WHEN Kevin De Bruyne swept in his cross for Gabriel Jesus to open the scoring in Saturday’s FA Cup semi-final, the sense was one of foreboding. Not just for the game, justified as that would have been given the way Manchester City went on to win at walking pace, but, at least for City’s rivals, for the rest of the season. All the signs are that De Bruyne is back.
Last season, De Bruyne was arguably City’s best player, the brain who knitted everything together from midfield, somebody who seemed capable of pinging a shot into the top corner any time he got within 40 yards of goal, somebody capable of picking a passing from anywhere. He has reportedly said – in his typically forthright way – that he believes he has the best football brain in the game today, by which he means the capacity to understand where everybody is on the pitch, where the spaces may be.
“Kevin,” his former coach at Genk, Hein Vanhaezebrouck, told the Independent last season, “is the guy who will see the whole pitch, who takes the ball and hits a pass 50 metres to the opposite side, opens it up there. Kevin resembles Cruyff, who is really seeing everything…. He can make an individual action, he has a shot, he can give assists. But he can also distribute the game, he can take the ball from the back, play a fantastic long ball, he can play a ball in between.”
| Unreal assist from @DeBruyneKev! #EmiratesFACup pic.twitter.com/JnqaAlCUJM
— The Emirates FA Cup (@EmiratesFACup) April 6, 2019
This season, though, De Bruyne has not been quite himself. Injuries, obviously, have been the main reason. He’s started only nine games in the league, in which he is yet to register an assist. He’s only managed two league goals this season. He is not running games the way he was. It hasn’t really mattered for City, because their squad is exceptional. Bernardo Silva has stepped into De Bruyne’s boots so effectively that he probably vies with Sergio Aguero as City’s best player behind Raheem Sterling this season.
As City move into a phase of the season in which they have effectively two big games a week for a month, that could be critical. Pep Guardiola has three players – De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and David Silva – vying for three positions, with Phil Foden and Ilkay Gundogan as back-up. If need be, he could move Bernardo out to the right and go back to the midfield three of last season, with Fernandinho sitting and De Bruyne and David Silva as “free eights” (to use the term De Bruyne himself employed).
The difference between those options and what Mauricio Pochettino faces at Tottenham is stark. This is where resources make a huge difference. On any given day, a first-choice Tottenham side could give a first-choice City side a game. They might even beat them, although City have come out comfortably on top in their last three meetings. But Spurs simply do not have the squad to compete over the longer term.
59 – Christian Eriksen has now assisted 59 goals in his 200 Premier League games; only Cesc Fàbregas (66), David Beckham (62), Thierry Henry (61) and Dennis Bergkamp (60) provided more in their first 200 appearances in the competition. Greats. pic.twitter.com/jSjOWO1s3e
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 3, 2019
They come into Tuesday’s tie fresh after a weekend off, but the case of Christian Eriksen highlights the issue of resources. He has started 24 league games this season, scoring six goals and registering 11 assists. In terms of creativity, he is to Tottenham what De Bruyne was last season to City. But the big difference is that there is no way Spurs could get away with him missing half the season, as De Bruyne has.
The consequence is that he has begun to look a little weary of late. Although he scored against Crystal Palace last Wednesday and was a threat against Liverpool the previous Sunday, that followed underwhelming games against Southampton, Chelsea, Arsenal and Burnley. He could probably down with rest, particularly given the way an additional burden fell on him following Dele Alli’s injury, but with the battle to finish in the top four and secure the Champions League revenue that is so essential for Tottenham’s future plans very much
alive, there has not been the opportunity to give him one.
Perhaps as the line comes in sight, with the boost of the new stadium, he can find a second wind but the comparison is telling. Where City’s creative hub is just coming into form for the run in, Tottenham’s is desperately trying to regain his form.
