Yaya Toure: I'm a midfielder, not a striker
Manchester City turns on critics after scoring first league goal of the season
Yaya Toure accused his detractors of forgetting he was a midfielder after scoring for Manchester City in the Premier League champions’ 2-0 victory at Aston Villa.
An inspirational figure in City’s run to the title last season, the 31-year-old Ivory Coast international has not hit the same heights so far this season.
After an unsettled pre-season where he made a bizarre complaint about how City marked his birthday and lost a younger brother to cancer, Toure found himself under intense scrutiny as a queue of pundits lined up to suggest his influence was waning.
But after his 82nd-minute strike at Villa Park on Saturday set City up for a win sealed by Sergio Aguero, Toure said it was wrong to judge him against his exceptional return of 20 goals last season.
“Sometimes people are forgetting I am a midfielder,” he said. “My job is not to score all the goals. My job is to try to keep the team playing well, give the good pass.
“If I get the opportunity to score it is fantastic. Last year was quite open for me, I was in good positions, but I was quite lucky because I was getting free-kicks and some penalties as well,” the former Barcelona star added.