Kevin de Bruyne’s Timely Return Gives Manchester City the Edge

A tenth of a second earlier – and it would have been too soon. A tenth of a second later – and it would have been too late. But the characteristic of greats is to pull the trigger at the right time, and ‘great’, Kevin de Bruyne is one of them. With just the right amount of power in his shot – a slightly more forceful pass, that’s all – he sent the ball between the legs of the excellent Sven Botman to deceive the no less excellent Martin Dubravka and make change the course of a match which seemed likely to cost Manchester City three points.

It’s not every day that a footballer who has been absent for five months, apart from a brief appearance against Huddersfield in the FA Cup, is the real “man of the match” of a match in which he only played twenty-four minutes. Yet he was, even if Ally McCoist, the juror of the British broadcaster TNT, preferred Rodri.

There was no shortage of candidates: besides the Spanish midfielder, Bernardo Silva, the best player in the world who is not said to be the best player in the world, author of an anthology half-volley backheel; Phil Foden, who borders on genius in his new role as number 10; or, on the Magpies side, Bruno Guimaraes, in the oven, in the mill and everywhere else where he was needed.

But neither Rodri, nor Bernardo Silva, nor Foden, nor Guimaraes are Kevin de Bruyne, of whom Pep Guardiola still told us two weeks ago that he was on the way back, but not yet back, and who had not hasn’t played a second in the Premier League since August 11, when he injured his thigh against Burnley on the opening day of the season.

Kevin De Bruyne was decisive in a few minutes against Newcastle

Credit: Getty Images

A special relationship with football

Usually, players don’t cope well with this type of long-term absence. They are thinking. They suffer in their heads even more than in their bodies. But De Bruyne is not an ordinary player, and not an ordinary man either. He has this in common with his former Red Devils teammate Eden Hazard: he loves football, but football does not consume his life. He hates losing but doesn’t make a big deal of it the rare times he tastes defeat. He is hurt? A shame, but not so bad, if it means being able to spend time with his wife Michèle and their three children, go on vacation to Dubai and commute from home to school every morning like an average father; and take the opportunity to introduce a new haircut that suits him very well, in fact.

As former FC Liège player and Belgian TV consultant Fred Waseige says, who has followed little Kevin since his first steps with the selection, De Bruyne, the man like the player, is “without filter”. When he gets carried away on a pitch, it shows, like in Qatar in 2022. But it’s not often, and it certainly wasn’t the case in Newcastle this Sunday. You could tell how hungry he was – but not so hungry that he would stuff himself. And that’s also De Bruyne. In similar circumstances, others could have allowed themselves to be overcome by an excess of enthusiasm, to ‘do too much’; not him. His twenty-four minutes at St James were close to perfection.

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The determination was there, but not excessive. Each shot had a meaning, each gesture an intention. It could be finding Doku on his wing by a forty meter transverse; taking his time to exchange a yours, mine with Walker on the opposite flank; delivering the only pass that could bypass Kieran Trippier – whose placement was impeccable – to give the ball for 3-2 to Oscar Bobb in the final breaths of a breathtaking match. It could have been the “goal pass” for the equalizer. It was, quite simply, making the appropriate decision, no more, no less. It is no coincidence that his autobiography was titled Keep It Simple.

Who will be able to stop City?

The difference is that De Bruyne’s simplicity is not that of Mr. Everyman. It is that of genius, a genius on which Pep Guardiola will now be able to count until May 19, when no one would be surprised if Manchester City then obtained its sixth league title in seven years. If the fight will be closer than usual, City have a habit of negotiating their second halves of the season better than their rivals. Given the form they are showing today, and with De Bruyne back at this level, we can easily imagine them achieving a series of results comparable to what we witnessed in 2018-19 (fourteen victories in the last fourteen days) and 2022-23 (twelve consecutive successes between February and May). Who else could do it?

Kevin De Bruyne with Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s win against Newcastle

Credit: Getty Images

The calendar also seems rather favorable to the reigning champion, who will play at home five of the eight matches which still face him against the other clubs in the Top 10. And, of these, Arsenal and West Ham have not taken a single point at the Etihad since 2015, and Aston Villa since…2011. City also appear fresher than their opponents who, it is true, do not have a squad depth that is comparable to them. The Club World Cup will also have done a lot of good for the Citizens. Given the class gap that separated them from their opponents in Saudi Arabia, Urawa Red Diamonds and Fluminense, this short stay under warmer skies than those of England was more akin to a mid-season training course than ‘to a real competition, while all his rivals for the title lost points in their absence.

Also, this return of De Bruyne also has symbolic value – of another return: that of Manchester City in its preferred role, that of favorite, whatever the ranking suggests today, after a first half season during which the Citizens suffered more than usual. We almost forget that Erling Haaland will make his return at the end of the month. Good luck, everyone.

2024-01-17 01:09:00
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