Man City star Kevin De Bruyne better than ever after Pep Guardiola blast
Kevin De Bruyne is reportedly not good at the ‘simple stuff’ of football, but who cares if his mastery of the hard stuff is driving Manchester City’s Treble tilt.
Sometimes even the best footballers need a little guts and Pep Guardiola’s criticism of the Belgian last month has proved to be an act of genius.
On March 13, after De Bruyne was relegated to the bench for three of City’s last seven Premier League games, Guardiola said: “What I would like – I’ve spoken to him many times – is to go to the easy principles and to do.” it good.
“He has an incredible ability to provide assists, score goals and make passes like no other.
“But I always have the belief that they will increase and become better than the simple things [are done well]: like not losing the ball, the mobility, the incredible ability to be active in the movement.
Kevin De Bruyne is in sensational form and helped Manchester City reach the semi-finals of the Champions League with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Bayern Munich
Pep Guardiola told the Belgian last month to focus on the ‘simple things’, but he should be happy with his form now – De Bruyne has since scored twice and provided eight assists
“The simple things: do it again, better and better. If this is going to happen, the rest will come.’
Sometimes it’s hard to understand how Guardiola’s mind works, but the perception at the time was that all this was pretty harsh for a player with five goals and 18 assists to his name.
It is eminently sensible to put De Bruyne among City’s substitutes for a few games as he is involved in the vast majority and the playing list is so intense.
But Guardiola’s pointed critique of the “simple things” clearly had the desired motivating effect.
Since those comments, De Bruyne has scored twice and made eight assists in just seven appearances.
Indeed, the day after Guardiola’s comment, he scored to set up the second of Erling Haaland’s five in RB Leipzig’s 7-0 defeat in the Champions League last-16.
And the reactions from De Bruyne just kept coming. A goal and an assist in the 4-1 win over Liverpool, two more in Southampton, another in Leicester and a pair in the FA Cup quarter-final against Burnley.
On Wednesday night, it was his thread-needle pass at Haaland that calmed Bayern Munich’s gusts and ended their Champions League quarter-final for good.
De Bruyne was UEFA’s Player of the Match at the Allianz Arena as City completed the job against Bayern to set up a thrilling semi-final against Real Madrid
The Belgian delivers the centimeter-perfect pass that resulted in Erling Haaland’s goal in the second half
City celebrated Haaland’s goal seconds later as they completed the draw with Bayern
De Bruyne has already surpassed his record from last season for assists at Manchester City
So City marched on to another semi-final with Real Madrid, alongside Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final against Sheffield United and their ruthless victory over Arsenal at the top of the Premier League.
A trophy Treble to match Manchester United’s 1999 performance is in sight and although City have plenty of momentum they still have 13 games to go to win it all.
De Bruyne and Haaland have forged a fantastic rapport
As always, De Bruyne will be key. Whatever happens from here, the 31-year-old has already had his best season for City in terms of assists.
Wednesday night’s pass to Haaland was his 23rd of the campaign, surpassing his previous record of 22 set in the 2019–20 season.
De Bruyne is way ahead when it comes to assists in Europe’s top five leagues, with Paris Saint-Germain duo Lionel Messi and Neymar next with 19 and 16 respectively, followed by Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr with 15 in all competitions.
Career-wise, it was De Bruyne’s 259th assist, equaling former England captain David Beckham’s aggregate tally, but he did so in 15,000 fewer minutes, or about 167 full games.
Inevitably he will surpass Cristiano Ronaldo’s 268 career assists and Angel Di Maria’s 277 if he continues at his current pace, but the 391 Messi delivers could surpass him.
If he stays at City in the coming years, De Bruyne, who has 101 Premier League assists, could threaten Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs’ record of 162.
He will almost certainly overtake Frank Lampard (102), Wayne Rooney (103) and Cesc Fabregas (111).
Keep going as he is and by the end of this season he will be flying past them as history beckons City.
Sometimes a little ‘tough love’ goes a long way.
This was the state of play for assists in Europe before PSG played on Friday night