He came 5th in the Ballon D’Or once and 8th twice. Can’t have been that far off.
Kevin De Bruyne
- Thread starter Robbie Boy
- Start date
What fans don’t quite understand is that young players don’t develop the same in different environments. Just because KDB elevated his game after he left Chelsea doesn’t mean that he would’ve become the same player he is today if he stayed. It all depends on the environment, coaching staff, and team mates. Saying that it is silly to let players like him go in the early years is like saying you should have had a fortune teller’s crystal ball.
Remember how SAF was blamed for dumping Pogba? No matter how many times you explain what actually happened, people will continue to say what supports what they want to believe.
Edit:
A couple other thoughts to add. Ultimately, the managers have to pick the players that they feel will give them the best chance to gain success as defined by the board and owner. They can’t guarantee youth minutes and tell the board or the owners that these youngsters will come good in 4-5 years but they need game time now and that we’ll win silverware when they mature. Chelsea didn’t operate that way for sure. They want success now and if they can’t get it from the current manager, they look for someone else who can.
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5th and 8th. Sounds like that wall in Meet The Fockers where the Dad keeps medals and ribbons for those placings.
8th twice. That’s brilliant!
When Pogba left he had only played reserve Football and a few cameos for the Senior team. De Bruyne was one of the best players in Belgium and then was great in the Bundesliga. This is not a genius after the fact thing it looked he would clearly turn into a great player the only thing surprising right now is the role that he is playing.
There were many more world class players back then compared to the current times. And Rooney still was one of the best in the world and in my opinion, he was what made Manchester United such an unstoppable force since he came from Everton as a teenager. He was the replacement for Keane in terms of heart, passion and dedication on the field, albeit Wayne didn't have even a third of Keane's leadership qualities.
Teams in the Premier League fear De Bruyne just as they did Rooney back in the day, which transcends to the whole team.
No reason to belittle Rooney because his career tailed off. At his peak he was without a doubt one of the five best players in the world.
I was the biggest Rooney apologist on this site and Rooney is one of my favorite players ever but, he never was at the level De Bruyne is playing right now.
Exactly my point.
Rooney in 2010 was one of the best strikers in the world. Problem is his peak didn't last long and his best ever season numbers-wise (2009/2010) we only won league cup in it. The injury of that Bayern match fecked him up and he never returned to what he was before it.
If Pep had Pogba he'd be the best player in the league. Jose's style of play stifles our attacking play in favour of defensive rigidity, the City team are far better coached in attacking movement, passing and positioning, and it helps KDB's numbers that Aguero is at the end of his passes, who's the best finisher in the league.
Rooney has been a top level player since the age of 16. If De Bruyne does and achieves half of what Wayne has, it would have been a brilliant career.
Wayne Rooney is an all-time great in the history of English football.
I would like to respectfully disagree. Rooney had other peaks throughout his career, this one was as a pure striker and being as efficient as possible in terms of goals and assists. He was a different player prior to his two best goal-scoring seasons.
Really don’t understand the Rooney comparisons. Totally different players who play in totally different positions. Like comparing Apples and oranges
Don't get me wrong he has been very good previously but numbers-wise 2010 was his peak for me. It's at this time he become recognized as one of the best strikers in the world from all aspects.
If he was 5th and 8th best player in the world he was in the conversation, at least a bit.
My point was he was never a pure striker to start with. Rooney was a world class attacker before his best season in terms of goal output. To me, he was just as important as Ronaldo for our team and should not be solely judged on number of goals or assists, of which he still had more than enough.
Don't disagree about your concept at all. I was talking about his peak as a pure striker.
Thanks Jose.
Youre forgetting how good Rooney was at his peak. Not too much difference at all between Rooney and KDB.
KDB is fantastic, that second assist today was phenomenal.
He's a pretty good actor, too.
I remember KDB debut for Chelsea. I had him in my fantasy football side. Played very well then disappeared. Was sold. Had his professionalism questioned and was brilliant from day 1. Defend mourinho all you like but he was 100% wrong. He was ready to play there and then and no one before or after has questioned his professionalism.
Let’s talk about KdB instead of repeating what Mourinho should or shouldn’t have done. Neither is the topic new or breathtakingly revealing. And whatever the decision was, not like he would have been playing for us.
Absolutely stunning player and totally runs City’s midfield. His passing zipping through to sterling etc are getting all too familiar now. Most clutch in big games as well.
Absolutely stunning player and totally runs City’s midfield. His passing zipping through to sterling etc are getting all too familiar now. Most clutch in big games as well.
I have a friend who has a few connections at Chelsea (I know, doesn’t somebody always know a guy that knows a guy) and the KDB issue at Chelsea was similar to the current Pogba scenario. KDB wasn’t happy being called out for a lack of defensive work which he felt wasn’t playing to his strengths and as a result he wanted away from Jose and Chelsea. No mention of the alleged courtois incident. That said KDB is an immense player and possibly the best in the world in his position. He is a joy to watch at times albeit it through gritted teeth as he plays for city.
Everyone could see he was more talented than Oscar, at least end product wise.
It was the game at old against Moyes where Mourinho was very negative and played him as a striker, and Debruyne was poor that sent him out of the team.
Mourinho's biggest achilles hill is been very inpatient with young players, and trying to shoehorn them and expecting them to do a job regardless.
He might be successful in the short term but long term success of a club lies with making sure you have a core of young players playing in key position. Imagine a Chelsea team with KDB, Hazard and Salah.
As much as he has been an instant success in most jobs ( not yet at United IMHO), long term he isn't the person.
I hope he doesn't make thesame mistakes with our crop considering how the transfer market is becoming difficult to get a half decent player.
His passing is effortless, but he has it all. His crossing and shooting are just as effective; he’d be in the conversation for all 3 categories as best in the league, and would probably win two of them. Add to that he’s aggressive off the ball and works hard all game and you’ve got a hell of a player. On the drive home Talksport were saying he’s covered the most ground in the league so far this season.
He’s a rare player. Talk of Individuals awards on the European stage will only come if we win the CL though, that’s he way the BDor seems to work these days.
He’s a rare player. Talk of Individuals awards on the European stage will only come if we win the CL though, that’s he way the BDor seems to work these days.
Neither is De Bruyne.
It's not like he's the best player on the planet. If anything it's the other way round. He could get Eueopean recognition despite not actually being the best because it's a team sport.
He is brilliant though. Phenomenal footballer.
He's one of those players who would probably improve every single team right now. His passing is a joy to watch. And his transition to midfield is also very impressive. Just the kind of player we need sadly.
So does the level of cringe.
Difference is Rooney played fantastic for well over 10 years. I’d argue this is only De Bruyne first really good season. I don’t understand why people try to rewrite history on Rooney’s career. He’s all time top scorer for the biggest club in England and the national side. He was the talisman as a teenager for England and has won every single trophy available playing for an English team.
But De Bruyne is far far better apparently based on one season.
Longevity and trophies don't define how good a player is/was
The Mourinho bashing in this thread is more than a bit ridiculous given it happened at Chelsea. What the feck do we care what shade of blue De Bruyne could've been wearing right now? As long as he doesn't sell one of our own talents, it's all good for me.
Why not?
Would a manager sell a young Messi cheaply just because he wants more first team football and the manager can’t guarantee that? I’d say if this happen it’s all the manager fault of not trusting the players potential.
No matter how talented he was, nobody envisioned him to become the player is.
Besides he wanted more time that Mourinho was ready to give and decided to leave.
More often than not clubs let go of players who wanna play more elsewhere.
It's so unfair to keep blaming Mourinho for something that was hard if not impossible to foresee
He was great from the moment he left. Playing top flight football in a top league. You talk as if he dropped down the leagues and it took years for him to be good. Absolutely moutinhos fault. An absolute nonsense to suggest otherwise.
You just insulted de bruyne.
People forget how good we were when Rooney was a key player for us, we were at the zenith of European football. KDB has been awesome this season but if City don’t prove themselves to be one of the best in Europe, who cares? They have failed to even defend the PL crown so far, let alone win three on the bounce and appear in three CL finals in four years.
I don't think you have a good idea of what happened in this case. Mourinho wasn't impatient with De Bruyne, it was the other way around. The latter was 20 years old at the time and Chelsea treated him as such. He was told to be patient and that he'd get more and more playing time but he wouldn't have it. Jose didn't think he was ready to play regularly yet, especially since KDB was reportedly shit in training, unmotivated, crying and complaining all the time. KDB felt he was not a normal young player and was experienced enough to play regularly. Apparently he needed to play every week, in order to be motivated in training.
I don't think Mou was doubting his talent, just his mentality and dedication. It's possible that he made a mistake in that regard but it's also possible that KDB was indeed a whining little brat, at the time.
A brief explanation:
1) KDB was dropped for a game
2) Got annoyed and asked to leave
3) Mourinho said he didn't want KDB to leave but wouldn't stop him; told him he was a really good player
4) KDB left
I could name countless average players with a bigger trophy cabinet than Luiz Ronaldo yet none of them would come close to how good he was as a player and could even be mentioned in the same sentence as him
De Bruyne is at a level right now Rooney was not capable of reaching, different players and different positions but De Bruyne is having one of those seasons where he is unplayable
I never seen Rooney be that kind of player where he dominates a game for 90 minutes consistently
I have never said nor implied that so I don't know what to say.
All I said is that he did the right to push for a move and that there is no way one would see he'd be this good when Mourinho let him go (he wasn't and won't be the last to ever let a young player florish elsewhere).
In hindsight it is easy to say Mourinho made a blunder but things aren't as straightforward as that. I am just annoyed how easy it's become to blame for things that are very difficult to control.