Paul Merson thinks £55m Manchester City player does whatever he wants under Pep Guardiola

Paul Merson thinks £55m Manchester City player does whatever he wants under Pep Guardiola

Paul Merson has now claimed that Kevin De Bruyne plays how he wants to under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

 

 

The 55-year-old made the comments when speaking to Jeff Stelling about system players on the Football’s Greatest podcast.

 

So, what did Paul Merson say about Kevin De Bruyne? Let’s take a look…

 

What Paul Merson said about Kevin De Bruyne

Well – as aforesaid – the topic of being a maverick and playing outside of a regimented tactical system arose between Stelling and Merson.

 

 

That is when De Bruyne’s name popped up, with the Arsenal legend highlighting the Belgium international as one of few players nowadays to do what they please out on the pitch.

 

Merson said: “When you are playing at Manchester City, you need to keep on performing. Can you play your own way now? I dunno. I mean, Kevin De Bruyne does, doesn’t he? I think they play a way to get De Bruyne on the ball to make things happen.”

 

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The 32-year-old has earned the right to do that under Guardiola.

 

de bruyne

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As we all know, the Spaniard is an intense coach who likes to micromanage where his players should be out on the pitch, and is often seen giving his charges a tactical lesson in front of thousands on the pitch.

 

 

Interestingly, we have never seen Guardiola do something like that in public with De Bruyne, which suggests the Belgian already does everything the 53-year-old wants, and there is no need to coach him.

 

Pep Guardiola is right to give Kevin De Bruyne freedom at Manchester City

In our view, Guardiola manages De Bruyne perfectly – why try to restrict or limit such a creative player, when you can let him roam as he pleases?

 

de bruyne

Photo by Chris Brunskill/Fantasista/Getty Images

The £55m man is so talented that it would be naive to overload him with tactical information – if left to his own devices, he will usually win the game for Manchester City.

 

Hopefully – despite the fact De Bruyne turns 33 in June and has been linked with a move away – we can see him tear Premier League opposition apart for many more years yet.