Kevin De Bruyne - 2016/17 performances

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

Hasn't been the same since he proposed to his girlfriend, and he is human, I wonder if football is just taking a backseat slightly compared to the new kid and fiance.

Spot on.... I get the impression that hes extremely family orientated from interviews he's done, it's understandable and will turn!

 

[Blueband Brother]

I'm not sure if not passing to Sane is a regular thing as I hadn't noticed previously, but that moment you mention above boiled my piss.

It seemed for all the World the correct and much easier pass was to Sane and not the awkward ball to Aguero where his body shape was all wrong for that ball.

He looks really off his game at the moment but he is still more than capable of a moment of genius as we saw toward the end of the Stoke game.

Perhaps it is me over-reading or over-analyzing things from a mental stand point with the passing to Sane thing but I don't think so. Not only De Bruyne but also Aguero (First half against Huddersfield at home being an example) and even Yaya don't link up enough with Sane . Little things but it can make a big difference. The coordination and understanding between these players and Sane is not there yet but it should improve in time. And thus Sane's game seems to be affected without Silva and/or Sterling on the pitch.

De Bruyne issue is completely mental or psychological. Obviously no one will question his footballing abilities but he has to be mentally consistent. When he went down and stayed down with his head on the pitch after he attempted that pass, It was quite worrying because you think if his mind is suffering for whatever reason then his body will cry out and the risk of injury is higher, which is why that ankle incident was more worrying than usual.

In footballing terms it could be that he has not fully accepted this new deeper role with more defensive responsibilities or is easily fatigued because of it, after all he was very effective when he was moved to the right in the second half. There is also this false idea of interchangeability between De Bruyne and Silva as I think they are completely different players and people may assess his performance in comparison to Silva which is wrong. I don't buy the personal issues like family as he is not the only one with a newborn (Sterling) and he has to be judged as a professional.

Whatever is the issue, he needs to become tuned on mentally for the rest of the season because we need him at his best. But his quality on the ball especially on set pieces or crosses will almost guarantee chances/goals regardless of how well he is performing or how mentally strong he is.

 

[pudge]

Utter wank against Stoke, should have been off for Silva but was then shoe horned out on the wing.

Silly.

 

[Clercqs]

Utter wank against Stoke, should have been off for Silva but was then shoe horned out on the wing.

Silly.

He was decent on the wing though and created two good chances in the end.

 

[pudge]

He was decent on the wing though and created two good chances in the end.

And Navas actually crossed the ball well for once too or numerous occasions. But the width against a packed defence was compromised to keep a very poor De Bruyne on the pitch.

Had Sterling been on instead of Navas, I doubt he'd have come off for Silva in that instance.

 

[Wretched Vengeance]

Perhaps it is me over-reading or over-analyzing things from a mental stand point with the passing to Sane thing but I don't think so. Not only De Bruyne but also Aguero (First half against Huddersfield at home being an example) and even Yaya don't link up enough with Sane . Little things but it can make a big difference. The coordination and understanding between these players and Sane is not there yet but it should improve in time. And thus Sane's game seems to be affected without Silva and/or Sterling on the pitch.

De Bruyne issue is completely mental or psychological. Obviously no one will question his footballing abilities but he has to be mentally consistent. When he went down and stayed down with his head on the pitch after he attempted that pass, It was quite worrying because you think if his mind is suffering for whatever reason then his body will cry out and the risk of injury is higher, which is why that ankle incident was more worrying than usual.

In footballing terms it could be that he has not fully accepted this new deeper role with more defensive responsibilities or is easily fatigued because of it, after all he was very effective when he was moved to the right in the second half. There is also this false idea of interchangeability between De Bruyne and Silva as I think they are completely different players and people may assess his performance in comparison to Silva which is wrong. I don't buy the personal issues like family as he is not the only one with a newborn (Sterling) and he has to be judged as a professional.

Whatever is the issue, he needs to become tuned on mentally for the rest of the season because we need him at his best. But his quality on the ball especially on set pieces or crosses will almost guarantee chances/goals regardless of how well he is performing or how mentally strong he is.

Good post. And it is all exacerbated by the lack of any real strength in-depth.

The lack of quality options is hampering us and thus he is played relentlessly.

He could probably do with a break and most likely will in the Cup this weekend.

Clearly Delph and Fernando are not the answer, so I would love to see a bit more of Garcia and see(despite being a different type of player) what he can do.

 

[Blueband Brother]

Good post. And it is all exacerbated by the lack of any real strength in-depth.

The lack of quality options is hampering us and thus he is played relentlessly.

He could probably do with a break and most likely will in the Cup this weekend.

Clearly Delph and Fernando are not the answer, so I would love to see a bit more of Garcia and see(despite being a different type of player) what he can do.

Yep, the strength in depth is a concern and the injury to Gundogan did not help. If we had Gundogan, Gabriel, Kompany for most of the season then things would have been different and the presence of Gundogan would have certainly relived some of the pressure from De Bruyne.

If the reason for De Bruyne's poor form is indeed fatigue ( or mental fatigue) then a rest will do him good but I think he must tackle his mental inconsistency one way or the other.

 

[Thaksinssoldier]

Lad has looked a shell of himself since whacking the bar vs Chelsea. Not bad, but not near his best.

Needs a goal bad.

For that reason, I'd play him tomorrow.

 

[Rolee]

And Navas actually crossed the ball well for once too or numerous occasions. But the width against a packed defence was compromised to keep a very poor De Bruyne on the pitch.

Had Sterling been on instead of Navas, I doubt he'd have come off for Silva in that instance.

The width wasn't compromised, Navas kept coming infield anyway.

I agree with the last part.

 

[Blueband Brother]

Lad has looked a shell of himself since whacking the bar vs Chelsea. Not bad, but not near his best.

Needs a goal bad.

For that reason, I'd play him tomorrow.

Interesting.... However if he is playing in a deeper role, his chances of ''scoring as a means of overcoming a mental hurdle'' will be low and he did score against West ham. So I think it is more of ,'' he needs a good dominant performance'' than ''he needs to score'' and I suppose tomorrow will be a good opportunity but I will probably rest him for that one.. Monaco is also a great platform to step up.