De Bruyne is back to 100 percent and looking better than ever this season, controlling City’s midfield and tallying beautiful assists on a weekly basis in the process.
Kevin De Bruyne has always been known for his world-class playmaking skills. He’s been touted as arguably one of the best midfielders in Europe, and for good reason. The Belgian missed substantial time last season with numerous injuries, making just 19 appearances. De Bruyne had a rough time getting fully fit last year, but now he’s back to his best form and it’s been fun to watch.
City once again looks like a top contender to win yet another title, however, a loss to Norwich City early in the campaign could come back to bite them towards the end of the season as they’re expected to compete with Liverpool once again for the Premier League trophy.
Even though Pep Guardiola’s side was able to win the league last year without De Bruyne for most of the season, his presence has definitely been felt so far in the 2019/20 campaign. His form has been breathtaking, assisting seven goals and scoring two of his own through just six appearances. There aren’t many players in the world that can pick out a pass in the tightest of spaces like the 28-year old, let alone make it look so easy. De Bruyne is something special.
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One of a kind
It’s hard to find a player that is just as happy to set goals up rather than score them. De Bruyne is the perfect example of this type of midfielder. He has all the abilities to find the back of the net, but he realizes that he has a unique talent of threading a pass through to his strikers to do the finishing. It doesn’t matter if it’s through the middle or a diagonal ball out to the flanks, he does it with absolute precision every single time.
When it comes to whipping in crosses, De Bruyne is just as gifted. He has a knack for curling balls perfectly into the box onto a teammates foot or head, just as he did last weekend in an 8-0 routing of Watford where he tallied two assists and bagged a goal.
Other than passing, he’s also very strong on the ball and good at carrying it into the final third with pace. He isn’t the fastest, but his football IQ and ability to create a dangerous opportunity in an instant is extremely special.
In the Watford match, he whipped in a ball from the right flank to a sea of yellow shirts, with just two City players in a position to possibly score. Knowing his ball had to be literally perfect, De Bruyne placed it perfectly onto David Silva‘s foot for an easy tap-in.
Getting better with age
There are so many talented players on Manchester City and several deadly finishers like Sterling and Aguero. But the only way they’re getting the opportunities to finish in the final third is by players like De Bruyne making the proper pass in the final third into space.
Both Silvas are also extremely instrumental in this squad’s success, but De Bruyne is proving once again this year that he is without a doubt the best playmaker in the Premier League and arguably the best in the world at his craft currently.
His career-best in assists was 18 back in the 2016/17 season, but if he keeps on this pace, there is a high possibility he can surpass Thierry Henry’s Premier League best of 20 assists in 2002/03. According to Squawka, De Bruyne has already created 27 goal-scoring chances this year for his teammates; in just six matches.
That leads the Premier League, four ahead of Trent Alexander-Arnold. De Bruyne created 105 opportunities in the 2017/18 season. At this rate, he’s going to catch that number by January.
You simply can’t teach Kevin De Bruyne’s knack to thread a ball through the smallest crevices. It’s very, very special. He’s the ultimate midfield maestro who will continue to be a contributing factor in regards to just how many goals Manchester City can score this season as they look to win another PL title.