"Conductor" Kevin de Bruyne
(Baonghean) - Kevin de Bruyne was given the opportunity to play as a conductor for Man City when Spanish player David Silva was absent due to injury and the Belgian player has proven that he is worthy of coach Pellegrini's trust.
Kevin de Bruyne moved to Man City in the final week of the summer transfer window for a record £51.80 million from Wolfsburg (Germany). He is expected to bring more versatility and efficiency to The Citizen's attack. However, when joining Man City, Bruyne has to compete with The Citizen's "galaxy". At that time, the ball will not be regularly provided to him alone but will be shared with many other positions in the midfield with the ability to make a difference such as Sterling, Navas, Silva...
Despite facing difficulties, this player had a better performance in the match against West Ham in round 5 of the Premier League. Before that, Davis Sival was injured and forced to rest. Coach Manuel Pellegrini did not hesitate to let Bruyne play in the "number 10" position, replacing the position that Silva was taking. This is also an unprecedented thing for the Chilean strategist. Because he is not in the habit of immediately using new players when they just moved to Etihad. We can mention the star players who had to sit on the bench for a long time such as Negredo, Martin Demichelis, or Eliaquim Mangala... Through that, it can be seen that the Chilean coach sees Bruyne differently from the new players he brought in before.
Although Man City lost to West Ham, Pellegrini was still somewhat comforted by the fact that Bruyne played so well in his first start, showing how much he was worth the money when he performed excellently as a conductor on the Man City attack. He did not seem unfamiliar with the new team's style of play, but on the contrary, he also provided great support for the underperforming players on the Man City attack. It was a day when the Belgian team's conductor played at 100% capacity. He was present almost everywhere on the pitch. From the right wing to the left wing, he fought left and right in the midfield and almost every attack had Bruyne's mark. He performed very confidently, true to the role of a "boss" on the blue team's attack. This player's ball handling was very technical and highly effective. The passes were long and difficult, but Bruyne never took more than two touches to control the ball and then made many breakthroughs, effectively and without fuss. Although Man City lost the match, the blue team had countless opportunities in front of West Ham goalkeeper Adrian's goal. And most of those opportunities were created by the name Bruyne. He made 70 passes in the match, with an accuracy of up to 81.4%. Thereby, he created 4 clear scoring opportunities for his teammates.
Bruyne himself took 2 shots, one of which became a goal. A very successful opening match for Bruyne personally. And there is no doubt about the second match in the English League Cup against Sunderland. Bruyne and his teammates had a resounding victory right on Sunderland's field. In this match, the Belgian player scored 1 goal himself and also had an assist for his teammate to score.
It can be seen that through 2 times playing as a "conductor", De Bruyne has shown the appearance of a great player, a true leader in the attack of Man City, something that The Citizen still lacks to become a powerful team in European football. If coach Manuel Pellegrini boldly believes in Bruyne's ability and lets this player take on the role of conductor in the attack of The Citizen, it is very likely that Man City will flourish in all arenas this season.
Duc Anh