Kevin De Bruyne - 2016/17 performances

[Terra Passenger]

He is unreplaceable in what he does

Pep likes a small squad.

He values players who can fit into multiple positions.

Kolarov fits this requirement perfectly.

As a result of Pep's multi-position philosophy, we are already 2 or 3 and sometimes even 4 players deep at each position.

KDB - as great as he's been for us - is clearly not irreplaceable - Silva or Gundogan can slot in as the 10, and wide we have Nolito, Sane, Sterling, etc. who can fill in (yes with, perhaps a bit of drop off in form, but nothing that would cripple our team).

At the moment for me: Bravo is irreplaceable - Willy is nowhere near as good with the ball at his feet.

And Fernandinho is perhaps even more important - we have no one in our squad who can fill the pivot role *and* be capable of making incisive passes.

Although it sucks that KDB is injured - I fully expect that we'll roll on to victory as he recovers (barring injuries to both Silva and Gundogan).

 

[BoyBlue_1985]

Pep likes a small squad.

He values players who can fit into multiple positions.

Kolarov fits this requirement perfectly.

As a result of Pep's multi-position philosophy, we are already 2 or 3 and sometimes even 4 players deep at each position.

KDB - as great as he's been for us - is clearly not irreplaceable - Silva or Gundogan can slot in as the 10, and wide we have Nolito, Sane, Sterling, etc. who can fill in (yes with, perhaps a bit of drop off in form, but nothing that would cripple our team).

At the moment for me: Bravo is irreplaceable - Willy is nowhere near as good with the ball at his feet.

And Fernandinho is perhaps even more important - we have no one in our squad who can fill the pivot role *and* be capable of making incisive passes.

Although it sucks that KDB is injured - I fully expect that we'll roll on to victory as he recovers (barring injuries to both Silva and Gundogan).

Pep likes a small squad.

He values players who can fit into multiple positions.

Kolarov fits this requirement perfectly.

As a result of Pep's multi-position philosophy, we are already 2 or 3 and sometimes even 4 players deep at each position.

KDB - as great as he's been for us - is clearly not irreplaceable - Silva or Gundogan can slot in as the 10, and wide we have Nolito, Sane, Sterling, etc. who can fill in (yes with, perhaps a bit of drop off in form, but nothing that would cripple our team).

At the moment for me: Bravo is irreplaceable - Willy is nowhere near as good with the ball at his feet.

And Fernandinho is perhaps even more important - we have no one in our squad who can fill the pivot role *and* be capable of making incisive passes.

Although it sucks that KDB is injured - I fully expect that we'll roll on to victory as he recovers (barring injuries to both Silva and Gundogan).

I agree in everything you say apart from you broke my comment down so it meant something different to what i said

 

[Terra Passenger]

I agree in everything you say apart from you broke my comment down so it meant something different to what i said

It's just the "unreplaceable in what he does" part that I differ with. KDB is amazing.

But he's not irreplaceable given our current squad. I think that Gundogan best replaces KDB's incisive passing with Silva being a world-class alternative.

Although KDB is one of my top 3 favorite City players - his game isn't yet perfect.

KDB's movement off the ball could use a lot of improvement (contrast his movement with Nasri's for example).

KDB also lacks stamina. He's visibly tired in the second half of each game (reminds me a bit of Ozil this way). I think this will change in the future.

As far as movement - I'm not sure. A lot of the movement off the ball stuff seems to be instictive - but if his movement can be improved, Pep for sure is the one manager in the world who will improve this.

Don't get me wrong - KDB is an amazing player and personally I'd prefer that he play ahead of Silva and Gundogan if he's healthy.

But Pep has covered the 10/8 roles - if KDB goes down we have world-class alternatives available in our squad.

 

[chaddblue]

Is this month out report true or is it just media bollocks? Can't find anything from City confirming this

 

[Exeter Blue I am here]

Is this month out report true or is it just media bollocks? Can't find anything from City confirming this

Reports I've read suggest 4 weeks is speculative, and that we will not get a full picture until today or tomorrow. So it could yet turn out to be a 2 week twinge or a 3 month tear. The latter doesn't bear thinking about.

 

[ONTHERUNWITHTHAKSIN]

Can live with 4 weeks but not 3 months

Hopefully good news will be shared soon and put us out of our misery

 

[Neville Kneville]

Well it was predicted on here, only a few weeks ago, that KDB wasn't really in Pep's plans & wouldn't actually get in our strongest team, so it shouldn't be a problem.

 

[Delphacito]

Well it was predicted on here, only a few weeks ago, that KDB wasn't really in Pep's plans & wouldn't actually get in our strongest team, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Lol that's true. Now the squad will be more 'balanced' as they say.

 

[Sentinell]

KDB also lacks stamina. He's visibly tired in the second half of each game (reminds me a bit of Ozil this way). I think this will change in the future.

Can't really agree with this part completely. KDB was in the top10 of most distance covered in the first 5 (i think) PL games this season. NR1 in the city squad. I do agree he looks tired at the end of each game though. He might have pushed himself too far last game.

 

[Plain Speaking]

I can't think of any other midfielder we have that can form a consistent goal threat from outside the penalty area, in open play. Yaya and Lampard could both pose a similar threat. Liverpool have several, Coutinho probably the best.

KDB has been played a lot recently because he is so important to the team. There is often an element of fatigue in muscle injury. He will be sorely missed, as he was last season when he was injured.