Yaya is indeed a monster. He used to tire a bit in games when he first got here, how's his fitness this year? I like how seems to just walk past players at times when marauding forward. Seems capable of playing in a number of positions, power, pace, good feet etc.
I liked him Barca too. Just shows how strong they are as an attacking unit when Yaya was their holding midfielder. Barca's ethos is to win the ball back asap so it makes defensive midfielders redundant at times. I think me and Keni we're very vocal about this during Mascherano debates. Some alluded to the fact he failed because he was 'found out' and on the bench. A good few on us insisted that it wasn't his talent that was holding him back at all. Barca can get away with deploying Busquets (who is excellent btw) as their holder as their attack acts as their first line of defense. The team as a whole harries and hunts in packs. Opposition teams more often than not surrender possession back to them which invites pn another wave of Barca attack. Masher is being played at CB now, i've seen Barca play a back three without a recognised CB and still breeze through games. Crazy.
Didn't Yaya stall on a new contract and kick up a fuss which was the catalyst to his move to City? Barca sold him for a big fee, bought Masher for a lesser fee and had Keita to call upon if needed so I presume their happy with the transaction. Another league and CL can console them if they had a fleeting worry they sold a very good player.. However, I'm taking nothing away from Yaya as a player, he's great. Apologies for getting sidetracked with that Barca wank fest.
