Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure believes that his side need to find a way to counter opposition teams from enforcing defensive tactics against them in the Premier League.
City have failed to reproduce the form that saw them win their first Premier League title last season and after City required a last-minute goal to defeat Reading on Saturday, Toure has admitted that it is because his side are no longer a surprise package.
Toure told The Sun: "Whereas perhaps we caught a lot of teams by surprise last season, this year our opponents know how we play.
"Sometimes we have to change our system to try and break teams down. The other teams and players can analyse how we play, study our systems and styles and work out ways to stop us. Even sides who are near the bottom of the table are more than capable of making it difficult.
"A team that lost 4-0 against us last season will have learned and will change their tactics. They won't want to get beaten heavily again so they will pack men behind the ball and make it difficult for us to find a way through."
City travel to Sunderland on Boxing Day as they attempt to stay in touch with rivals Manchester United at the top of the Premier League.
Darren Plant
