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With only 16 minutes remaining at St James’ Park on Saturday, Liverpool may have started to consider their five-point advantage over Manchester City, even though they had played one more game. This lead could have become a solid five points without any conditions, especially with City still needing to play at Anfield. However, Kevin De Bruyne’s goal and assist brought the lead down to two points, bringing the champions within reach.
The City team is not performing at their best and are susceptible to balls played behind their defensive line, which is typical of a struggling Pep Guardiola side. Conceding two goals in three minutes against Newcastle is a common occurrence for Guardiola’s teams, who tend to let in goals in clusters when they are still trying to find their defensive set-up. At half-time of Saturday’s match, it was a prime example of how Guardiola’s teams can lose games: despite dominating possession, City had not created many chances and had already conceded two goals, with several other chances for Newcastle in transition. When De Bruyne came on, the game followed a similar pattern.
This season, City has been an anomaly. While Guardiola’s football philosophy focuses on teamwork, positioning, and coordination within the group, they have recently been saved by the exceptional performances of individual players – a major advantage of their significant financial investments. In terms of creativity, De Bruyne stands out as the most brilliant of them all. While some may see his goal as lucky, it is a clear demonstration of De Bruyne’s skills to effortlessly maneuver the ball between Fabian Schär’s legs and into the bottom corner. His pass for Oscar Bobb’s winning goal was equally accurate.
De Bruyne mentioned that despite a five-month absence due to a hamstring injury, he was only able to play for approximately 25 minutes. This could be concerning for other teams competing for the title, especially since City’s upcoming schedule until the beginning of March only includes one top-half team, Chelsea, who are currently in ninth place and have been inconsistent throughout the season. However, there is still a significant amount of time for De Bruyne to fully recover and for players such as Erling Haaland, John Stones, Ederson, and Manuel Akanji to also regain their fitness before the crucial month ahead. From the first weekend of March to the first weekend of April, City will face tough opponents such as Manchester United, Liverpool, Brighton, Arsenal, and Aston Villa, which will likely determine the outcome of the title race.
Haaland is an impressive scorer. Stones played a crucial role in providing defensive stability for City last season, utilizing his ability to move forward from the center of defense. This allowed for an extra midfielder to make up for Haaland’s tendency to not drop deep, as seen in previous Guardiola-led teams. Ederson is widely regarded as the top goalkeeper in terms of ball-playing skills. Akanji had a strong debut season in England and performed well across the back line. However, De Bruyne’s return is the most noteworthy development.
Some critics of Guardiola claim that his style of football can be robotic and lacking in passion, missing the excitement and unpredictability that can captivate audiences. While there is some validity to this criticism, it is also true that when his team is not performing well, they may still control possession but struggle to score. However, Guardiola’s top teams always have a player who can break away from the usual patterns, much like how Lionel Messi did for Barcelona and De Bruyne does for City. These players have a unique vision and precision, able to find openings that others cannot, while also showing discipline and tactical awareness to maintain the team’s structure at crucial moments.
There may be some disappointment for fans who would like to see Phil Foden play in central positions. While Foden has been performing well lately, he has been playing more on the side as Julian Alvárez has taken on the role of a traditional center-forward in the absence of Haaland. Foden is not at the level of De Bruyne and does not possess all of his skills yet. However, Foden is still a strong asset when playing on the flank and even when considering his role on the England national team, he is likely to start on the wing due to the presence of Jude Bellingham.
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Many predicted that City would find their rhythm in the second half of the season, as they have done in the past, after a difficult autumn. However, their upcoming schedule makes it unlikely for them to achieve a string of consecutive wins like they have in previous years. Nonetheless, De Bruyne’s comeback marks a promising start towards a possible championship run. The match against Anfield on March 9th is already shaping up to be crucial.
Source: theguardian.com
