Louis has it in one tbh (especially questioning his work rate as well as his stamina, very astute).
Yaya is just the most bizarre footballer I've ever seen. His greatest strength is obviously that he played for Barca and some of their philosophy remains, you can just see it in the way he passes to ask questions rather than force something immediately. Then the strength on the ball plus the pace means he can drive like other play makers can't, plus he's a decent finisher.
But what makes him strange is he claims to care so much about football, but putting aside the odd interception the closest thing he does to defending is foul someone and then grab the ball and make an angry face at the referee. He's just soft when they have the ball. But then an animal when we have it (Watch the way he scores the header vs QPR, out of this world and I can't remember him ever winning a challenged defensive header).
But that's not really my point. I like Yaya and he's definitely worth a place in the team.
My point is whenever we play Arsenal we chase shadows all game because De Jong and Barry are so slow and Toure so lazy. If other sides cottoned on to it we'd be in trouble, I dreaded facing Anderson and Cleverly again after the Community shield. The thought of Barry chasing Iniesta round a football pitch is... I don't know something bad. [That's not to say I don't like Barry either]
What I think the issue is is there is reactive and proactive defending. Reactive is generally the Italian way and I believe the way our midfield would be suited to, proactive is a bit more English and how Kompany defends (Ie relishing the "battle"). And I can see the benefits of both. But we relentlessly push this pressing game and it just means the slow/unaggressive likes of Toure, Barry and De Jong get drawn into personal battles they inevitably lose. Last season we sat off and De Jong and co looked impenetrable, the opposite is true this season.
I guess what I'm saying is either switch back to sitting off and absorbing pressure or bring in proper imposing midfielders.
Also as a side point I believe Kolarov is the best left back in the league and probably the world (I dunno who else there is though). Defensively he's like a centre back playing full back (Imo the best defensive fullbacks) in that he offers good aerial skillz and he's strong in the tackle, but because his delivery is so good he doesn't need to stray too far from left back while still offering a fantastic delivery. And when we push on he can offer as much as any wing back in the world. The only problem comes when he tries to play like a by line to by line full back because he doesn't have the pace for that.