Manchester City playmaker Kevin De Bruyne is one of the best players in the world and has continued to show his excellence as a playmaker by averaging a mind-boggling four key passes in the Premier League to this early point in the season.
De Bruyne, however, had a game to forget against Inter Milan in Wednesday night’s rematch of the 2023 Final, even before coming off at the mid-way point with a potential injury.
Although De Bruyne created two more chances to add to his stats, he failed to make a positive impact on the ball, losing possession frequently while chasing shadows defensively against a dynamic Inter Milan team.
Pep Guardiola noticed this and wasn’t afraid to criticize De Bruyne for his display as the starting left attacking midfielder, “When you are alone and lose easy balls, it’s a counterattack — it’s impossible to stop it. You have to be more precise. It happened especially on the left side with Kevin. We lost the ball without pressure and when that happens they can kill you.”
Manchester City were able to share the spoils with the best team in Italian football, but given Pep’s ambition is to grab another treble at the club, a 0-0 draw isn’t meeting the lofty standard they have set.
De Bruyne will, hopefully, be back soon, and he is a vital part of Man City’s success. But as he gets older, it’s becoming clear that there are some things he can’t do as well as he did a few years ago, which includes winning possession back against top sides.
That’s something to watch as the season rolls on, because Guardiola is the best in the world at anticipating problems early and then tweaking his formation to address them.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.