Kolo Toure

Former Liverpool defender Kolo Toure was one of the culprits in the Champions League defeat suffered by Celtic.

The Scottish club lost to Borussia Monchengladbach in a result that effectively seals their hopes of reaching the knockout stages. Celtic were always expected to struggle in a group containing Manchester City and Barcelona. However, the games against Borussia Monchengladbach were seen as the only hope for the Scottish club to at least qualifying for the Europa League by finishing in the third place. A 3-3 draw with City in the previous game gave them a lot of hope coming into the home fixture against the German opponents.

Brendan Rodgers reckons Jozo Simunovic might actually have been destined to remain in the capital of Scotland.

Simunovic was close to be transferred to Serie A and had even landed in Italy the day the window was closing so that he could have his medical and could go through the formalities of his Torino signing.
But, something caused the signing to be cancelled at the eleventh hour.

Former Liverpool defender Kolo Toure made his debut for Celtic in the Champions League qualifier against FC Astana.

It was an extremely important match for the Scottish club as doing well in Europe was their primary objective. There was a danger of being knocked out by the minnows from Kazakhstan, but Celtic managed to hold their nerves in the second leg at Celtic Park. Toure came on in the second half and managed to use all his experience to guide Celtic through. However, his impact on proceedings began much earlier according to Eoghan O’Connell.

This is the first year of Kolo Toure as a player of Celtic as well as for Brendan Rodgers who is making his debut season as manager of the Scottish club.

Even though this is the first time that Brendan Rodgers has taken charge of Celtic, Kolo Toure is confident that it’s going to be a great season for Celtic, the 35 year old defender about the capabilities of Rodgers and that he can continue pushing the club to further success.

Defender Kolo Toure is moving closer towards an exit from Anfield, as he has reportedly received offers from a number of Chinese clubs.

Toure is coming to the end of his career at Liverpool with his contract set to expire in the next few weeks. He was initially signed by former manager Brendan Rodgers on a free transfer. Despite being expected to only play a limited role at the club,Toure has gone on to become an influential player especially in the last six months. Manager Jurgen Klopp has benefited immensely from the experience provided by the former Arsenal and Manchester City player.

Kolo Toure claims that he is not sure about his future Liverpool, despite being one of the important members of the squad since the arrival of Jurgen Klopp.

Liverpool defender Toure was close to leaving the club last summer, but the club made a surprising U-turn at the last moment to keep him from moving on a free transfer to the Turkish league. Toure was reportedly ready to leave the club on a free transfer after the end of his contract. The last 12 months may have looked like borrowed time initially, but the former Ivory Coast international has made a real impression at the club.

Liverpool player, Mamadou Sakho, ran straight to the arms of team mate Kolo Toure after scoring another goal just before half-time in the game against Everton this week.

The Frenchman after nodding home the goal ran to the hosts' bench in order to revel in his strike with his fellow defender.

After the game, the player told Liverpoolfc.com:

"Kolo told me this morning I would score again so that's why when I scored I thought of him and ran to celebrate with him."

He also spoke on the efforts of the supporters at Anfield. The 26-year-old went on to praise the role of the fans in what was a remarkably one-sided Merseyside derby victory for Jürgen Klopp's men.
"It was a very, very good atmosphere, a very good result for us, and I think we deserved it because we played very well.

"The 12th player was with us - the fans. It was a really good night for Liverpool," Sakho said.

We all know the smile Kolo Toure brings on the football pitch but do you know how he passed his trial with the Gunners? John Cross has revealed everything in his book about how Kolo Toure could not follow orders.

Kolo Toure was instructed not to tackle at all during his trials so as not to cause any unnecessary injury to Arsenal star players. Indeed, the Gunners were going to play a major match as they were challenging for the title at that time.

KoloToure believes that Liverpool can save their season by winning the Europa League. Liverpool will be facing Dortmund in the next round.

With Jurgen Klopp side currently 7 points off the qualifying places for next year Champions League, the best way to enter the competition will be by winning the Europa League. This will also provide a first trophy for the German manager.

Pep Guardiola’s next club that he takes charge of will be Manchester City and this has been confirmed as the Premier League outfit has already signed Guardiola on a 3 year long contract which starts when the current season finalizes.