Pep stars are going to sorely miss their crocked quarterback
MANCHESTER CITY must now defend their Premier League title without their quarterback, emotional leader and silent assassin.
The knee injury suffered by Kevin De Bruyne in training yesterday threatens to keep the Belgium star out for up to four months.
And a new fly-on-the-wall TV documentary into last season’s all-conquering Premier League triumph reveals just how much he will be missed.
The first episode of ‘All or Nothing: Manchester City’ is released on Amazon Prime tomorrow and De Bruyne features heavily.
He was City’s player of the season last term, scoring 12 goals and providing 21 assists while taking on a leadership role within Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering squad.
The Dutch ace has played in 87 per cent of City’s Premier League minutes under Guardiola – making more assists, creating more chances and playing more passes in the opposition half than any other player in the squad.
Club captain Vincent Kompany said: “He is a quarterback really. He knows the plays and sees the game before everybody else.
“If he has a map of the game he can just close his eyes and he can just find people.”
Maturity
With Kompany suffering another injuryplagued season, Guardiola revealed how he turned to De Bruyne, despite the Belgium midfielder’s quiet demeanour.
The City boss said: “He is a top player, shy, he doesn’t talk too much but on the pitch he is completely different – a competitor, physically so strong.
“He doesn’t feel the pressure. He is now one of our captains. He deserves it. He takes a lot of responsibility on the pitch.”
Assistant coach Mikel Arteta even admitted there were times last season when De Bruyne carried City.
He said: “I think he’s achieved so much maturity as a player, understanding the key moments in the game and being able to say ‘I’m going to do this myself.’
“It’s given the team an incredible attitude.”
De Bruyne helped City lay down a marker when he bossed the game and scored the winner against his old club Chelsea during a 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge last September.
The documentary also features him lifting the lid on why he left the Londoners to join Wolfsburg in January 2014 after falling out with Jose Mourinho.
De Bruyne said: “I was only 20 years old when I decided to play for Chelsea. I got my chances in the first few games and everything was going well.
“Then one day everything just stopped. I didn’t have a lot of patience at the time and I decided to go in January.”
De Bruyne has not looked back, spending two seasons in Germany and becoming Bundesliga Player of the Year before signing for City in 2015.
He admits it took him time to adjust to being a leader but in an interview done just before his injury yesterday, he reveals how important his off-field role was at times.
In one incident he even stopped Leroy Sane getting into a huge bust-up with Guardiola after being hauled off during City’s shock FA Cup defeat at Wigan.
De Bruyne said: “At the time Sane was angry that he had been substituted. I remember that he showed it a bit and Pep wasn’t happy with that.
“In the end I told him: ‘It’s all right, it’s not because you are bad, it’s for tactical reasons and you are going to play so many games. Don’t show it too much.’
“Sometimes some managers would take that very badly. I did it when I was young. I told Leroy he will play another 30 or 40 games and win a lot of games for us.
“I have grown into it, being a leader. I try to do everything in my power to win the game.”
Now the complete player, the news De Bruyne will miss a big chunk of the season is a hammer blow to City’s chances and a test of Guardiola’s leadership.
How he handles it could define their season and prove the difference between success and failure at the Etihad. It could be his biggest challenge yet.
‘All or Nothing: Manchester City’ is released on Amazon Prime Video tomorrow.