Extraordinary’ Man City player could now be set for bench

‘Extraordinary’ Man City player could now be set for bench 

Manchester City attacker Julian Alvarez has been one of Pep Guardiola’s most important players this season – but it’s possible he could now have a very different second half of the season.

City have made a perfect start to 2024, winning all four of their games so far across all competitions.

The team’s form since the Club World Cup has been brilliant and that is very encouraging, with supporters hopeful of seeing another long run.

City are currently five points behind leaders Liverpool, which could extend to eight if the Reds beat Arsenal today. But City would then have two games in hand on Jurgen Klopp’s side.

Julian Alvarez has certainly played his part in helping City not lose sight of Liverpool, scoring 15 goals and making 10 assists.

But it may well be that this hugely influential player is now set to spend a lot of time on the bench in the coming weeks…

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It seems crazy to suggest that a player with 25 goal contributions could be spending more time on the bench.

But unfortunately for Alvarez, two truly outstanding footballers are now back available for Manchester City.

The irrepressible Kevin De Bruyne came early back last month, and the Belgian’s injury absence had been one of the main reasons why Alvarez was able to feature so heavily.

The Argentine played a number of matches as an advanced midfielder, alongside Phil Foden, and the 24-year-old did a fairly decent job playing in behind Erling Haaland.

But Alvarez is not Kevin De Bruyne, and the City talisman will now take back his place in the starting XI. Pep Guardiola may not be using him every single game, just to be cautious, but the Belgian king will be a prominent feature no doubt now that he is back.

You’ve then got Erling Haaland, who was out for a couple of months in the end with a foot injury.

While he was on the sidelines, £100,000-a-week star Alvarez led the line and did a great job.

But again, Haaland is an incredible goalscorer and is going to play every game he’s available for.

Phil Foden form also an issue for Julian Alvarez
Not only does Alvarez have De Bruyne and Haaland coming back in, Phil Foden is in the form of his life in a central role.

The England international has been absolutely superb in the middle while De Bruyne has been out, and you cannot see Guardiola choosing to play Alvarez there over him. Foden can play wide of course, but Pep also has the likes of Jack Grealish, Jeremy Doku, Bernardo Silva and Oscar Bobb as other options.

It’s also not too likely we’ll see Alvarez in the wide positions, as he has never really operated on the flanks since his arrival at the club.

Thanks to De Bruyne, Haaland and Foden, it’s very possible we will be seeing a lot less of Alvarez in the second half of the season compared to the first.

There obviously could be more injuries, but Alvarez – as ‘extraordinary’ as he has been – may have to be patient at times during the run-in.
Manager says no player in the world can even see the passes £54m Man City star sees
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Manchester City Women head coach Gareth Taylor believes Kevin De Bruyne can see passes no other player in the world can.

It was as recently as on Wednesday night when De Bruyne showcased why his vision to spot a pass is at a truly elite level.

Robbie Savage described the weight of the Belgian midfielder’s pass for Julian Alvarez’s second goal as “remarkable” against Vincent Kompany’s Burnley side.

Gareth Taylor says Kevin De Bruyne can see passes no other player in the world can
After Oscar Bobb’s late goal against Newcastle United, even he admitted that the assist for the strike could only have been pulled off by one player in the world: Kevin De Bruyne.

In January, Joleon Lescott went as far as to claim that the £54 million (Mirror) man barely ever plays a poor pass of any kind.

Now, Gareth Taylor has lauded Manchester City talisman Kevin De Bruyne, who he believes has a vision when it comes to his passing that is not matched by any other player in world football.

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“Priceless timing, really for the club to have these players available. You know, Kevin [De Bruyne] coming back, John [Stones] coming back as well. I think it’s great in that respect and when he brings that type of quality that we’re seeing here for the goal and for Oscar Bobb’s goal as well, he’s just a top, top talent”, he said on City’s pre-match show (via YouTube).

“He sees passes and makes simple long passes like that [for Bobb’s goal against Newcastle] which look simple but I don’t think there’s anyone else in the game who has his vision and I think when you have players in front of you like he has, he obviously has a chance of really executing those, yeah, he’s a really talented player.”

In our view, Gareth Taylor is bang on the money about Kevin De Bruyne, who has an unrivalled eye for a pass when it comes to any player in world football.

Some may scoff at such a claim and proceed to name Real Madrid’s legendary midfield duo of Toni Kroos and Luka Modric.

But as for both Kroos and Modric as well, they lack De Bruyne’s eye to spot a potential goalscoring chance and be able to execute a variety of final balls.

What differentiates Kevin De Bruyne as a passer from any other player in the world, be it Luka Modric, Toni Kroos or any other potential example one wishes to name is that he can not just see but pull off every possible type of pass one demands him to consistently.