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Yaya Toure “blames” Guardiola for Sterling’s recent success

Pavel I. Meda
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During an interview with The Mirror, Yaya Toure confessed that he thinks Raheem Sterling’s success is thanks to Pep Guardiola’s influence.

Even though Yaya Toure never really had a good relationship with Pep Guardiola during his career, there is no denying that the Catalan manager has a special kind of talent when it comes to helping players improve and Raheem Sterling is the latest example of this fact.

Ever since he took control of Manchester City, it’s clear that Pep Guardiola has always attempted to recreate what he had at FC Barcelona and he started signing players with characteristics that were at least a little bit similar to Lionel Messi’s.

There are currently three or four players who can fit this role the Argentine had in the Catalan club. Those players are Leroy Sane, Riyad Mahrez, Jadon Sacho (who left last season), and Raheem Sterling.

The ladder is arguably the one who has improved the most in the latest season, he has achieved a level of performance that currently places him amongst the top English players in the world and Pep Guardiola is responsible for this impressive feat that Sterling has achieved both with his club and country.

Although we weren’t expecting someone like Yaya Toure to talk about this development from Sterling, it does feel refreshing that even former players who didn’t agree with Guardiola are coming out to praise him.

The Ivorian former midfielder was always famous for his heated disagreements with the Catalan manager, he even accused him of being racist once for not giving him the opportunities that he deserved.

However, even Yaya can’t deny the fantastic work that Guardiola has done at Manchester City and he recently spoke to The Mirror about his work with Raheem.

“He is a top manager. Pep is the type of guy who can take a talent and get it to its maximum level,” said Toure during the interview.

“Raheem, my little brother, joined when Pellegrini was at the club. Since Pep arrived Raheem is in another world. He is complete.”

“Pep has given him the confidence he has needed. When he played for Liverpool I was always scared of him because he is short and so fast, so quick! Him and Suarez and Coutinho? They were unplayable.”

“But when he first arrived at City I had to ask myself when it was the right choice for him because he was struggling a lot.”

“He had a lot of criticism and it was hard for him. But he continued to work and now he deserves the Player of the Year.”

“Pep came and improved him and Aguero. De Bruyne. Walker who was already a good player became a different class. For players like that, as a manager Pep is fantastic.”

The level of performance that Sterling has reached recently is even giving him a chance to become one of England’s possible candidates to win the Player of the Year Award, a prize in which he will compete against the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Sergio Aguero, Eden Hazard, Son Heung-Min, Alisson Becker, and Fernandinho.

The top three players to win the award are the English forward, his Argentine teammate, and the Liverpool defender.

But the final decision won’t be made until the end of the season because we are still waiting to see which club will be crowned as the new Premier League champion by the end of the competition.

Certainly, Raheem Sterling will have to deliver more crucial performances from now until the end of the season in order to become a true recipient of the award.

But we already know that Pep Guardiola would much rather have his player perform at his best in the Champions League than in the Premier League this season, the Citizens’ fans are eagerly craving to win the biggest competition there is at club level and they feel like this could be the year for them.

Which competitions will Raheem Sterling help Manchester City win this season? Please share your opinion in the comment section down below.