Yaya Toure Set To Become a Professional Football Coach

Former Ivorian Footballer and Manchester City midfielder ‘Yaya Toure has declared his intention to become a coach.

Yaya Toure discussed why he decided to pursue a career in football management and reveals that he has joined QPR’s coaching staff in interview with The Coaches stating that he had never coached before.

“I just want to play, At the time, I was sure of it. I wanted to finish my playing career properly. But those words sparked something in me, when it had never previously crossed my mind.

At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola and I used to talk after training about specific things, parts of the game that he loved to analyse. He saw that I understood the game. Sometimes I would also speak with the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, too. He agreed I should consider becoming a coach.

Up until then, I just thought I was thinking about how I was playing in a deeper way. I didn’t really realise I was thinking like a coach.

Of course, I had great managers at City – Roberto Mancini, Manuel Pellegrini and Guardiola. They would give the team a platform and structure, but communication between players is so important. You need communication on the pitch. We found we made each other better because we understood what we were doing so well.

“I asked loads of questions. I wanted to know what to do and why we should do it”

I wouldn’t say I was demanding as a player. I just saw the potential in my teammates, and I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible.

That was something I learned at Barcelona: everyone is different. If you don’t talk with them and it’s only the manager giving information, you can’t make your teammate the best they can be. If they score a goal, it is a goal for all of you, so why not help them out whenever you can?

I think my understanding of the game comes from my footballing education back in Ivory Coast.