Toure calls for top four mentality

November 04, 2009

Kolo Toure

KOLO Toure believes it is vital Manchester City regain that winning mentality if they are to be considered genuine contenders for a Champions League place.

Despite a fourth successive draw - at Birmingham - Mark Hughes's side moved into the fourth spot.

Club skipper Toure says they need to kick-on, sooner rather than later, starting on Saturday in the home game against Burnley.

He told www.mcfc.co.uk: "We need to impose ourselves as we have some gifted players in this dressing room.

"We can enjoy our football by passing it and controlling games. That's what we need to achieve now. The team needs time but as time goes by we need to improve.

"City is not the team it was before, a lot of things have changed and our mentality has to change as well.

"We cannot be happy with a draw or drawing four games in a row. Chelsea, Arsenal or Liverpool would never be happy with that, which is why they have been at the top, so neither can we."

Toure is hopeful he can face Burnley after being sidelined with a heel problem.

He said: "The injury is getting better, I feel that I will be fit enough for the game on Saturday.

"I'm always disappointed when I'm injured and I can't help out my team mates, but we have a strong squad here.

"You need that if you want to at the top of this league, because there are some really tough teams out there."

Will City pay the price for their run of draws at the end of the season? Have your say.

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I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida (04/11/2009 at 12:42)

I'm convinced that mental attitude is half of our battle, and unfortunately no manager, training excercise or anything other than the players themselves can have an effect on the attitude of the team. It's up to the players !

I hate, let me repeat, HATE, to throw compliments at the scum, but their proven ability to come back when down or push on against teams was shown again last night. They really are one of the best teams in the world for having a positive attitude (And they're also damn lucky).

AlexC83, Manchester (04/11/2009 at 12:51)

If we'd won the Fulham game these recent away draws would be regarded completely differently so it's that game we must ensure isn't repeated. Burnley at home is a game we should be winning and im positive we will.

Then the stats will read 6 league games, ten points, no defeats, and two cup wins. Not so bad then eh?

mark jones (04/11/2009 at 13:16)

IM AN IMPECCABLE ON-wash your mouth out.

Never Boo a Blue (formerly The Grimreaper), Sale (04/11/2009 at 13:22)

Despite the deep crisis the club now finds itself in after another away draw, there are just 650 tickets left for the Burnley match.

In the aftermath on Sunday’s horror show, I can only assume that everyone is turning up for a demonstration against the manager and the negligent owners who have landed us in this precarious position of being in the top4 in November, with a home game in hand and the quarter finals of the Carling Cup.

Oh and the shame of having only lost 1 game in all competitions so far this season, BOOOOOO!!!

To those halfwits who have been slagging the team and the manager all week, my above comments are called sarcasm, to the rest of you, you know we are in good shape, which a win on Saturday and then at Crisis Anfield will prove.

Sheikh Rattle and Rolling in it, Manchester (where else) (04/11/2009 at 13:23)

I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida

Couldn't have put it better myself.....we all laughed when Glenn Hoddle tried to introduce mental conditioning into the England camp....if the players have took it seriously, who knows what would have happened

glad to be blue, halifax (04/11/2009 at 13:28)

the top clubs all draw 6/7/8/ games throughout the season,maybe we are having ours in one go

Blue Jazzman, Marple (04/11/2009 at 13:29)

I couldnt agree with Kolo more

The mentalilty in terms of not wanting to be beaten has improved beyond all recognition from last season, but the next, vital, step is wanting to WIN every match no matter with whom - no matter where

Nobody moans about the luck that Man U seem to have more than I do and the 90th minute deflection to gain an equaliser last night was typical

But come on, we can agree amongst ourselves - YOU MAKE YOUR OWN LUCK

If Utd had not been attacking in the 90th minute, Valencia wouldnt have a had a shot on goal and if Valencia had not had a shot on goal, he wouldnt have benefitted from a deflection

Compare this with Sunday when we simply didnt show that winning mentality in the final minutes at Brum

Another thing that strikes me - We still need to spend big in the market in January

The so called top four all have players who are capable of influencing the result - almost single handed

Last season

Liverpool, had Alonso, Gerrard and Torres - Alonso has gone - Gerrard and Torres have struggled for fitness - look what has happened to Liverpool this season

Last season;

Chelses, had Drogba, Terry and Lampard - They still do - look where they are

Last Season Utd had Rooney and Ronaldo - Ronaldo has gone - they are a shadow of last season's team and wont win much this seasson - thankfully

Last season Arsenal were without Fabregas, but had Van Persie and Arshavin some of the time - they were ok but not brill

This season, they Have all three firing on all four cylinders and they look very very good

City ? Well, I think the only player you could say we have who can influence a result single handed is Given - But Given can only save games, he cant win them - unless we score - we have no out field player doing what Gerrard does, or Torres or Fabregas, or Drogba or Terry

So come on Hughsie we want to see a bold transfer bid or three in Jan or we will still lack the ability to turn draws into wins

Tommy "Chopper" C, Oz. (04/11/2009 at 13:40)

adders.....I wil respond to your email as soon as I can, Just need about a spare hour somewhere to do it justice. Had a look at that thing on U tube, sounded very nice.

As for Kolo, get back in there lad and kick some of our lazy arse players up the back side....and if that doesn`t work kick the manager. If we don`t thump Burnley {not just win} something is very wrong.

BlueSte (04/11/2009 at 13:42)

I'm an Impeccable one. You speak so much sense there mate its untrue. And it has to come from the stands as well as the players. It will take time, BUT I am convinced that this has been the main reason why City have struggled so much in the last 30 years.

shaking, stockport (04/11/2009 at 13:43)

Should have signed Owen instead of RSC = saving £20m. Could have kept Dunne and had some decent players to cover when Toure and Adebayor slope off to the African Cup for 4 weeks in the new year.

big blumer, cheltenham (04/11/2009 at 14:00)

Should have signed Owen instead of RSC = saving £20m. Could have kept Dunne and had some decent players to cover when Toure and Adebayor slope off to the African Cup for 4 weeks in the new year.
shaking, stockport
4/11/2009 at 13:43

i love it, your basing that opinion on RSC after one game in bad conditions where he played 60 mins, his first league start playing in a new team, after being injured since the last third of last season. i guess they hand 'em high in stockport.......

RSC is a quality player and that will shine through when he is fit. the 17 million was a transfer fee by the way, it wasnt used to turn him into a paraguayan 6 million dollar man that heals over-night and doesnt need time to recover or get up to speed. be patient, you'll see, i saw him destroy us for rovers when he got 2 and dominated our defence, thats gonna take more than 60 mins of game time though, be realistic he's been out for ages, come the christmas fixtures he'll be up there........

Bosvelts left boot, London (04/11/2009 at 14:06)

It makes a change talking about the top 4 rather than the bottom 4. The mentality of winning will come good soon enough - for the first time in many many years my mentality is changing towards City - now when we go a goal behind I expect City to come back - in the past when we went a goal down, you gave up and expected the inevitable......changing times changing times.

Ian, West Sussex (04/11/2009 at 14:47)

For a certain top 4 position we must record 6/7 away wins at (least) - and these would be mainly against the lower teams plus a few draws. For 1st 2 games this was achieved - Blackburn/Portsmouth (Robinho on pitch). Since then Wigan/Brum only draws - Villa reasonable show, Manure v unlucky. Also our goal diff currently inferior to so called top 4 - this could be crucial at season end and must be improved. Must get back on track against Burnley and win convincingly- we usually do well against them (like to see Weiss in place of SWP who needs a rest). December very important month - 6 Prem games.

fowler, wythenshawe (04/11/2009 at 15:03)

top 4 game in hand played more away than at home already matched our 2 away wins from last season, had our top goalscorer out for most games, still the richest club in the land, and just to put the candles on a really big cake!!! united look like the tide is going out on there and Mr taggarts time at the top. stop moaning blue boys keep backing the best team we have had in many years. grego the peel hall blue

Belmont Blue, CA, USA (04/11/2009 at 15:13)

Never Boo a Blue, Sale....You are so right, I am disgusted that we have lost fewer premier league games than any other team. What are the owners thinking of! Someone at the highest level needs to address this travesty pronto before something really dire happens like Champions League qualification.

"Despite the deep crisis the club now finds itself in after another away draw, there are just 650 tickets left for the Burnley match.

In the aftermath on Sunday’s horror show, I can only assume that everyone is turning up for a demonstration against the manager and the negligent owners who have landed us in this precarious position of being in the top4 in November, with a home game in hand and the quarter finals of the Carling Cup.

Oh and the shame of having only lost 1 game in all competitions so far this season, BOOOOOO!!!

To those halfwits who have been slagging the team and the manager all week, my above comments are called sarcasm, to the rest of you, you know we are in good shape, which a win on Saturday and then at Crisis Anfield will prove. "

blue in hulme (04/11/2009 at 15:14)

Yes. We lack the 'swagger' of the truly successful teams. Only briefly in my lifetime, when Francis Lee was in his pomp, did we possess it. His enormous self-confidence transmitted itself to others, some of whom were more talented than he. Robinho is the nearest we have to providing this, but swagger is no good without being truly effective on a regular basis. (Players with swagger often have a rebellious streak and don't give managers - or inferior players -an easy time.)

jo alves (04/11/2009 at 15:24)

big blumer, well said fella im getting fed up of all these world beating managers that realy are so fickle & DO NOT have a clue !!! CFL BELEIVE.

Peter Doherty. As good as it gets. (Was it really 37 years?) , Levenshulme (04/11/2009 at 15:32)

I'm an 'impeccable' one ! 10 Feb '08, Florida
4/11/2009 at 12:42

Such things should NEVER be uttered on a public forum...

Eike Immel's crossed eyes, Leeds (04/11/2009 at 15:33)

Never Boo a Blue (formerly The Grimreaper), Sale

Spot on mate! I can't believe how negative some City fans can be - don't they remember 10 years ago??

Andrew Shaw (04/11/2009 at 16:21)

Fair points Blue Jazz Man although I think that Brum really were hanging on a bit at the end, as demonstrated by the ridiculous hand ball that saw Ferguson off a few seconds before everyone else! Ireland was becoming more and more influential and I just wish we had had a few more minutes because by the end there was only one team going to score and it certainly wasn't Brum. Liverpool did ok in the end last season but they had a blip when they lost Torres and Gerrard for a period. If they are going to be without those two for any time at all, now is the time to capitalise on that, especially when we play them at Anfield in a few weeks.

Eike Immel's crossed eyes, Leeds (04/11/2009 at 16:37)

shaking, stockport
4/11/2009 at 13:43

Adebayor won't be at the African Cup for 4 weeks in January...

...because Togo won't make it past the group stage - he'll be back for City within 2 weeks. Toure might be out there for longer though.

But it'll probably be Egypt v South Africa/Nigeria (the stronger teams) in the final, so if we had players who were of that nationality, i'd be more worried!

Cliche ManC, Enjoying The Ride (04/11/2009 at 16:47)

Spot on Big Blumer regarding RSC against us two years ago on the night that Petrov ripped their right back apart and he was took off at HT with dizzy spells. If he'd have been playing in blue that night we could have declared after 30 minutes such was Petrov's delivery. Problem is that it was 2 years ago in RSC's only stand out season at the moment he only reminds me of Samaras, Corradi and Bianchi.

The Blue Tool, URMSTON (04/11/2009 at 16:58)

Do a lot of you realise a 4th place finish in the league will only get us in the qualifying stages, not automatically into the "Champions " league......

Chapman (04/11/2009 at 17:40)

Top one attitude to follow.

BristolStevefromOldham, bristol (04/11/2009 at 17:51)

Blue Jazzman, Marple
We do have a 'we won't be beaten' attitude. I agree we now need a 'we will beat this lot' attitude. We don't seem to quite have the latter. Just about the only defence of this, is that if you lose one (esp. a bad one like Brum) the confidence really does take a knock. But we should really be going at teams and driving them back.

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