Pep Guardiola has revealed his honest assessment of Kevin De Bruyne’s recent form after benching him for three games out of the last seven Premier League fixtures, and has urged his midfielder to get the “simple things” right.
De Bruyne leads the Premier League assists charts with 13, and his three in the Champions League are one short of the highest.
He has a respectable five goals in 34 matches this season and a further two assists in the Carabao Cup.
However, the Man City boss has advised the Belgian to get back to basics in order to improve his form.
The 31-year-old is one of the best midfielders that the Premier League has ever seen but the Spaniard has claimed that De Bruyne needs to get the basic things in line.
Meanwhile, the Sky Blues are currently sitting at 2nd spot in the Premier League table, just 5 points behind league leaders Arsenal.
Man City boss on dropping Kevin De Bruyne
One issue for the reigning champions is the form of De Bruyne, despite being the league’s leading assist-maker he has been starting as a substitute.
Some even say the 31-year-old is no longer the finest player in his position in England’s top flight, with Jamie Redknapp suggesting Martin Odegaard has surpassed him.
Guardiola has now aired his displeasure with the former Chelsea player, adding that he wants to see De Bruyne execute the “basic” things better.
“It’s been a difficult season for all of us, me included, due to the World Cup and many things,” the Man City boss said ahead of the Champions League tie with RB Leipzig.
“I’m not going to discover [how good] Kevin [is]. What I’d like – I spoke many times to him – is to go to the easy principles and do it well. He has an incredible ability to make an assist, to score goals and see passes like no one else.”
“But I always have the belief that they will increase and get better when the simple things [are done]: like don’t lose the ball, the mobility, the incredible capacity to be active in the movement.”
“The simple things: do it again better and better. When this is going to happen the rest will come along.”
Thus, there are times when world-class players’ suffer dip in form, and it is one of those times for the Man City midfielder.
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