Guardiola: 'De Bruyne needs to play simply'
De Bruyen is leading the list of assists in the Premier League with 13 passes for teammates to score, but Guardiola is still not satisfied. He praised the Belgian midfielder for scoring goals or passing dangerous balls that only he could do, but the simple steps De Bruyne did not do well.
"This season has been very difficult for Man City, from the players to myself," Guardiola said at a press conference on March 13. "I won't say more about De Bruyne's talent. But I have told him a lot to do well with simple principles. Players will play better if they do that, such as avoiding losing the ball. , move dynamically and find space. When you do these things well, players automatically play better."
Guardiola not only reminded De Bruyne, but also mentioned striker Erling Haaland. The Norwegian striker is leading the scorer list in the Premier League with 28 goals, but he doesn't just want him to do the finishing task. "Haaland also needs to know how to run, move into space and wait for the ball to come in to score," added the Spaniard. "And De Bruyne also needs to spread or squeeze in, attack the opponent's opening or do what is appropriate depending on the situation."
Not the first time Guardiola criticized De Bruyne in the media this season. "De Bruyne is not in form, his movements are not perfect. He knows that and I told him too," the 52-year-old coach said in October 202.
In the last two seasons, De Bruyne has scored 13 or more goals in the Premier League. However, he has only scored four goals this season. In the last nine matches, he also played only 90 minutes in two matches, and missed two other matches.
Man City is second in the Premier League after 27 rounds, five points less than Arsenal. They no longer have the right to self-determine the championship, but there are still many hopes of winning the Premier League for the third time in a row.
In the Champions League, Man City will play the second leg of the 1/8 round with Leipzig at Etihad tonight. The last time they stopped in this round was also Guardiola's first season in Manchester, when Man City lost to Monaco by away goals after the final score 6-6.
