‘No’… Pep Guardiola adamant he does not want £55m Man City star playing different role
Pep Guardiola has said that he doesn’t want Kevin De Bruyne playing a deeper role for Manchester City, stating ‘it’s his talent’ to play in the final third.
De Bruyne recently made his return to action for City after a period on the sidelines recovering from a hamstring injury.
De Bruyne missed just under five months, but has come back and made a big impact for City.
The Belgian has shown an impressively high level so far, and has contributed five assists and a couple of goals.
De Bruyne really does just make things happen for City, and is extremely dangerous in the final third – and Pep Guardiola has dismissed the notion of the player dropping deeper…
Pep Guardiola wants Kevin De Bruyne in and around the final third for Manchester City
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Some more Guardiola quotes were released last night after the lifting of his press conference embargo, and the City boss has made some comments about De Bruyne’s position.
De Bruyne – hailed for his ‘phenomenal football intelligence’ last week by Stephen Warnock – is obviously approaching his mid-thirties now, and it is not uncommon for high-octane, dynamic midfielders to drop deeper as they get older when they lose physicality.
But for Pep, this is not an option for De Bruyne at the moment.
He said (via Hayters TV): “No, he has to be in the final third. He has not to defend deeper, no. I want Kevin in the final third, it’s his talent. A huge talent is there.”
De Bruyne would be waster playing deeper
Maybe this is something De Bruyne could do in a couple of years’ time, but certainly at the moment, there is no need to be using the Belgian magician from deep.
Because the £55 million star is still showing very high levels of fitness and dynamism.
De Bruyne presses from the front, and still has plenty of mobility and athleticism.
And needless to say, his playmaking is on another level from everyone else, and you need someone with his quality in and around the box to play those line-breaking balls through.
Eden Hazard has actually just shared his feelings about De Bruyne, and believes one of the reasons he’s as good as he is is because of the freedom he is afforded by the manager.
Of course, he has the passing range to operate a little deeper, and he probably could do a job alongside Rodri just fine.
But you would not be making the best use of him there. While he’s still physically capable, Pep is absolutely right to dismiss the idea of him sitting back in the midfield.
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