Ah now Martial / Rashford / Ieanchao (however you spell it) are young. 24 is mid career!.
Kevin De Bruyne
- Thread starter Robbie Boy
- Start date
Midfielders my friend. I meant as in maturity in play consistency. Not everyone is ronaldo/messi . Some players are mere mortals.
But he isn't a midfielder he's a natural number 10 or some inverted wideman.
My point over the whole of last season was he didn't stand out during Citys horrible away form or v the top 8. Its not as if City were underperforming and letting KDB down ala United and Martial.
He has great stats but so did Di Maria. KDB will have a so-so game but walk away with an assist or goal every other game. I couldn't tell you what game he absolutely ran ala Silva or Toure. A game where you came from and thought he was unplayable.
Bobby makes that point for me a few posts up. He was terrible v Italy yet should have had 2 assists to his name.
KDB needs to run the show a lot more. He needs the play to go through him but I've yet to see it.
Im not saying he's a bad player, far from it, i just don't think he is a top tier player.
For what its worth KDB was poor enough last night but still created almost every Belgian chance. The guy put Lukaku clean through and he fluffed his lines and put in a couple of good crosses. Had Lukaku put a couple of them away he'd be leaving with 2 assists and everyone raving about him still. His overall play was poor but no one created more Belgian chances than him. Hazard for example had as much of the ball and was better in all around play but created sweet feck all. Although he did well to get the ball to KDB when he put Lukaku through.
He's not that type of player though. He's a player who delivers the final ball and scores the thunderbolt. He's not the player who runs games and to excel he needs a strong midfield around him.
The only team City beat in the top eight were Southampton at home, I have no idea how you can you portray that as City not 'underperforming'. In the big games our players were largely shambolic, to hold a single one accountable is unmerited.
He is not a player like Toure or Silva though who always looks for the ball and controls the tempo of a game, trying to dictate play throughout the 90 minutes. It's like criticising Iniesta for not having a game where he finished as clinically as someone like Lewandowski. I've never seen Silva or Toure do what de Bruyne has done in some games for City, and that's because they're completely different players.
See what I've said before. de Bruyne is not a player like Silva or Iniesta. He is a player who always looks for the killer pass and to open defences. He will lose possession more frequently because of that, but at the same time his ability can be devastating, and he did not win Bundesliga POTY for nothing. Your criticism of de Bruyne seems to boil down to a misconception of the role he is supposed to perform in a side.
De Bruyne isn't a traditional playmaker. He isn't going to drop deep, dictate play and run games. Hazard is far better at that role.
He is one of the most productive players in football though. Even last night as terrible as he was in general play he created 3 clear cut chances for Lukaku & Origi. That's why he's so highly rated. Brilliant passer & especially crosser of the ball. Pops in with his fair share of goals from inside & outside the box & has a never die attitude.
He is one of the most productive players in football though. Even last night as terrible as he was in general play he created 3 clear cut chances for Lukaku & Origi. That's why he's so highly rated. Brilliant passer & especially crosser of the ball. Pops in with his fair share of goals from inside & outside the box & has a never die attitude.
This thread's a lot less lively than it was after the Italy game.
He was good, not great.
He didn't boss anything at all. Just a decent game, nothing special.
Well if de Bruyne wouldn't even have a decent to good game against Ireland then he might as well not be taking part in the Euros at all.
What he did today is the bare minimum a player of his quality should be doing.
Now if he did the same against Italy or even a half decent team then it's praise worthy
What he did today is the bare minimum a player of his quality should be doing.
Now if he did the same against Italy or even a half decent team then it's praise worthy
His always criticism was a bit stupid. He's been their best player for ages now, and one of the few that seems to turn up more often than not. He's allowed an off day, and I doubt any Belgian was as critical of him.
Is this clip supposed to be impressive?
You've either not seen enough of de bruyne to fairly comment or you're an idiot.
Top top player
He was good today, Belgium's best attacker and looked at home in the #10 role.
He was below par v Italy, not dreadful, yet that didn't stop a fair few on this forum having a dig at him. Today, he was much better, created seven chances including the opening goal, yet there was not a word on here about it.
That's life.
Thats Ciaran Clarke
Thought he was pretty crap vs Italy. Great player though.
How precious.He will be the centre of Peps side in that No.10 role, absolutely delightful football. I'm really interested to see how his directness can fit in the possession based team that we'll become.
THing is with City is that Silva needs to be sold than, if KDB is going to be your n10.
Some pros and cons with choosing KDB over Silva.
PROS
GOals (a lot more goals)
Crossing potential
CONS:
Workrate
Possession Football/Dictating games
short passing
Team linkup
KDB to me is a counter attacking player, not a possession based player... We all saw how Gotze did when he switchover to Munich, from counterattacking dortmund to possession based Bayern.
Some pros and cons with choosing KDB over Silva.
PROS
GOals (a lot more goals)
Crossing potential
CONS:
Workrate
Possession Football/Dictating games
short passing
Team linkup
KDB to me is a counter attacking player, not a possession based player... We all saw how Gotze did when he switchover to Munich, from counterattacking dortmund to possession based Bayern.
KDB works alot harder for the team off the ball than Silva who literally does nothing except throw himself into a tackle and give away a free but only if he doesn't have to run 3 yards to do it. All your other points are 100% though.
For what its worth I think KDB will play the right, Silva left. Aguero up front. Gundogan, Fernando and Fernandinho in midfield. No no.10 next season.
That would be stupid from Pep. He'll sign another CM for sure.
KDB is the best player in that City team and probably in the premier league. He was incredible before his injury and came back relatively strong when City didn't have much left to play for. He'll shine under Pep next season.
He is struggling badly in this system. Looks like a water carrier.
He and Silva are now 'free number 8s' which doesn't really suit his game of having maximum effectiveness in the final third through consistent turn-overs. It'll take a bit of getting used to but he's a good enough player to adapt.
Thought he looked terrible today. Still, it's too early to make assumptions.
He's off form. Will come good inevitably, he's a class player.
Great cross for Aguero's header. Early days, he'll get better.
One of the most overrated players in the World. He's one of the best crossers of the ball in the World, fabulous passing range & strikes the ball as cleanly as anyone but the rest of his game is mediocre-poor & it gets exposed when he doesn't have tons of space to operate in.
The fact so many posters on here think he's anywhere near the likes of Ozil & Hazard makes me cringe.
The fact so many posters on here think he's anywhere near the likes of Ozil & Hazard makes me cringe.
So he's good at crossing, passing and shooting. Basically all the attributes that make him an excellent CAM, which he is. Personally think he looks a tad off the pace fitness wise compared to some of the others, but he's a class act.
What more do you expect a no.10 to do? Just look at what happened to City after he got injured. City managed to finish top 4 because he came back from injury in the last month or so.
Hazard on form is a one man wrecking crew.
I'd rate kdb and ozil at about the same level now.
Mind boggling how Hazard gets leeway after his horrible season but KDB gets slaughtered after two bad performances (for his standard at least). His last two seasons have been better than Özil's as well.
Didn't Ozil get the most assists in a PL season ever?