A midfielder who was named Premier League Player of the Season, played on the league-winning team, scored four goals in one game, and who consistently astounds everyone with his skills. Today, we'll examine Kevin De Bruyne of Manchester City, one of the best midfielders in the world of football.
A pillar of Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne (KdB), has once again shown why he is the Premier League's greatest treasure. The most recent example of his brilliant performances came against Bournemouth (Dt- Aug 13, 2022), where he distinguished himself from his teammates thanks to some trickery, technique, vision, a goal, and an assist that led the newly promoted club lose 4-0. After his performance, the Man of the Match trophy was given to him.
So let's examine him as a player in more detail.
A Brief
Pic Source - https://www.premierleague.com/news/
Belgian-born professional footballer Kevin De Bruyne, a midfielder for Manchester City of the Premier League and the Belgium squad, was born on June 28, 1991.
De Bruyne joined Manchester City in the summer of 2015 for a club-record £54 million. Since then, he has helped the team win an FA Cup, five League Cups, and four Premier League titles. He played a big part in making Manchester City the first Premier League club to score 100 points in a single season in 2017–18. He was also named the Premier league Player of the Season(2021/22).
Stats
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His 15 goals last season was a record high in his career at City. After the match against Leeds (from the previous season), De Bruyne's season really took off; in the 19 games since, he has scored 13 goals and provided seven assists. His goal involvement rate for this period is just slightly higher than his single-season high from 2019–20 (a goal every 81 minutes) (85 minutes per goal involvement). Last season, the Belgian contributed to a goal roughly every 96 minutes.
Playing Style
Understanding how Pep Guardiola positions his Manchester City team is necessary before you can comprehend how Kevin de Bruyne plays. All of Pep’s teams have in common that they play incredibly possession based football.
When Guardiola inverted his fullbacks at Manchester City, the team was able to generate threatening scenarios, overloads in wide and central zones, and, of course, opportunities for Kevin de Bruyne to shine.
Pic Source - https://www.sofascore.com/
Setting a position for Kevin De Bruyne would be impossible after looking at his heatmap from 2021/22. He is undoubtedly an offensive midfielder, but he also covers the pitch from both the wings and the centre, making him more than just an attacking midfielder. He is perceived as modern number. 10, who mostly performs as a creator and a goal scorer. Without Sergio Aguero, players like De Bruyne had to play the position of the false nine and score goals for their team.
Now since Erling Haaland has filled that void, take a look at Kevin’s heatmap from the opening 2 matches of the new campaign.
Pic Source - https://www.sofascore.com/
The illustration above shows that KdB is certain of his role at the club and that his positional play is fairly similar to that of the previous season, with or without Haaland. KdB is expected to send the ball to his attackers with Haaland in the picture, and he does it successfully with an 88% pass completion percentage. In order for his teammates to attack the area, he would frequently move his marks out wide and then, he would join the out-to-in attack.
KdB is an attacking midfielder, a little differently, an advanced midfielder who plays ahead of play and is less involved in the action in the middle of the field, which leads to fewer tackles per game but generates the same number of opportunities and has significantly more shots on target.
Notable Strengths
1. Consistency
Pic Source - https://understat.com/
KdB serves as the focal point of City's offensive third. Either he provides an incredible assist or he believes he can score on his own. In the 25 games that he started, he had a fantastic success rate, tallying 15 goals and 7 assists. In the half of the opposition, he continues to pose a threat. He has consistently produced throughout the games, which makes him a reliable playmaker.
The illustration above shows the career stats per 90 for the Belgian. Proves he is an all round player.
2. Key Passes
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If you are amongst the few who couldn’t witness the game on Saturday, you did miss KdB’s Performance. He controlled the right side of the attacking half and produced crosses that were impossible to stop and begged for a City player to score. He did receive assistance, but he deserved more.
3. Goals
Pic Source- https://www.planetfootball.com/
As previously indicated, despite only playing 25 out of a possible 38 games for City last season, KdB was City's leading scorer in the Premier League. Being a midfielder, he scored four goals against Wolverhampton FC while playing away from home, helping him win Premier League Player of the Season. The Belgian has little trouble scoring goals because his role at the club is to move into open spaces or make room for others. He has acquired a method that enables him to slither into opposing defences and attempt a goal on his own.
So, what about his weaknesses?
It is hard to point out any as there are no outstanding weaknesses.
Conclusion
Pic Source - https://www.codesports.com.au/
Despite wearing the number 17, KdB can be referred to as the modern number 10 of football. He is a playmaker and a goal scorer, making him the ideal midfielder. After a magnificent performance against Bournemouth and at the age of 31, he undoubtedly earned the hearts of his supporters, demonstrating that age is just a number. His performance shows that he is nowhere near his peak, city fans would be hoping that it remains that way for the years to come.
Given their performance at St. James Park, Newcastle, where he plays his next game, will be a challenging opponent. Knowing that City defeated them 4-0 in this match last year, it will be an entertaining game. The contest is scheduled to take place on Sunday.
That's all we have for you today. Stay tuned for more.
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