All-action hero Yaya Toure proves his importance to Manchester City

The Ivory Coast international can play many roles on the football pitch and showed why he will be hard to replace at Etihad Stadium, writes Richard Jolly.

Yaya Toure, right, was responsible for Sergio Aguero’s goal against West Ham United on Sunday. Peter Powell / EPA

“It seems the answer for everything at City is to blame Yaya,” said Dimitri Seluk, who has forged a reputation as a particularly partisan observer.

That statement was a clear illustration why Yaya Toure’s outspoken agent has that notoriety as he gave his analysis of Manchester City’s troubles on Sunday.

Yet if there was an element of exaggeration – and Manuel Pellegrini, for one, has never pointed the finger of blame at his vice-captain – there is a sense that Toure has effected a 12-month transformation from saviour to scapegoat.

It is a reflection of what Toure has been – arguably the most significant player in City’s rise – and of what he represents.

He has become emblematic of an ageing team that scores fewer goals and leaves its defence exposed too often.

Yet on a day when City fielded their second oldest team of the season, with an average age of 29 years, 307 days, Toure offered a snapshot of his younger self.

Accused of a “dereliction of duty” by the former Manchester United captain Gary Neville in last week’s derby defeat, there was no sense he shirked his tasks this week as he turned provider by being a destroyer.

His sliding challenge on Stewart Downing, which led to Sergio Aguero’s goal, reminding us that this was the man who arrived as a defensive midfielder, only to be converted to a more attacking presence.

“The problem is that City want Yaya to do everything,” Seluk had argued. “They want him to score goals, they want him to assist goals, and they want him to defend. He cannot do it all on his own.”

At times, it seemed as though he could, though, such were the powers of an all-action midfielder.

Such are the reasons that, if City do decide to move Toure on, he will be hard to replace.

One potential transfer target, Juventus’ Paul Pogba, may be able to replicate his contribution but few other midfielders have the combination of attributes to compensate for his departure.

Toure turns 32 in May and, given the events of last summer, his birthday will not pass unnoticed.

His 31st was the beginning of a public breakdown in relations between player and club.

Pablo Zabaleta celebrated – if that is the appropriate verb – his 30th this year and seemed another of City’s old-timers who was railing against perceptions he is past it, the right-back setting the tone by snapping into tackles.

Like Toure, the Argentine has endured arguably his poorest season at the Etihad Stadium.

Once again, the intent was to demonstrate a decline is not terminal.

The broader picture is of a team that has seemed old and tired at times in recent months, one that has looked in need of rejuvenation.

This side were capable of sweeping West Ham aside; not with the kind of four, five or six-goal thrashing they inflicted last season, but with a comfortable two-goal margin.

The second half was a rather sedate affair, one the senior citizens in their ranks may have appreciated, but one they created with defining contributions before then.

For once, Toure was the tackler, rather than the target for the critics.

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