Yaya Touré’s hot and cold relationship with Klopp and Guardiola
Yaya did not play under Klopp, he played under Pep Guardiola — but the problem is that Yaya does not have Guardiola’s phone number
Cote d’ Ivoire football legend Yaya Toure played under Pep Guardiola at Barcelona and Man City winning several trophies under the Spanish coach but the relationship between them today is cold.
In an interview with The Times of London Toure revealed his hot relationship with Liverpool Jurgen Klopp he never played under “Liverpool and [Manchester] City are separated by one point and they are going to fight until the end,” he says. “I hope City will win it because I am a City fan, but it’s so unpredictable and Liverpool are so, so strong.”
Yaya will text Jürgen Klopp after the game should the Merseyside club prevail and the Liverpool manager will text him right back. The Ivorian has been building relationships with various high-profile coaches as he embarks on his quest to become a manager in his own right.
“Klopp, when he wins games, I text him and he is delighted and he always invites me [to meet him] and texts me back. Does this guy rest? I don’t think so, he loves football. He’s a top, top, guy.”
Touré won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups with CityTouré won three Premier League titles, an FA Cup and two League Cups with City
This is all rather topsy-turvy, of course. Yaya did not play under Klopp, he played under Pep Guardiola — but the problem is that Yaya does not have Guardiola’s phone number. Much has been made of their poor relationship.
Yaya, having been marginalised by the Catalan both at Barcelona and then City, accused Guardiola, four years ago, of “having problems with Africans”. He wrote a subsequent letter of apology which has not been acknowledged but Yaya is ready for a rapprochement.
“I put that in the past and put it down to the Covid situation,” the Ivorian says. “I wish to see him. I will be delighted. I need to talk to people who have a passion for football. I haven’t been in touch with him because I don’t have his number.”
There is an overwhelming sense of Yaya starting afresh. He dived into two separate assistant management roles in Ukraine and Russia upon retiring as a player but has now realised he was too impatient. He is close to completing his Uefa A licence, with the Wales FA, alongside Gaël Clichy and Yohan Cabaye, both former France internationals, and James Collins, the former Wales defender, and will enrol on the Pro Licence course in the autumn.
“When I stopped playing, I knew straight away what I wanted to do,” he says. “I need to share my knowledge and experience once I finish my badges.”
What will a Yaya team look like? “I love football, I love it when it’s attractive,” he says, “with a lot of desire, commitment and energy. Fans are attracted by that.”
Back to that “Yaya, Yaya, Kolo, Kolo” song. Will we one day see the two brothers as a management duo?
“I’m not sure,” he smiles, “because if it gets down to that, he will want to be the coach and me the assistant and the thing is, when I get to that level, I want to be the coach and not the assistant. And we see the game differently.
“Kolo’s working under Brendan [Rodgers] now at Leicester. Brendan is a fantastic coach and I like his philosophy, but I have my own way.”
Yaya has had many chats with Rodgers, who tells him to keep asking questions and learning and to take the journey of studying to be a coach seriously “because it’s a lovely job we do”.
I joke that Rodgers might sack Kolo and hire Yaya and the younger sibling guffaws his denial.
Kolo’s advice has been that while Yaya was demanding of himself as a player, he must “go easy and not be too demanding of his players. He calms me down. He’s really good for me.”
