#17 | Kevin De Bruyne - 2020/21 Performances

[sky_blue]

Saw a stat
city win rate this season
with de bruyne 69%
without de bruyne 90%

This is the stretch of games where we dropped most of the points.



Is the suggestion that had Kevin not played in these games, we would have won most of them?

 

[jimmygrimblesboots]

KDB would definitely be in our first eleven when fully match fit , you dont have to be Einstein to state he needs time to get back to his best and would probably not be involved immediately when coming back from a long term injury

 

[IBlue]

Need to find a way to allow him to play his way back into form, but not to the detriment of the team. The false 9 option might be the best way to do it.

Yes I agree, I think that's exactly what Guardiola is doing, he doesn't get the derby emotion but is maybe concentrating on the bigger picture, there's no doubt that we will need KDB in the big moments later in the season

 

[Saddleworth2]

Doesn't matter what you're answer is, hindsight has now proven that it is the wrong one.

You're going just as overboard as some of those you're arguing against by acting like it's ridiculous to suggest players who have been in form should be starting over a player who has looked like he has dyspraxia since he came back from injury.

You can argue about exactly why he was picked over the others but the fact of the matter is that he was absolutely diabolical yesterday and played at the expense of someone who has been much better recently.

Not really a difficult piece of logic I would have thought.

 

[Saddleworth2]

If you think that the fairy godmother will come down from the heavens and create a big chance because of Silva's form, then I worry for you. Our forwards are shit at finishing and so we need creators. People have deluded themselves into thinking that the entire team can just run around a bit and Gundo will pull a Messi out of his arse twice every game and then we can all have a wank about how great total football is.

The same Guardiola that has played 5 different players at false 9 this season, the same Guardiola that's pushing Gundo in the box, the same Guardiola that has created a role for Cancelo that defies explanation is also willing to play an unfit Kevin over in-form players. Ask yourself why that is the case?

All I'm hearing are judgements and criticism, not a single comment even willing to poke at the question "why". The only conclusion I'm hearing on this forum is that he made a mistake. Show me the line of reasoning, at least try to think why Pep is doing what he is doing. After all he has done for this club, he deserves that much. Funny thing is that I don't even need to convince anyone, all you need to do is just ask - why would Pep start Kevin and not go with the in-form players? What could possibly force him to make that decision?

Whatever his reasoning, the outcome was a bad loss and Kevin our worst performer. He is an incredible player. I was watching some highlights from the last few seasons and he has been unbelievable for us. His passing, shooting, vision and workrate. That goal against Arsenal away last season, footballing poetry.
The Kev we have just now is a shadow of that player for whatever reason. I'm not being critical for critical sake, just posting what my eyes tell me. Its a problem and Pep may well be trying to solve it by playing him back to fitness. Yesterday it hurt us.

 

[sky_blue]

Whatever his reasoning, the outcome was a bad loss and Kevin our worst performer. He is an incredible player. I was watching some highlights from the last few seasons and he has been unbelievable for us. His passing, shooting, vision and workrate. That goal against Arsenal away last season, footballing poetry.
The Kev we have just now is a shadow of that player for whatever reason. I'm not being critical for critical sake, just posting what my eyes tell me. Its a problem and Pep may well be trying to solve it by playing him back to fitness. Yesterday it hurt us.

Kevin made 8 key passes yesterday. The next highest was Gundo with 3. That's his job in the team - chance creation. He did it. Could he have done better? Sure, but we're arguing whether a 7/10 performance is better than 10/10. Of course it is. The idea that somehow he was the worst performer on the pitch is quite something. I would imagine that a bloody striker conceding a penalty in the 2nd minute, a RB running around like a headless chicken for 90 min and a winger missing multiple tap ins from 4 yards out would be in contention for the worst performance, but what do I know. Replace Kev with Bernardo and Gundo and Stones each bag a hattrick. Football is simple.

We're talking about a guy who has has missed more than month worth of games through injury and is still somehow sitting with the 3rd highest assists in the top leagues this season, but apparently he is a shadow of his former self. Some of you lot would have sold Aguero in 16/17 because Gabby worked harder.

 

[jaiguruKun]

Fucking hell, this place is a caricature at times.

There's a tendency to think players who've been great for us should never be sold but sometimes it's necessary so that the team can evolve.

I just don't follow the consensus that suggests he's indispensable. He's obviously been amazing for us, but he's nearly 30 and is an asset that will depreciate in value rapidly over the next 2-3 years.

He's not ever reached the levels he did during the centurions season. This season he's been pretty average on the whole and we've looked better when he's been out of the side. So if we are ever going to sell him to make room for another clutch player it would make sense to do so this summer.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Kevin made 8 key passes yesterday. The next highest was Gundo with 3. That's his job in the team - chance creation. He did it. Could he have done better? Sure, but we're arguing over a 7/10 performance is better than 10/10. Of course it is. The idea that somehow he was the worst performer on the pitch is quite something.

I've watched the game twice now and debating whether anyone else was worse is pointless. Some of the others had numerous brainfarts but Kev was consistently fucking toss outside of a ten minute spell in the second half. He might as well have been wearing red.

 

[sky_blue]

There's a tendency to think players who've been great for us should never be sold but sometimes it's necessary so that the team can evolve.

I just don't follow the consensus that suggests he's indispensable. He's obviously been amazing for us, but he's nearly 30 and is an asset that will depreciate in value rapidly over the next 2-3 years.

He's not ever reached the levels he did during the centurions season. This season he's been pretty average on the whole and we've looked better when he's been out of the side. So if we are ever going to sell him to make room for another clutch player it would make sense to do so this summer.

There's a tendency to think that good performances over a 6 game stretch can be extrapolated to a 38 game season or 60 plus including cups with the exact same tactics and players, but sometimes it's necessary to change so that the team can evolve.

 

[sky_blue]

I've watched the game twice now and debating whether anyone else was worse is pointless. Some of the others had numerous brainfarts but Kev was consistently fucking toss outside of a ten minute spell in the second half. He might as well have been wearing red.

I don't judge Kev for ball retention the same way I don't judge David for not being a great header of the ball. Different players have different characteristics. It's not like Bernardo Silva is capable of producing 80 yard assists 20 times a season and unselfishly he has sacrificed that creativity for running around the pitch. He can't provide what Kevin can, so he gives the team what he does best - a fantastic work ethic, incredible counter-pressing and physicality in the middle of the pitch.

We don't judge Lewandowski for having a 62% pass accuracy in the CL final against PSG - it's not his job to retain the ball. If Kevin's job is to have high pass accuracy at the cost of creativity, to calm the game down and make 2-3 passes with Rodri, then we will see Pep call out Kevin in the press conference just like he has done with Sane, Aguero and Foden. If Kevin is not doing what Pep wants, then he will be dropped - not rested or rotated but dropped. Until then, all it means is that as infuriating as it looks, he is doing exactly what Pep wants.

And unless I'm mistaken for a Kevin fanboy, I'm not. I made the same argument for Gundo when everyone thought he was shite and should've been sold. If last year people said "why does Pep start Gundo when he just passes the ball around", then the answer was that he was doing those things because Pep had told him to and not because he didn't have the ability to be more dynamic. People mistake players doing what they're instructed to do for incompetence - more often than not, they're just following the coach's plan. And if you think I'm making things up then look at Gundo's quotes from a few weeks ago. I'm paraphrasing but he said "I don't think I'm playing better compared to last season, I've always played this good, just right now the coach wants me to play a different role, closer to the box".