Kevin De Bruyne

Good to see more and more people comparing Pogba to De Bruyne, I was always a little uncomfortable with the comparison between Yaya and Pogba (for obvious reasons). They're totally different types of players with totally different skill sets. To put it another way, Yaya was the kind of man you built your team around. Pogba, on the other hand, is the kind of midfielder you build your team for. Yaya had this brilliant ability to take a backseat during games while subtly controlling the entire thing - he was mostly the man who started moves from behind the midfield. Pogba's more of a headline maker, a game-breaker, the player who finishes those moves off, which is much more the type of player De Bruyne is. I think De Bruyne's much more productive and far more dangerous - if he picks the ball up 30-40 yards from goal you can guarantee something's going to happen in a way I'm not sure you can with Pogba.

But Pogba's now at the age where De Bruyne really stepped up a level, so we'll see where he goes from here. Kevin was excellent in his first season under Pellegrini as a #10, but Guardiola moved him into a #8 position and it took a while for him to adjust. His performances during the second half of the 16/17 season were pretty mixed, in all honesty. He was having trouble adjusting to the new position, he'd just had a son, he wasn't right really. He finished that season well, though, and came back at the start of 17/18 a new man and essentially won the league on his own before December. I'm not saying Pogba's got that level of ability but the team surrounding him isn't as good as City's was in the Centurions season, so it'd be unfair to expect as much from him. But Pogba's definitely capable of a 20-goal/15-assist season if he puts his mind to it and if Ole builds the team for him.

What would have helped, only in my view of course, would have been acquiring a defensive midfielder or just keeping Herrera; someone to do the legwork while Pogba concentrates on the numbers. Failing to do either of those things might cost you a genuinely unforgettable season from him in the end, and considering the two games you've had so far this season have seen Pogba as part of a two-man midfield rather than a #10 (which is where his best form came from last season), it's a worrying trend really. But we live in hope.

I really hoped Pogba would become our Toure, I even liked the idea of using Pogba like Mancini did Toure (playing deeper initially and then if the game needed it switching him to a more attacking role) alas like I said the other day the goal scoring/arriving in the box just doesn't come naturally to Pogba and while he'll have a couple of games a season where he shows he's more than capable of doing it like I said it doesn't come naturally to him so he stops doing it as quickly as he started :(

As for De Bruyne he's on another level to Pogba, maybe not in terms of actual ability but certainly application but then again maybe the things that De Bruyne does just doesn't come naturally to Pogba so maybe I'm doing our player a disservice
 
I really hoped Pogba would become our Toure, I even liked the idea of using Pogba like Mancini did Toure (playing deeper initially and then if the game needed it switching him to a more attacking role) alas like I said the other day the goal scoring/arriving in the box just doesn't come naturally to Pogba and while he'll have a couple of games a season where he shows he's more than capable of doing it like I said it doesn't come naturally to him so he stops doing it as quickly as he started :(

As for De Bruyne he's on another level to Pogba, maybe not in terms of actual ability but certainly application but then again maybe the things that De Bruyne does just doesn't come naturally to Pogba so maybe I'm doing our player a disservice

Pogba could never do the Toure role. I don't think he has Toure's intelligence and reading of the game or the patience for it. Pogba is a "moments" players, always eyeing up the killer pass. Toure knew when to keep the ball ticking over with simple sideways passes and when to burst forward or look for a through ball. Pogba's more useful than Toure if you want to start him in a more advanced role, as Toure could do that but he never seemed to play to his best when he started games in that position. For all the criticism Toure got about being lazy I think his workrate was vastly underappreciated, as he was always dropping deep to collect the ball from the CBs and then he'd be up the other end of the pitch looking to get involved again. Because he did it all with his trademark languid style he seemed like he wasn't putting much effort in but he covered a hell of a lot of ground.
 
Pogba could never do the Toure role. I don't think he has Toure's intelligence and reading of the game or the patience for it. Pogba is a "moments" players, always eyeing up the killer pass. Toure knew when to keep the ball ticking over with simple sideways passes and when to burst forward or look for a through ball. Pogba's more useful than Toure if you want to start him in a more advanced role, as Toure could do that but he never seemed to play to his best when he started games in that position. For all the criticism Toure got about being lazy I think his workrate was vastly underappreciated, as he was always dropping deep to collect the ball from the CBs and then he'd be up the other end of the pitch looking to get involved again. Because he did it all with his trademark languid style he seemed like he wasn't putting much effort in but he covered a hell of a lot of ground.

Toure intelligent?

toure.jpg


:p
 
Mesut Ozil currently holds the record for fastest to 50 Premier League assists on 141 games. De Bruyne has 49 assists and has played 119 games. He's an end product machine.

For reference the top few to 50 are:
Ozil in 141
Cantona in 143
Bergkamp in 146
Fabregas in 165
Silva in 166
Beckham in 170
Henry in 174

I was off slightly because I forgot the three Chelsea apps but De Bruyne broke this record today. Fastest to 50 assists, doing it in 123 games. That's 18 games faster than Ozil. Unreal player.
 
Such an amazing player. He also works hard for the team. Perfect player for Pep's system.
 
Best player in the league by a distance.
Yep. And I'd even take him ahead of Salah in the season before last as POTY. Insane player and also someone that is pretty much impossible to dislike.
 
2 goals 7 assists in 6 matches in the PL. And if it wasn't for Aguero missing sitters left right and center he'd be in double figures.

Nailed on for POTY barring an injury.
 
2 goals 7 assists in 6 matches in the PL. And if it wasn't for Aguero missing sitters left right and center he'd be in double figures.

Nailed on for POTY barring an injury.

He only played for 30min in one of those games too.
 
Wonder how he'll be compared to other premier league midfield legends like Scholes, Gerrard, Lampard and Beckham. He kinda has a bit from everyone. Beckham-esque delivery, Gerrards energy and running with the ball, etc. He's not quite as good of a passer as Scholes IMO but it's not that far off. We'll see how long he keeps it up, but he really is a brilliant player when hes fit.
 
Yep. And I'd even take him ahead of Salah in the season before last as POTY. Insane player and also someone that is pretty much impossible to dislike.

I agree. He was on fire that season but the goals took the plaudits per usual
 
Spending £50m on Stering and £55m KDB is 'smart business' :lol: I doubt they'll get anywhere near that if they want to move them on. Raheem would need to consistently contribute 20 goals 20 assists to justify that price and help City recoup anywhere near that amount.
I think City would comfortably recoup that if they tried to sell those two on. Might just be me, though.
 
What i like most about him is his mentality. He just wants to play football and doesnt care about other things.

(One of) the best player in the Premier League but no dancing, no social media, no clothing line but just football. Even when Courtois fecked him over with the girlfriend situation he told the manager to still play Courtois because he wants to win football games and with Courtois the chance at winning is higher.

He is a worldclass player with a worldclass mentality. If i could sign one player from another PL club it would be him.
 
Again, simply one of the best players to have played in the Premier League. Certainly one of the best midfielders.

Now, if only he had a silly PFA player of the year trophy...
 
7 assists already this season apparently
There was also that Belgium/Scotland game with 3 assists and a goal in a 4-0 win.
He takes chances with his passing so will never have best completion stats but plenty of key passes, assists and pre assists.
Fabulous player and great temperament.
 
That was kind of the point though. What a horrible call...

People should think before they post crap then. If you're regularly finding yourself retrospectively looking like an idiot, it's probably time to look for a new hobby.

Yup, was a shit call but I don’t really see the point in quoting a four year old post. I’m sure we all have utter wank posts that can be called out. I don’t see how anyone couldn’t see that both were potentially world class players but hey, that’s life.
 
An absolutely beautiful player to watch, and one of the players I would not hesitate to welcome into our team.
 
I was getting abuse a few pages back when I said there's a realistic chance he could end up being better than Lampard, Gerrard and Scholes. KDB is an exceptional player and with the old City generals gone or on their way out, he is going to be the leader of the new team.

If his titles and performances continue for the next 4 seasons we could be looking at the PL's best ever CM/AM.
 
DeBruyne? How I wish we had him. Head and shoulders above any player we’ve had in the last 10 years.
 
Starting to think he has a better whip/cross than prime Beckham. Drops it on the strikers toes every time.
 
It does but it's not like De Bruyne hasn't shown tremendous form before. He was massive for Wolfsburg in 2014/15.

Yup he's definitely world-class, usually the best player on his team so his managers try and get the best of him. And when someone like Guardiola tailors his system for you, you're gonna be immense.