Whats with defender Kolo Toure and the English Premier League title?Since winning two league titles with ASEC Mimosas in his homeland and leaving for Europe in 2002, the big Cote dIvoire centre-half has only played in England.In the time between then and now, he has won the title wherever he has played. He lifted it in 2003-04 with the Arsenal Invincibles and again in 2011-12 with his younger brother Yaya at Manchester City.Now he is on the verge of making it a hat-trick of wins at Liverpool and becoming the only man in the post-war era to win the EPL title with three different clubs.The one man this achievement will not surprise is Kolo himself. Right from the week he joined Liverpool, he has insisted he is at Anfield to win the title. It looked like mere words then from a player many thought was past his prime, and an even longer shot for a side that had not won the title in 23 years and one still midway in its rebuilding process.But Kolo never wavered even when the club did. All the while he calibrated the mental picture of the Reds guiding them at different stages of the campaign on how to approach the seemingly impossible mission.When Liverpool slipped from the top of the log at Christmas to eight points behind Arsenal in January after losses to Manchester City and Chelsea and a draw at Aston Villa, Kolo was the man with the message.We are still in that (title race) because every team can lose points, he said. For us we just need to think about the next game 100 per cent, try to win and be positive.Kolos triumphs at Arsenal (2003-4) and Manchester City (2011-12), a third in the offing?.We need to take that on board and just keep going. When you have hard times you see a strong team and we are a strong team, he added. Other teams will make errors. We just need to maintain our focus and believe in ourselves. In 16 games a lot can happen.Words from a winner, in fact one of only three players in the Liverpool side to have won the EPL title once, but the only man to have won it twice.When the Reds started their climb in February, moving just four points behind the top team after edging Swansea City 4:3 in a thriller, the Ivoirian was again the man that called for cool heads and an eye on the ball.We just need now to keep calm and do what we have been doing, if we continue that we will get the same results, Toure said then.There are going to be some tough games... but I think we can score goals and defend well as a team and we are working hard.Many pundits and the club faithfuls had settled for a Top Four place and Champions League football, but not Kolo. And now with three matches to the end of the season, Liverpool are five points clear at the top of the table.After 15 starts in 20 games for Liverpool this season, the 33-year-old African star is within touching distance of authentic legendary status, leaving two-club winners like Eric Cantona and Ashley Cole behind.
Posted on: Mon, 21 Apr 2014 13:37:17 +0000
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