Team of the Season – Yaya Toure

Prior to the 2013/14 campaign, Yaya Toure was known as a solid, if somewhat unspectacular Fantasy option, who tended to be overshadowed by some of his Manchester City team-mates when it came to picking up the Fantasy points. Dependable enough, the Ivorian scored six times in each of his first three seasons at the Etihad, with returns of 146, 139 and 142 points indicative of the consistency we’d come to expect over his time in the Premier League:

This time around, though, Toure exceeded all expectations. With set-pieces and penalties playing a significant part in his ascent, he stormed the Fantasy standings with 20 goals, nine assists and 34 bonus points in the Fantasy Premier League (FPL) game – a tally of 241 points was bettered only by Luis Suarez as the Etihad side won the title for the second time in three seasons.

The Statistics

Toure was quick out the blocks under Manuel Pellegrini. With the Chilean affording him more license to attack, the former Barcelona man had scored four times in the first six fixtures, with a couple of double figures already accrued. Fantasy managers were quick to load up on the African, too, and by the time Gameweek 8 rolled around, he’d already risen by 1.0 in price.

Toure’s consistency reached previously unseen levels – time and again he defied the expectations of many by continuing to deliver the Fantasy points. His explosive potential was underlined in emphatic fashion in City’s double Gameweek 31, where the midfielder delivered back-to-back double figures for his owners (21 and 10 points) against Fulham and United respectively.

By the time the season had come to an end, Toure had produced 10+ points on 10 separate occasions and delivered a goal or assist in 23 of his 35 appearances. His 20 goal-haul was top amongst midfielders and was also superior to any team-mate in Pellegrini’s successful first season at the helm, whilst a finishing price of 10.6 is perhaps indicative as to what we can expect next season.

The Prospects

The main issue for those earmarking Toure is whether he’ll be able to maintain his ridiculously high conversion rate. Last season, he was only fourteenth amongst midfielders for total attempts on goal, firing 64 efforts, yet scored 20 times – all the more impressive given that only 27 of those shots were on target. Suffice to say, it’ll be a tough task to score with 31.1% of his attempts for two seasons in succession.

His exploits are set to send Toure firmly into the premium bracket along with the likes of Steven Gerrard and Eden Hazard. Whilst Gerrard is first-choice spot-kick taker for Liverpool and Hazard’s duties are only threatened by Frank Lampard’s occasional appearances for Chelsea, Toure’s role as number one penalty taker very much depends on the fitness of Sergio Aguero. Given that six of his 20 goals arrived from the spot, Toure’s prospects would undoubtedly suffer if the Argentine managed to remain injury-free.

Furthermore, can Toure continue at the same level with free-kicks? Seven of his strikes arrived from dead-ball situations in 2013/14, meaning only seven efforts came from open play – certainly, he emphatically proved the doubters wrong last time around but if Aguero, David Silva and Samir Nasri can all steer clear of the injury room, there are enough alternatives available amongst Pellegrini’s first-team which may prove better value this time around.

Regardless of his anticipated price hike, it’s likely that many will enter the new season with Toure on board. Some will snap him up out of hope and anticipation that he’ll continue in the same vein, whilst others, perhaps a little more reluctantly, in fear of missing out on those returns. There’s no doubt his 2013/14 displays quashed the theory that he’s no more than the “casuals favourite” once and for all but the Ivorian’s standards have been set so high, it remains to be seen whether he can maintain them once again or revert to the previous norm.