Mancini, sibling rivalry and wanting to excite fans – the Yaya Toure story

The Football Interview is a new series in which the biggest names in sport and entertainment join host Kelly Somers for bold and in-depth conversations about the nation’s favourite sport.

We’ll talk about defining moments, career highs, and personal reflections, as well as motivation and mindset. The Football Interview brings you the person behind the player.

Yaya Toure excelled both professionally and professionally for Ivory Coast, playing for clubs of the calibre of Barcelona and Manchester City.

Since retiring in 2019, the 42-year-old has been cutting his teeth in coaching.

He re-joined Roberto Mancini and former City boss Roberto Mancini to lead Saudi Arabia after working in Ukraine and spending time at Tottenham’s academy.

Yaya Toure: Well, I believe football has given me a lot of joy, and I also feel the same way about some of the fans who are happy to see me play in the games. Football, as well, has helped me to put my kids on the good side and to have a good start of life. And, to be honest, it means a lot to me.

Kelly: What’s your earliest memory of playing the game?

Yaya, when I was a child. My childhood was… it was was joyful, to be honest.

Being a strong man, having my father in the military, being a military man, he has been a person who is very strong, to be honest.

Kelly: When you say that he was really strong, what do you mean? He was strict, right?

Yaya: You know the military men – they’re very strict in the sense that they want the kids to understand and get things right. For instance, I can recall a time when a mess is made quite direct and powerful when made in a home. You know what I mean? Everything is fine. And the sense of the development – my development as a person and as a player as well, you know – have this kind of focus, understanding and going straight forward to what we want to do has been good.

Kelly, do you recall the first team you played for? At what point did you start playing regularly and take football seriously?

Yaya: I was born in Bouake, Ivory Coast, but when my father had to work in Abidjan, we left Bouake. I went there and went to school there with my brothers and friends. I was active in many different activities in the early years, including football, taekwondo, and basketball.

I wanted to try everything because I’m a curious person. One of the coaches I started talking to at some point was saying, “Yaya, Yaya, I would really like to take you to my clubs and just have a try because you look interesting.” And I said: ‘ No problem… interesting. ‘ I had to deal with both full-time football and school, so it was a lot of fun in the beginning.

Kelly: You went on to have an incredible career and played at some of the world’s biggest clubs. Was there a particular coach or influence that significantly contributed to your development as a player?

Yaya: I think my family, to be honest. Of course, life has its ups and downs, and you might have to deal with them at times. You need people close to you to just put their hand on your shoulder and just support you at the right moment. I don’t want to forget those who have also played a significant role in my journey. For example, when I was in Ukraine, or I was in Greece, even in Belgium from the beginning, it was quite challenging at some period because just imagine a young guy coming as a 17-year-old to Europe and having to adapt to the culture.

Kelly, how much did that make you different? How tough was that?

Yaya: I was surprised, so it was significant. For example, imagine seeing four or five different types of weather. We might have two or one in Africa. I was like, ‘ I have to change these clothes today. I have to switch up a lot of clothes tomorrow. And it was like a bit… It was quite normal, you know, just to adapt, I don’t want to say annoying.

Kelly: What was it like, though, leaving Africa as a youngster, when you’re clearly quite a proud African as well. How did you find that?

Yaya: To be honest, I think it’s something I’m very proud of. In the beginning, it was quite challenging. The fact that I was being asked more about my income than what I’m going to bring to the club by fans and the media. And so those few people as well will be sceptical about my arrival at City, because they were thinking it was not the right move to do, and I feel so delighted that I proved them wrong. I’m proud of the fact that I did what I should have done.

My second year at Barcelona, we won everything and I’ll never forget the Champions League final – playing in a different position. Some of my team-mates were telling me before the game that “You’re going to play Manchester United and there’s going to be Cristiano Ronaldo coming to you and [Wayne] Rooney is coming to you.”

I wanted to embrace the challenge. But inside, I was a little concerned, because it’s okay to play holding midfield. But a defender, any mistake can cost you a lot, right, and can stay in your brain for a long time. I’m most pleased that I have the chance to assist City in establishing itself as one of England’s elite clubs at the moment.

Kelly: When did the coaching journey begin then?

Yaya, I started to feel a little sluggish while watching TV at home. I didn’t take it that seriously in that moment because I want to have this kind of freedom – just relax because my body was hurt from a lot of difficult moments from games and injuries. As you can see, I aspired to spend that time relaxing and unwinding for perhaps a month or two. That was my plan at the beginning.

Kelly: What has changed? What happened?

Yaya: I started to be obnoxious after about two or three days. I was watching all the games and commenting on them. I was aware that La Liga and the Premier League would debut at eighteen, and I was aware that the French league would begin at seveneen. I was all the time, on the right time, watching TV. And I was asking, “What will I do?” And after that, I started the journey of thinking about building something suitable for me. I began the coaching journey by doing that. I started to do all the badges possible.

I’ve spent time at Tottenham’s academy, in Russia, Ukraine, and Saudi Arabia, where I spent time before recently. And it was something enjoyable. Not that easy, but I believe I had to do that. To be ready, because I hope one day people are going to watch me with my team as a coach.

Kelly, which coaches have had the biggest impact on you and the person you want to be as a manager?

Yaya: Frank Rijkaard and Roberto Mancini. It was impressive when I visited Barcelona during Rijkaard’s time because he would constantly say, “I don’t want you to go further [forward] because you play the deep midfielder role.” Xavi and Iniesta are in front of you, you can’t pass them to play the ball because you’re supposed to be behind them. Two skilled players are in that area, but I believe you can give the team more physically.

What he did, at some point – he called me. He wanted to meet me face-to-face, have a conversation, and perhaps watch a movie. I said: ‘ Why do I want to watch a movie with you gaffer?! ‘ We went to his private room after everyone had left, and he recorded all of our actions against Zaragoza on a video. I’ll never forget that. I told you not to do this, but look at that, he said in a small book.

From that day, when I left his office, I never talk again, ever – because it was like something new to me. He was like, “Yaya, Yaya, Yaya,” in the video game. I was like: ‘ What does this guy want from me? He calls me all the time. Why he don’t call Puyol, don’t call Alves or Abidal or Zambrotta. Why am I always? It was like he had something against me, but he was right. My mind has changed a lot since that time.

The second one was Mancini. You can tell by his dedication and passion how much he gets involved in the session he leads and the intensity of his performance.

Yaya: I’ve always said that I was the best because we had a little feudal feelings for each other. But at some point I felt he got to the point that he knows I was better at some part of the games than him. Because of all of this coming down from my father, I believe he was physically better.

He was very focused, dedicated, and he always had that discipline. Because he was always shouting and approving of me, I tried to run away from him. Well, me and Kolo, we’ve always been like that, but at some point Kolo realised that I was a bit better. He didn’t feel uneasy because he wanted to push that very far, didn’t he? Like, who’s going to be the best and who’s going to achieve more, and at some point I got better.

Kelly, are you two close in any way?

Yaya: Yeah, at some points – but in life, at the end of the day… at some point you get it where each one of you have to go in your own way. To be honest, I fully comprehend and respect that.

Kelly: How would your friends and family describe you?

Yaya, a funny person. I think people maybe think I have a lot of friends around me. I’ll admit to being a very reserved and private guy, though. You maybe don’t see a lot of people around me. You’re going to see a small group of people around me because, in my opinion, having a lot of people around you will help you greatly, especially in a football career. It’s so demanding and you have to make so many sacrifices, and if you are very disciplined – like my father taught me and my brother – you can have a success. However, I believe it will be challenging for you to make it if you have too much fun. And that’s what I believe, and that’s why I stick with it for almost all my career.

Kelly, what would you like to accomplish in life if you could only accomplish one thing?

Yaya: I believe I’m never going to stop because I belong to one thing – going as far as possible as a coach, maybe at some point to win trophies with my team, bring joy to the players and bring joy to the people who have been supporting me for quite a while, to be honest.

Kelly, what kind of team will the Yaya Toure team have?