Kevin De Bruyne has been left on the bench for three out of Manchester City's last seven Premier League matches; Pep Guardiola has urged the midfielder to do the simple things in order to improve; the City boss compared De Bruyne's struggles to that of Erling Haaland
Tuesday 14 March 2023 12:22, UK
Pep Guardiola has urged Manchester City's Kevin De Bruyne to work on the "simple things" to get back to his best - and compared his struggles to that of Erling Haaland's in terms of getting in the game.
De Bruyne has registered 17 assists in 34 appearances - three more than he managed in 45 games last season - in a side chasing three trophies this term.
Yet with Guardiola having started him on the bench for three of the last seven Premier League games, including at Crystal Palace on Saturday night, the manager clearly feels the levels of one of his big-name stars have fallen.
"It's been a difficult season, I would say, for all of us, me included, [because of] the World Cup and many things.
"I'm not going to discover Kevin. Kevin has an ability to do it. What I'd like - I spoke many times to him - is to go to the easy principles and do it well.
"He has an incredible ability to make an assist, to score goals and see passes like no-one else, but I always have belief they will increase and will get better when the simple things, like don't lose the ball, the mobility, the incredible capacity to be active in the movement, to do it again better and better, the rest will come along.
"It's like Erling [Haaland]. I don't want him to just score goals and the rest I don't care. He will score and he will be involved in the game.
"With Kevin it's the same. When the simple things are done perfectly and we are in the right moment, the actions to create incredible passes that he - only he - can find, it will be easier, it will be better."
Guardiola was speaking at a press conference to preview City's Champions League last-16 second leg against RB Leipzig on Tuesday and shared his club's media duties with De Bruyne, although the pair were not in the room at the same time.
For his part, De Bruyne insisted he would always strive to hit the highest possible standards and had no thoughts about whether he might have to adapt his game, or even play in a different position, in the future.
The 31-year-old said: "I'm a perfectionist. Whatever I do in football or life, I will always want it to be 100 per cent.
"In that regard, if the time would come, that is something I would think about but it's not necessarily now.
"If I think about it at this particular time I would like to stay as high as possible, for as long as possible, but that isn't only my decision."
Guardiola accepts his side still have work to do against Leipzig, who are third in the Bundesliga, after the two sides played out a 1-1 draw in the first leg of their last-16 tie in Germany three weeks ago.
He said: "Always I believe in 'transition' games, it is always [the toss of] a coin. It can go in your favour or [not] but it is a knockout game and maybe we need to break more of the game, maybe we don't.
"We will see. In the end the game will dictate what we have to do. We'll try to adjust a few things that will maybe help us to have more control and play a bit better."
Kevin De Bruyne has created 98 goals in the Premier League, with all but one of those coming during eight glittering campaigns at Manchester City - but is his undisputed crown as the midfield king under threat from Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard?
Odegaard extended his league goal tally to 10 this season at the weekend, hitting double digits for the first time in his career - and he has also created another six for team-mates along the way.
Meanwhile, there have been question marks over De Bruyne's omission from the starting XI in recent weeks, having been an unused sub against Spurs at the Etihad and being called from the bench in the reverse fixture. The Belgium international remained unused at Bournemouth and clocked only 11 minutes at Palace on Saturday.
Those narratives prompted Jamie Redknapp to hail Odegaard as the league's top playmaker after the Gunners' 3-0 win at Fulham: "Right now, Odegaard is the number one [midfielder in the Premier League].
"Normally you'd say De Bruyne is the best midfield player, not just in the Premier League but in the world. Something isn't quite right, he's not playing as many games as he'd like. But Odegaard does this thing which all great players possess: it's like time stands still when he has the ball. The calmness he possesses.
"He's scored four or five goals like he did against Fulham, with that left foot. He's the captain, he's the leader. He's leading that team. When he hasn't got the ball he goes and presses it and it catches."
