2023-11-11 23:22:00
The season mightn’t have gotten off to a worse start. This summer, Manchester City lost Kevin De Bruyne, its playmaker, a major architect of the grail in the Champions League and incidentally the 4th in the last Ballon d’Or. Severely injured in his hamstrings in August, the Belgian will certainly not play once more in 2023. Not enough to break the destructive dynamic of the Citizens.
Without “KDB”, Pep Guardiola’s men command the Premier League (1st, 27 points), are already qualified for the round of 16 of the Champions League following having outclassed their group and are scoring a lot of goals. The Belgian magician is no longer there to distribute the offerings and lead a collective of which he was the strong soul.
But he is not the only one. “City may have been penalized by the absence of De Bruyne, but as with the loss of Rodri and John Stones,” explains Ben Southby of Eurosport UK. Proof of this is that the Spanish midfielder has missed three matches this season, corresponding to the SkyBlues’ only three defeats.
City can afford to do without him
Concretely, Guardiola had to recompose his typical team a little. By putting John Stones alongside Rodri as sentry. By playing the other magician of this team Bernardo Silva more in the center. But also by using the sides with the emergence of Jérémy Doku on the left in particular.
In short, a winning cocktail thanks to liberated individuals (Bernardo Silva became a De Bruyne thanks to his passes from elsewhere, Mateo Kovacic integrated at lightning speed…) but above all thanks to a perfectly oiled collective, even without the Belgian.
“De Bruyne has so many qualities that his spark is still lacking, but City have such firepower in attack that they can afford to do without him,” continues our British colleague, who welcomes the emergence of Julian Alvarez in second striker (7 goals, 5 assists).
The other executives took over
The influence of the Argentinian somehow compensates for the absence of Kevin de Bruyne, not there to break lines. “Erling Haaland has been much more discreet without De Bruyne’s ability to unlock defenses. Teams are content to sit lower, which has hampered Haaland’s overall play,” adds Ben Southby.
A real offensive steamroller, Manchester City is, without “KDB”, still as inspired on placed attacks. Rodri, Bernardo Silva… the other executives took over from the technical leader without any problem.
And the others ? The 62 million euro recruit Matheus Nunes struggles to offer a choice alternative in the midfield. Phil Foden, initially recruited to provide an understudy to De Bruyne, is still young and needs to be perfected. Kalvin Philiipps has never seized the opportunities… “The defeats in the absence of Rodri show that Guardiola is still seeking to perfect the formula at midfielder,” concludes Southby.
Bernard Silva
Credit: Getty Images
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