Player Topic: Kevin De Bruyne (2015/16)

[Jimbob]

De Bruyne's all round performances have remained pretty consistent since he got here, and he carried that on against Villa.

He was constantly looking to get us on the front foot as quickly as possible and always looking for the early, incisive forward pass.

He played an absolutely incredible pass from wide on Sunday that should have lead to a goal. I don't think there's another player in Europe who would have played that pass as well as him.

He should have scored as well. Perfectly timed run, got in to a great position, he tried to flick it when he possibly could have made a simple finish for a great goal. I think he was a bit unlucky, he got the timing of his run perfect.

So on another day he could have had a goal, an assist, a 2-0 win and everybody would have been happy and pulled up his stats and said he'd had an incredible start to his City career.

Some would even suggest he was better than Silva, and a future Balon D'Or winner.

His all round game on Sunday wasn't great. He gave away possession cheaply, he often looked lethargic when we didn't have the ball and he often made defensive errors positionally.

Much the same as his all round performances since he came to the club.

It's rough with the smooth with De Bruyne. But fortunately his smooth can be so good that it's worth putting up with the rough. He's an incredible talent, capable of things no one else is. But his all round game lacks polish, and it has done since he arrived.

Because of his fantastic early record with goals and assists, people expect too much from him, they want him to win us the game every week. It's not going to happen, we have to be patient while he settles in.

Sometimes he's going to win us the game out of nowhere like Seville at home. And sometimes the balance and cohesion of the team will be better without him in it, like Seville away.

Let's just take a breath, and be a bit more realistic about him. Huge potential with the possibility of getting much better.

I hope those claiming he was our best ever player after 5 or 6 games have come down off their cloud now and have a bit more of a realistic appraisal of the lad.

Who was saying he was our best ever player after 5 or 6 games?

 

[bobom]

He does give the ball away cheaply too often for my liking (none more costly than that equalizing "goal" at White Hart Lane). I hope the coaches have critiqued him accordingly and asked him to focus on that. He is an instinctive player and you dont want to coach him out of that, but you do need to strike a balance.

I've heard lots of people say this, but I really don't think it's a problem. He's still only figuring out his teammates, where they are, where they make runs. As he beds in I think this will happen less and less often. One of his strengths is seeing opportunities, making quick decisions and playing the ball early. Very few other players in the Premiership can do this. If he creates a goal every other game but gifts the opposition a goal every ten games - that's a great return.

 

[Deleted member 58678]

I don't think he's playing well and hasn't since Newcastle.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Who was saying he was our best ever player after 5 or 6 games?

Go back through the topic mate, there was about half a dozen of them saying it.

One of them is the resident WUM so I wouldn't take him too seriously, but the others were definitely being genuine.

 

[DeBruyne10]

De Bruyne is Amazing and will be WORLD CLASS in a year!!! Fantastic to have him at city

Journalists chose him as the POY in the Bundesliga last season, and players and coaches did the same. He is world class, he still needs to adapt a bit and he never plays at his best position. But if he creates 6 chances every game, I am happy. Although there were a lot of unhappy fans after him creating 6 chances against Villa.

 

[lasereyes]

I've heard lots of people say this, but I really don't think it's a problem. He's still only figuring out his teammates, where they are, where they make runs. As he beds in I think this will happen less and less often. One of his strengths is seeing opportunities, making quick decisions and playing the ball early. Very few other players in the Premiership can do this. If he creates a goal every other game but gifts the opposition a goal every ten games - that's a great return.

I've heard lots of people say this, but I really don't think it's a problem. He's still only figuring out his teammates, where they are, where they make runs. As he beds in I think this will happen less and less often. One of his strengths is seeing opportunities, making quick decisions and playing the ball early. Very few other players in the Premiership can do this. If he creates a goal every other game but gifts the opposition a goal every ten games - that's a great return.

I agree with your analysis and certainly your last line - but in the past 4 or 5 games, his return has been nowhere near that. Fatigue must be playing a part, but I think there is room for a bit more care, particularly when holding the ball in our half or around halfway.

 

[Clercqs]

He had a lovely flick to Yaya who then set up Sterling when he dived/was brought down by Clark. He makes these great flicks which often doesn't gets noticed (had at least one against United as well).

 

[dennishasdoneit]

agree with this Ro

No he isn't, Fernandinho has been deployed in the more advanced role because of his ability to press, Yaya is being left deep for his ability to provide a conduit between attack and defence because of his passing ability.

In saying that their positions aren't set in stone as one playing further forward than the other. For example, when we got the lead against Sevilla Ferna dropped deeper into a more defensive role and Yaya went further forward into a counter attacking role.

The problem in the derby was our quartet of attacking players all played well below par, getting dispossessed easily and playing stray passes.[/QUOTE

Agree with this Rolee.

 

[vmsuhail]

So when Silva is fit (hopefully for the Liverpool match) won't that mean De Bruyne will still be playing out of position?

Yes. But, when Silva plays we don't have many issues in the final third. He will simply find the player in the best position to pass to.

 

[The Batman]

I envisioned playing De Bruyne and Silva the same way Xavi and Iniesta did for Barca. For me that is one of the main reasons i would like to see pep as manager , because they both have ridiculous talent and pep IMO would nurture and facilitate this better.
It's a shame that Kun has been out injured, as the snippets of play when KDB and Kun play together is both fascinating and frightening.