Could Yaya Regain His Nickname As ‘The Human Train’?

By Antonney Oduor

Yaya Toure is Old now but it seems like it’s been ages since he played, who was the man that never wanted Yaya to play football?

He was the perfect midfielder, the physique of a Greek god and a silky touch. A killer shot and flowing dribbles. The Ivorian first stand on the scene was in Ukraine.

At only 20 he faced extreme racism and was mocked with monkey chants by opposition fans and even his own supporters. A terrible experience that made him incredibly tough. After promising spells at Olympiacos and As Monaco he signed for Fc Barcelona.

The legend Yaya Toure was moving up in the world. Unfortunately, after two brilliant years in Spain, the arrival of a new coach was a huge blow for him. A Spanish Pep Guardiola, the Spaniard preferred young  Sergio Busquets over him. A product of the La Masai training center.

Yaya found himself either on the bench or playing as a central defender, what a waste! So, Yaya decided to leave Fc Barcelona for Manchester City where he became a football maestro. Am not even getting the words to describe him. What a player! Incredible individual goals, shots galore. He made the premier league look like a child’s play. It was like a man playing against boys. He was almost unfair.

To say that Yaya became the Citizens legend is not an exaggeration. In 2012, the Ivorian helped the club to win its first premier league title in 44 years but the 2013/2014 season was his absolute masterpiece. A second-time champion of England on another planet individually, 24 goals and 13 assists. So strong that he was nicknamed ‘THE HUMAN TRAIN’ but also ‘THE COLOSSUS’. But what we didn’t know this was the beginning of the end.

During the summer of 2014, the Ivorian started to frustrate with his constant mood swings. According to his agent, Toure wanted to leave because his club forgot to wish him Happy Birthday.

‘It’s a joke Roberto Carlos got a Bugatti in Russia for his Birthday. What happened to Yaya’s birthday means the club doesn’t care for him.’ D. Seluk (Yaya’s agent).

His two seasons were arising but Yaya didn’t star as much he used to. Then in 2016 the killer blow, the return of his nemesis Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard became city coach and all of a sudden Yaya found himself back on the bench like the bitter old days back in Fc Barcelona. Yaya struggled to understand the sidelining with Pep which led him to this sad conclusion.

‘I tried to understand. I sneakily asked for my fitness coach my stats. And when I saw they were as good, if not better than other players. I understood it wasn’t a question of fitness. Guardiola was cruel to me. Do you think he could have done that with Iniesta at Barcelona? I ultimately wondered if it was because of the color of my skin. When you realize that he often has problems with Africans where he goes, I started asking myself questions.’ Yaya Toure 2018

Yaya never regained his incredible form of 2013/2014, today despite some disappointing experience and his agent announcing his retirement. Toure wants to keep playing football. He could now join the Chinese second division. It’s sad a 36-year-old, Yaya will forever be a Manchester City Legend but the questions will always remain in the minds of football fans if things had happened differently would Yaya Toure been the human train for a few years later?