Kevin De Bruyne 2016/17

[itisrising]

I agree with you, it should be earned on merit. But based on the merit of his performance on Wednesday night it could be argued him and Yaya should never play for the club again.

It's not cut and dry that we are a better side with or without him. The stats would suggest that early in the season we were better without him. I'm not sure of the stats over the full season, but my guess would be that there isn't much difference in our results with him in or out of the team.

Based on performances, as I've posted about earlier, many of our best performances this season have come without DeBruyne in the side. The first 4 games of the season, Sevilla away etc.

So your assertion that "if you look at merit, he deserves to start" isn't quite as clear cut as you suggest.

Is he one of our 11 most talented players? Absolutely.

Is he our best player to play in a free role with no defensive responsibilities against a side that give him lots of time and space, and push up high leaving acres of space in behind them? Absolutely.

Is he better than Sterling at left wing in a 433? I think that's open to debate.

Is he a better playmaker than David Silva when he's denied space against a packed, stubborn defence? Is he fuck.

So, one of our most talented players? Undoubtedly. Is the team always better for having him in it? That's open for debate depending on the game.

Argued by who exactly? What an utterly ridiculous statement.

You again allude to us being a better side without him yet you've already stated that that isn't the premise of your argument. When you talk about the first 4 games, you negate many factors that go into that. One main one being that we had a fit David Silva, a player that I believe is the best CAM in the world. Losing that has been detrimental to us.

And of course it would depend on the game, especially if we have 2 world class number #10's.

 

[Mr HJ]

100% he is. Next!

 

[shevtheblue]

I think the real question is have we been getting the best out of Kevin De Bruyne? Because when he is on form he is one of the top 10 midfielders in world football in his position.

 

[Pablo ZZZ Peroni]

Our form with him in the side was very patchy at best, yet when he got injured, Roy Keane, Alan Shearer, the whole DeBruyne fan club on here, started making the point that our season went down hill because we can't play without DeBruyne.

Total nonsense.

I'm enjoying your contribution to this thread today Shaelmate. I always find it amusing when you use bogus stats to demonstrate your point and then when you get caught out you backtrack and say the stats aren't important :) Particularly amusing that you didn't realise he played as an early sub in the Palace away game (MOTM IMO) and use this as an example of a game we were at our best without him. How did you forget that one - it was his debut FFS. Also, was Watford at home really one of our best performances of the season? You must be trolling if you are trying to get that one through :)

Before the "backtrack" you were making a big play about results with KDB in or out of the team. You seemed to get confused about that so I'll help you out a bit.

1. We've not lost a league game where KDB has featured since Arsenal away back in December. Our record in those league games since then is W6 D4 LO.
2. Our record in league games he has missed in the same period is W3 D1 L5

Bit of a difference wouldn't you say? I'd like to think, along with the rest of the KDB fan club on here, that if he had featured in those games he might have come up with his special breed of magic at some point and maybe we would have had some better results. Quite simple really.

 

[BlueMedic]

I think you're over complicating things mate.

We were discussing how many of the teams best performances came when DeBruyne was in the team.

He was awful in the first half against Newcastle. The team was awful in the first half against Newcastle. So it doesn't make much sense to include that as a game in which he and the team played well.

This isn't a university thesis, we don't have to adhere to internationally recognised statistical standards. It's two blokes chatting shit on an internet forum about football. I'm not going to count his first half against Newcastle as a positive. If you want to, fill your boots.

You're quite right about the Palace game. So in my view, he's played two and a quarter games out of our 8 best performances. If you have a different view, different statistical standards, feel free to use them instead.

But even if you wish to argue he's played in 3 out of 8 of our best performances, it's still hardly conclusive evidence that he's an undroppable cornerstone of our team.

Like I said I wasn't here to change your opinion of him or say De Bruyne is undroppable etc.

Just pointing out your suspect statistics. Which I'm glad you've now accepted were wrong.

 

[mardon85]

Yes.. That is all.

 

[YaYa's Left Peg]

OMg this thread!!!!!!

Be careful man...Shaaelumstash might take offence.

 

[Mr Ed (The Stables)]

100% he is. Next!

Totally agree he's our number 10 moving forward.

 

[almir]

Obviously he does, he is talented and young enough to build team around him but he won't get many "Merry me Kev" posts if he adds few more to that disgusting performance of last night. The worst player on the pitch by a mile. I don't care about wrong position, that doesn't stop you find your player 3 yards away with the ball. He was soft, not fit and awful in passing, time to cut that ass a bit this summer.

 

[Shaelumstash]

I'm enjoying your contribution to this thread today Shaelmate. I always find it amusing when you use bogus stats to demonstrate your point and then when you get caught out you backtrack and say the stats aren't important :) Particularly amusing that you didn't realise he played as an early sub in the Palace away game (MOTM IMO) and use this as an example of a game we were at our best without him. How did you forget that one - it was his debut FFS. Also, was Watford at home really one of our best performances of the season? You must be trolling if you are trying to get that one through :)

Before the "backtrack" you were making a big play about results with KDB in or out of the team. You seemed to get confused about that so I'll help you out a bit.

1. We've not lost a league game where KDB has featured since Arsenal away back in December. Our record in those league games since then is W6 D4 LO.
2. Our record in league games he has missed in the same period is W3 D1 L5

Bit of a difference wouldn't you say? I'd like to think, along with the rest of the KDB fan club on here, that if he had featured in those games he might have come up with his special breed of magic at some point and maybe we would have had some better results. Quite simple really.

Lol, you seem to be rather selective with your stats yourself there, chum.

We've established before De Bruyne's injury at the end of January we had a 100% win rate without him in the side. What was the win rate with him in the side during that period? My guess is it was rather less.

Also in the last few months Pellegrini has been putting out rather understrength sides in the league and concentrating on Europe wouldn't you agree? Southampton away as an example, he made something like 9 changes! DeBruyne didn't play in those games, but my guess is that he wouldn't have made a huge difference.

For the avoidance of doubt, I've never said the statistics show conclusive proof that we're a better side without DeBruyne in it. I'm merely pointing out that this absurd concept that he should be an automatic starter in every game is just that, absurd.

The fact that we've played well and got good results without him is not me arguing he shouldn't be in the side. It's just offering evidence that we are well capable of playing well without him.