Player Focus: How Yaya Touré Is Deployed Under Manuel Pellegrini

As Yaya Touré powered through the Viktoria Plzen midfield before unleashing an unstoppable effort past Matús Kozácik on Tuesday night, he showcased exactly why Manchester City fans hold him in such high regard. The Ivorian’s goal aided in seeing the club secure just their second away win in 7 attempts in Europe’s elite competition, while handing the team a timely confidence boost ahead of the Manchester derby.

The 30-year-old has been a revelation for the Citizens since signing from Barcelona in 2010, at times dragging the team through the mire single handedly to ensure 3 points are secured, his brace in the 2-0 win over Newcastle United on their way to securing their first league title in 44 years in 2012 epitomising this. That year may’ve seen David Silva (7.55) and Sergio Agüero (7.47) average a higher WhoScored.com rating than Touré (7.41) such was their impact that term, but the midfielder was instrumental in their domestic success.

The following season, however, City failed to defend their Premier League crown, with rivals Manchester United landing their 20th league title at their expense. A poor showing in Europe and a season without a trophy and Italian Roberto Mancini was shown the exit door, his time towards the end of his reign encapsulated in the 1-0 defeat to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup Final.

In his place came Manuel Pellegrini, and despite the Chilean having failed to lead any of his previous teams to major silverware, ‘The Engineer’ arrived in Manchester with a lengthy list of admirers. Impressing during spells with Villarreal, Real Madrid and Malaga, the 60-year-old was charged with improving their European fortunes, while wrestling the Premier League title away from United.

Yet, a stuttering start to the campaign has seen City fail to secure victory away from home in the Premier League this term, with a win somewhat needed when they host United at the weekend. One player that will undoubtedly be vital in the fixture is Touré, the colossal midfielder charged with disrupting the attacking rhythm of a side that might be finding their feet after consecutive victories.

While his charging runs have been an asset to the club in the past, the acquisitions of the likes of Stevan Jovetic, Álvaro Negredo and Jesús Navas have bolstered the attacking ranks, thus seeing Touré often operate deeper in City’s midfield. The signing of Fernandinho was expected to free up the Ivory Coast star, allowing the offensive side of his game to be capitalised upon, but in the opening 4 fixtures this season, Touré has been utilisied in a deeper role to that which he is known for, with this likely to have been at the request of Pellegrini.

This comes despite City conceding just 34 Premier League goals last season - the fewest in the Premier League last term - Joe Hart was still culpable for that figure being as high as it was. With 9 of those 34 coming from outside of the area, only Rob Green (30.4%) and Mark Bunn (27.3%) conceded a higher proportion of their goals from distance than Hart (26.5%) of every goalkeeper to have made 5 or more appearances.

Pellegrini has noted this and aimed to counteract the problem by keeping Touré in a more defensive position than he might have been previously, a role both Javi García and Jack Rodwell failed to perform sufficiently well last term. Evidently, the City boss has highlighted this facet as a weakness to Hart's game and aimed to counter the problem by utilising Touré's tackling ability to ensure that shots from distance are kept to a minimum. 

That will also come as a plus to the team with the onus on playing the ball out of defence, this maximising Touré's passing ability. This has seen the player average 93 touches and 86.8 passes per game, both of which are the highest for the player since he signed from Barcelona, with the player offering a link between the defence and attack in order to abide by the manager's instructions.

Rather than utilise his energy supplies to smash through the opposition, Pellegrini is perhaps hoping to attack in a more reserved fashion, Touré instead marshaling the space in front of the defence to break up play and recycle possession.

This is further exhibited in the Ivorian powerhouse averaging 2.3 tackles per game over the 2013/14 campaign, the most he has averaged since signing for City. However, while he's averaging more passes per game, his creative capability has been limited as a result, with Touré averaging 0.5 key passes per game this term, the fewest during his time at the club. 

While this may not harness the player’s attacking threat, the respective arrivals of attack-minded players and Sergio Agüero operating in the space behind the striker mean Touré can use his energy without the ball in middle of the park. With his ability to break up play and pick out a teammate, the redeployment of the midfielder by Pellegrini will ostensibly improve the defensive solidity of the team.

Do you think Yaya Touré is being utilised differently under Manuel Pellegrini? Let us know in the comments below