Surely Toure is not joining "ambitious" Man City is he?
Dude, I’m a little miffed at the moment.
Excuse the rant that follows for a brief part of this post. Can’t believe I’m saying this but it is a strange period in my football following, as an Arsenal fan, where I would rather see a current Arsenal player join Utd or Liverpool. Heck, even someone joining Chelsea doesn’t give me the vitriolic feeling as much as the idea that an Arsenal player is enticed by something other than the wages to join Man City.
Normally when a club makes a bid for a player they desire, more often than not, there is always another club that considers making a bid themselves. In the case of City now, they have been able to sign their players post-Robinho, almost without any rival bid challenge. Suddenly Real came in the summer and swooped for arguably players of a better calibre than the ones City have acquired and now it seems that only these two clubs seem intent on making these “big player” signings.
I marked that phrase in inverted commas while Bellamy, Bridge, Zabaleta, De Jong are good players, not many of the Champions League clubs thought “ooh, there is a player I missed”. And gifted as he is, Robinho has clearly illustrated that consistency was never a key attribute in his book. Some Arsenal fans wanted an experienced defensive option and Barry was touted as an option. But Barry’s only major honour as a player was the runners up FA cup medal back in 2000.
But now City have signed Adebayor, and the rumour is that he is going to replace Shaun Goater in that famous chant, “feed the goat and he will score” which will sound as “Feed the Bayor and he will ask for more!” Meanwhile, City thought they had a coup when they signed Tevez but conveniently forget that he was part of a club that should have been relegated. But you know, all those players joined City for the ambition, the challenge and not for the money. And because Mark Hughes is a world class manager. Seriously.
If that sounded a tad bitter, it is because it is meant to be. Now I’ve never been a fan of Toure’s performances, particularly last season. Many Gooners made Silvestre the defensive scapegoat and that comes with the Utd baggage he brought but for me Toure was equally if not more guilty particularly his performance in that 4-1 drubbing at home to Chelsea. Defenders are either born or they are made and we all know Toure fell in the latter category.
At some point, the Ivorian was touted to play defensive midfield but Wenger rightly at the time identified his strengths to be more useful in defence. His quick pace could rectify any mistake he made and more often than not, Toure was excellent at recovery. this is where Senderos for instance comes a clear second. What I didn’t particularly enjoy about Toure in defence was his ability to dart forward up to the opposition penalty box in the first place. Yes, Gallas does that as well but he has better finishing compared to Toure.
My preference would be to see Toure go and fans think £15 million is good value for him. Perhaps it is and it means that no other defender in theory should exit. Gallas is ageing but I think the situation is made for him. Since he was removed as club captain the mercurial defender has put his head down and let his defending do the talking. As a matter of fact he has been so quiet largely, I thought he was in a coma so just picture my surprise when I see him a friendly. And that emotion is doubled by seeing Eduardo start a match as well..
Anyway, what are your thoughts on Toure, fellow Gooners? Does his departure fill you with dread or relief? We could even make this a tribute for Toure.
