Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure has been left out of the starting lineup against Chelsea by Pep Guardiola, but the British press is reporting that the Ivorian was dropped due to being charged for drunk driving by the Manchester police, with Toure scheduled to attend a mandatory court session before a magistrate.
According to the Express, Toure was pulled over by the police on the night of 28th November, and when tested, had a higher blood alcohol level than the permissible norm and was taken into custody. The Ivorian will appear before the court on December 13th.
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When the Express contacted Manchester City’s head of media relations, Simon Heggie, he said: “It’s a personal issue so we would not comment, speak to his agent.”
Consequently, Yaya Toure was left out in the big clash against Chelsea at the Etihad, with Pep Guardiola relegating him to the bench. However, given that Guardiola also named an unusual 3-5-2 formation, Yaya Toure might not have had the discipline to make the first team XI anyway.
Toure had only recently made his way back to the lineup
Yaya Toure’s indiscretion could not have come at a worse time for the midfielder, as he had only recently made his way back into the lineup. The Ivorian starred for Manchester City against Crystal Palace last month, scoring two goals in a man of the match performance as City ran out 2-1 winners.
After having feuded with his agent for most of the season, Pep Guardiola admitted that he had perhaps made a mistake in leaving Toure out for so long, saying “I'm here to take decisions. Maybe I make mistakes, but I have to take decisions, and I respect that all the people cannot agree with me. That happened.”
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“I spoke in the last month, many times with Yaya because he was my player with Barcelona, I know him very well. So I know how he is like a player.”
However, Toure’s latest misdemeanour could be dealt with by the club in a punitive way, even though the club have addressed it as a ‘personal’ issue. With City challenging for the Premier League title and going through to the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League, Guardiola will need all hands on deck to mount a good challenge.
