Yaya Toure, to me is the best central
midfielder in the world, and he has been for quite sometimes now. When people
think about good soccer players, countries like Brazil, Argentina and France
comes to mind because they've produced a lot of great players over the years.
For Brazil, they had arguably the best soccer player ever in Pele. Argentina
had Diego Maradona and France had Zinedine Zidane.
African players are often labeled as
"too strong" or "too fast" but never as intelligent. Yaya
Toure is all that and more. His Manchester City teammate Samir Nasri, described
him as the best midfielder in the world. “If he wasn’t African everyone
will say he’s the best midfielder in the world,” says Nasri. Yaya can do
everything, he can attack, defend and score goals. I've never seen a player so
powerful and intelligent like Yaya. He can do it all, whatever the manager asks
of him, that's what he'll do.
Being a soccer player myself, I was
always labeled as a fast player but nothing more. Growing up, my coaches usually
told my teammates to kick the ball to the corners so I could beat my man and
score. It felt good to be able to do that, but after awhile, it got annoying
and teams started changing their tactics. Sometimes, actions speak louder than
words. What my coaches were basically saying back then was, all you have is
your speed and nothing else.
Players like Messi, Iniesta and Xavi
from Barcelona are called by some pundits "Magicians." I have never
heard any pundit call a black player intelligent or good tactically. When I say
good tactically, I mean reading the game and adjusting to what your opponent is
doing. All experts say about Yaya is that he's powerful and a bully.
