield, as well as its tendency to mark in great moments – as in the final of the Champions League against Inter.
However, the Spanish international, who is currently with an LCA injury, is not a player naturally concerned about the attack, like Yaya Toure.
He has Never scored more than eight goals In a single championship campaign, showing that it is not a constant threat to the upper end of the field, and that is why Phil Foden is the new version of Guardiola from the midfielder.
Former Central Defender of Manchester City, Joleon Lescott, even compared the international in England to the former AS of Barcelona. He said to Club official website::
“He is exceptional wherever he plays. His beginnings for the first team were on the back left. He loves it, and because he will play anywhere, if he plays in the middle, because he can overcome people, like [former Spurs midfielder] Moussa Dembele, when he beat someone, the game changed.
“Yaya Toure was the same, if you face your midfielder and go beyond them, it changes the game.”
Phil Foden’s Premier League career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
Season | Apparitions | Goals | Aid |
24/25 | 24 | 7 | 2 |
23/24 | 35 | 19 | 8 |
22/23 | 32 | 11 | 5 |
21/22 | 28 | 9 | 5 |
20/21 | 28 | 9 | 5 |
19/20 | 23 | 5 | 2 |
18/19 | 13 | 1 | 0 |
17/18 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
As you can see in the table above, Foden has provided a threat as a marker and creator of objectives for the majority of his Premier League career since his breakthrough at the senior level during the 2017/18 campaign.
As Lescott explained, the wizard of the left foot also has the capacity to exceed opposition players, on average 1.2 Dribbles completed By match on his entire career, and he has the quality of making a difference in the last third after opening the space by beating the defenders.
Consequently, although they are not identical to those of the players, Guardiola found his new version of Yaya Toure in Foden, because English is a midfielder who can regularly release the defenders of the game with his dribble while delivering goals and assists.
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