Yaya Toure warns of Man City 'downfall' after winning treble
Manchester City are looking to defend their Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup trophies next season, but former midfielder Yaya Toure has sent a warning.
Yaya Toure believes it would be natural for Manchester City to slump a little after the high of winning the treble last season - although if any side can keep up the winning momentum, he has backed the Blues to do it.
Toure was part of the Barcelona side who won the treble in 2009, but they could only follow it up with the league title in 2010 as they failed to reach the heights of the previous year.
Assessing City's chances next season, Toure believes defending a treble is naturally harder than winning it for the first time - something Pep Guardiola has warned of in relation to Premier League titles each year he has been at the Etihad.
Despite his warning, Toure said that City's experienced core will allow them to give their best shot at defending their three titles, as well as try and improve in the Carabao Cup, plus win the Super Cup and Club World Cup.
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"We won everything and then we had a bit of a downfall," Toure told the Mail of the Barcelona treble-winners.
"But that is normal for human beings, you have to have the right motivation. Sometimes it is the leader, the head coach, who has to set this up for all the players.
"The coach said we are fighting against us. We are the problem, not the opponent. We tried to put the same commitment and desire in again, because it is not easy to repeat.
"It will be difficult but City already have the experience of winning the league year-after-year. The core of the team will also stay the same, they are still young but they have players with experience and a love of winning games week-in, week-out."
Toure also spoke of the Champions League being his goal when he arrived at City in 2011, and how he predicted the Blues would topple Manchester United's dominance in England.
"This is what I predicted. When I made my debut, I said I came to this club because one day this club is going to be great and be on top of United," he said.
"At that moment, it was quite early and people were thinking, 'why is he saying that?' Most of the great players, like Sergio Aguero and David Silva weren't involved yet. So seeing Man City do that was incredible, to see them lift this trophy. Soon City will be really well respected in world football.
"It was going to take time but I knew it would happen because the owner [Sheikh Mansour] was trying to create something big and huge there. People were a bit impatient but we knew this would happen sooner or later."