KEVIN DE BRUYNE BRAT Ten Hag must Mark occasion
I AM so thrilled for the wonderful John O’Shea to say how excited he is to announce his first squad as Ireland manager.
It is clear everyone is working very hard to get some morale-boosting results in next week’s games at the Aviva.
We will all be fascinated to see how Blackburn’s Sammie Szmodics adjusts to international football.
His goals this season have been so impressive and I have got great admiration for a player who has had to fight so hard for a career.
a good professional, who looks after himself, but some of his colleagues have been frustrated by how he looks after himself on the pitch at the expense of the team.
Top level football has never been more physical and yet when you have KDB on board, he becomes a team’s main man because of his exquisite touch and his extraordinary ability to pass the ball.
But the doubts about him at Chelsea always revolved
To start with, he played for Colchester United for six years, and then, after getting a big move to Bristol City, things didn’t work out.
He showed character to go to Peterborough and score 16 goals in a season when Posh won promotion.
Energy
But it is this season when he has really flowered.
He does not just score goals, he has tremendous energy and a hunger to win.
He is someone who has the versatility to play in so many attacking areas of the pitch. Some players
around the fact he was more of a lover than a fighter.
There are two parts of football: attacking and defending.
Few modern players have the ability to influence the attacking side of the game as much as De Bruyne.
But out of possession, the defensive side has always been a vulnerability, as it was at Anfield last Sunday.
The question marks over his attitude are complex. (left) are picked out as kids to be stars of the future.
Szmodics has had to earn that right and is a good professional who should be admired for his tough journey to the top.
Next Saturday will be a special day for Szmodics and his family, but equally it will be a very special day for the O’Shea family.
Alex Ferguson thinks he should be the permanent boss.
Let’s hope that O’Shea (left) can not just give us that unique and engaging love that he brings everywhere, let’s also hope he can give us results, especially with Kevin De Bruyne missing against Belgium.
That self-belief in his own genius is part of his strength.
Yet the conviction he has, that he is right to believe he is the most important part of the team, irrespective of the challenge and the performance, is an insecurity that haunts him.
He will always be remembered at City and will go down as a Premier League legend.
But there is an awkward reality about what City have
WHAT a massive game it is for Erik ten Hag against Liverpool tomorrow.
It is the last chance saloon for the Dutchman (below).
But my goodness, surely it is far from impossible that this peculiar and random set of United players cannot win their next home game and get into a FA Cup semi-final at Wembley.
Okay, Liverpool will be strong favourites, but there are so many demands on this Liverpool squad which has been hit hard by injury, that it makes a United win possible.
Fan
Yes, if I was a United fan, I would be worried if Mo Salah got back amongst the goals at Anfield on Thursday night.
But if
Ten
Hag is to somehow
achieved when you consider that the oil man has made their success an inevitability.
For Belgium, the big opportunity was in Russia at the 2018 World Cup.
Disgrace
And there is no disgrace for a country with a population of 12 million people to finish third in the world.
But De Bruyne went into that tournament believing that it was his destiny to be mastermind a FA Cup win at Old Trafford against Liverpool, it might just be the former Ajax manager’s Mark Robins moment.
Robins, remember, was the player who scored a vital goal in a 1990 Cup tie against Nottingham Forest — a win that saved Alex Ferguson’s job and turned the tide in his favour.
Bizarre
This United team have bizarre characteristics. In their 2-0 win over Everton, they got two early penalties, which were taken by two different players.
They then allowed Everton have an incredible 23 shots at the United goal. And they had to defend eight corners.
There are doubts about this United team in all areas of the park.
But every now and again, the undoubted match-winners in the squad can deliver.
Boy oh boy, does Ten Hag need them to deliver tomorrow afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams.
the star of Belgium’s march to a World Cup.
He had some great moments in 2018 — but he only scored one goal in the tournament.
And the complication regarding De Bruyne is clearly illustrated by this year’s contribution.
Since coming back from injury in January, he has played 13 games, had 13 assists and has scored twice. Undoubtedly impressive.
But the reality is that Foden
THE Blues are my tip to win the Cup this year. They are a better team than people give them credit for.
VERDICT: Home win
vLIVERPOOL would like to win, United need to do it.
VERDICT:
Draw
BURNLEY have just three wins and 14 points from a miserable season. They aren’t good enough for this level.
VERDICT:
vAway win
TWO dreadfully flawed teams, one as bad as the other.
VERDICT:
FULHAM have three wins from their last five games and should not be underestimated.
Draw
VERDICT:
Draw
VILLA’S win on Thursday was brilliant but a European hangover is usually felt immediately after a big game like that.
VERDICT:
Home win
is now of more importance than De Bruyne to the team.
It is a fine line between selfbelief and selfish arrogance.
De Bruyne will go down as a fabulous talent as that impressive set-piece delivery for John Stones’ opener at Anfield demonstrated.
But he will be only ever considered as very good rather than the very best.
And that is because too often Kevin De Bruyne has acted like Kevin De Brat.