When Pep Guardiola needs extra bodies in the box, Kevin De Bruyne may be sidelined during Manchester City games, Guardiola has suggested. Manchester City have returned to winning ways thanks to Pep Guardiola‘s tactics.
When Manchester City revealed that Julian Alvarez had been chosen as De Bruyne’s replacement precisely for this reason, he was benched this week against Tottenham. Erling Haaland had a beautiful assist from Talisman De Bruyne to give City the lead over Wolves.
De Bruyne continued to close in on his personal joint record of 20 assists in a single season with his 12th league assist of the campaign. Guardiola suggested after the game that he might bench De Bruyne once more if the situation calls for it.
“Seven years we know each other very well. I know when Kevin is ready and sometimes not. It’s normal,”
the manager said.
“There are many games. Sometimes we need another type of player in that position. Sometimes we need more players in the boxes and Kevin struggles a bit right there.”
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Kevin De Bruyne – The most reliable player for Manchester City
Furthermore, De Bruyne has frequently been relied upon by Guardiola as his go-to player for Manchester City games. It was notable that the Manchester City star wasn’t deployed as a replacement against Spurs, especially given that Guardiola later said he didn’t have any options on his bench that could have altered the outcome.
Guardiola claimed there are no questions about De Bruyne’s talent after a successful comeback.
He continued:
“Kevin, always you expect him to assist the ball – but how many assists does he provide that were not converted, don’t count as an assist but really is. It was a good 75 minutes but keep going. Big competition in the squad. Some games need a specific player that Kevin for example struggles a little bit.”
Manchester City faces Arsenal this weekend for their FA Cup match.
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