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Cape Town - Manuel Pellegrini continues to defend Ivory Coast midfielder Yaya Toure after his slow start to the 2014/15 season.
The Independent report that coach Manuel Pellegrini thinks the death of the player's brother may still be affecting the star midfielder.
“I think that Yaya is a player that makes a difference in big games,” said the Chilean manager.
Pellegrini rubbished the summer reports of Toure wanting out of the Etihad as a possible cause for the player's poor form. Instead the manager speculated that the passing of Toure's brother was still troubling the player.
“Maybe some of you think it’s strange why he is not in the best moment but we started the season and maybe he had a lot of personal problems with his brother; not what was said in the media, but in what he feels about it and there are a lot of human things and maybe that is why he is not in his best performance at the moment." said the City boss.
Pellegrini insists the club will continue to provide every possible bit of support for the player during this time.
“I think as a team, as a coach, as a club we must support him because he is a very important player, he makes a difference and I’m sure he will return to his best. But he is always being criticised.”
