“Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best players I’ve ever seen in my life.” While it’s crucial for any manager to praise their players, Pep Guardiola’s words on De Bruyne last week will have certainly struck a chord with Manchester City fans. This is a manager who has worked closely with the likes of Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Robert Lewandowski, to name three, and to rank the Belgian so highly speaks volumes of the 26-year-old.
In recent weeks, City have been in scintillating form. They’ve smashed 15 past Liverpool, Feyenoord and Watford without reply and are joint-top of the Premier League with rivals Manchester United. Many will point Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus’ goals as the primary reason towards their surge to the summit, or even John Stones after his brace in the Netherlands last week in the Champions League, but it’s De Bruyne’s ever-growing influence in the midfield that has played a pivotal role for City.
Indeed, the former Chelsea man finished the 4-0 win over Feyenoord as captain as Guardiola continues to mould and improve De Bruyne. He’s registered more assists (21) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues since the start of the 2016/17 season, but there is now more to De Bruyne’s game than just providing for others. Granted, he can split a defence at the drop of a hat where needed – only Henrikh Mkhitaryan and teammate David Silva (both 17) have made more key passes than De Bruyne (15) in the Premier League this term – yet having dropped into a more reserved role, he’s able to pull the strings in the middle of the park with aplomb.
As such, he can receive the ball from the defence before launching City into attacks as they transition rapidly in the way Guardiola managed sides do so effectively. His 117 forward passes is fifth when excluding goalkeepers and defenders, but even those four ahead of him in this parameter – Fernandinho, Granit Xhaka, Oriol Romeu and Nemanja Matic – operate deeper than De Bruyne, reinforcing just how much further back he is playing compared to previous years. It’s a tremendous show of faith in him by Guardiola, who believes the midfielder has the requisite tools to control proceedings so effectively in midfield.
You only have to look at the fact that De Bruyne has been dispossessed to just six times in five Premier League matches this season to note how difficult it is to shake the Belgian off the ball and how perfect a deeper role is for the player. Of course, as good as De Bruyne is, there have been teething problems in his redeployment. An 83.7% pass success rate is a poor return for a player of his calibre in his position. City have also enjoyed more possession (64.2%) than any other Premier League team this term and it’s vital that De Bruyne build upon this rate rather than allow it to sink further.
That being said, that may be down to the player himself attempting to be more daring while in possession, while with a manager of Guardiola’s ilk overseeing his development, this is a rough edge that will be smoothed out over time. When considering he has Benjamin Mendy and Kyle Walker flying up the wings and David Silva operating ahead of him in the advanced role, Guardiola’s decision to move De Bruyne back into midfield could well prove to be an inspired one come the end of the campaign.
The season may only five games old, but De Bruyne is already the favourite to secure the player of the year gong at the end of the campaign and deservedly so. Rumors abound suggest he is set to be handed a new deal to bump his pay up too and if any City player deserves a pay rise after their start to the campaign, it’s the brilliant Belgian. Should City land the Premier League title, then much of that will be down to De Bruyne’s influence in the middle of the park, especially if he can eradicate the inconsistencies to his game that plagued him over the winter months and into the New Year last season. Doing so will ensure he lives up to the billing as favourite for the individual accolade and a first Premier League winners’ medal of his career.
