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FBL-ENG-PR-HUDDERSFIELD-MANCITY-DEBRUYNE
Frustrated De Bruyne raring to go for Man City
MANCHESTER, United Kingdom, Jan 19, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Pep Guardiola takes
reigning champions Manchester City to struggling Huddersfield on Sunday, with
the Premier League’s bottom side facing the prospect of finding themselves on
the receiving end of Kevin De Bruyne’s frustration.
Arguably City’s standout performer in their record-breaking title campaign
last season, the Belgian’s season has been badly interrupted by two lengthy
spells on the sidelines with knee problems.
Now fully fit, De Bruyne has cut a frustrated figure on occasion, most
notably when substituted during his team’s emphatic 9-0 victory over League
One Burton in the semi-final of the League Cup last week.
De Bruyne ran down the tunnel after being replaced in that game and,
according to reports, watched the final exchanges from the City dressing room
rather than from the bench, as club protocol dictates.
Coincidence or not, De Bruyne found himself left out of the starting line-
up for City’s next game, the 3-0 victory over Wolverhampton on Monday,
although the fact he was joined there by frontline players such as Sergio
Aguero, Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan also spoke volumes about the club’s
strength in depth.
Guardiola has talked about how De Bruyne needs to get game-time under his
belt to rediscover the form that made him one of the Premier League’s star
players and a potentially testing match against an in-form Wolves team seemed
a perfect scenario for him.
Guardiola declined to go into specifics about De Bruyne’s reaction to being
substituted against Burton, pointing out, instead, that the squad’s depth
presented him with numerous problems.
Young playmaker Phil Foden, for example, might have expected more minutes
given De Bruyne’s extended absences this season, but he did not even make the
bench for the Wolves game and has yet to start a league game in his career.
– ‘Incredible squad’ –
“I have an incredible squad,” said Guardiola. “Gundo (Gundogan) made six or
seven assists (recently) but didn’t play (in the starting line-up against
Wolves).
“It is what it is. One of my favourite players, Phil, was not in the 18 but
there are a lot of games. When they come in they need to play good because if
they don’t another one is going to play. I’m unfair on many players. It is
what it is.”
Guardiola’s handling of De Bruyne in the coming weeks will be fascinating,
with his side still battling on all four fronts and looking capable of
extended runs deep into the spring in all three cup competitions.
Brought on for the final half hour against Wolves, De Bruyne looked sharp
and showed signs of his old form but against an exhausted side that had to
play for the final 70 minutes with 10 men.
He had a hand in City’s third goal, although questions remain over how long
it will take the 27-year-old to return to the consistently high levels he
showed last season.
After a gruelling summer in which he helped Belgium to the World Cup semi-
finals, De Bruyne was injured in August, returning briefly in October before
being sidelined for a further six weeks.
One of the main conundrums facing Guardiola is which of the Silvas, David
or Bernardo, might conceivably make way to accommodate De Bruyne.
Bernardo has started 20 of City’s 22 league games to date and won
widespread praise for his consistency and form while David, at 33, is still
trusted by Guardiola on the big stage.
BSS/AFP/SSS/0912 hrs