Kevin De Bruyne

He was never not good this season, it's just that he needs space to truly excell and most (PL) teams don't give that to City, they just sit back and defend. At that point he's just a cog in the Pep machine, and while he can still produce moments of genius, he can't really "run the show". Against teams like Liverpool a few weeks ago or Real last night which have a go at City offensively, he has the room to do his thing and he's just otherwordly.

Still kinda hate him though, just such a damn shame that arguably our greatest ever player plays for a team like fecking City.
 
He was never not good this season, it's just that he needs space to truly excell and most (PL) teams don't give that to City, they just sit back and defend. At that point he's just a cog in the Pep machine, and while he can still produce moments of genius, he can't really "run the show". Against teams like Liverpool a few weeks ago or Real last night which have a go at City offensively, he has the room to do his thing and he's just otherwordly.

Still kinda hate him though, just such a damn shame that arguably our greatest ever player plays for a team like fecking City.
So you're a Belgian?
Didn't you lot rate hazard more till a few years ago?
 
Pogba, like Scholes, cannot be mentioned in the same breath as De Bruyne.

He offers so much more and the goals and assist stats will back this up. He orchestrates that midfield.

Still can’t believe we let him go like we did.
 
He plays so direct and with such control over the pace of the game at the same time. Already one of the all time greats.
 
He will reach that 100 assist mark in the PL too. He’s got another couple of years left in him at the top I reckon.
 
Even at Pogba’s best, and he’s far less consistent than De Bruyne, his football brain and decision making is much worse, while Pogba has been looking slower these days, De Bruyne probably has him for pace even if Pogba is stronger and better aerially.

I think they are different types of players, Bruno and KdB is better comparison. I have to agree that Pogba has slowed down and looks to have gotten a bit heavier the last couple years. Not sure if its him getting older or lack of fitness but he's definitely lost a bit physically.
I do think Pogba at his best playing for a dominant team gets or surpasses KdB's assist stats. Even under poor united teams at times hes topped the assist charts.
 
Yeah if you ignore Benzema.
Yeah Benzema scored 2 goals (including a penalty), but he wasn't the best player on the pitch if that's what you are trying to insinuate.
Really a miracle for Madrid that the scoreline at the end was so close, there really should have been 2 or 3 goals difference in favor of City.
 
So you're a Belgian?
Didn't you lot rate hazard more till a few years ago?
He had arguably the higher peak of them two while he was playing lights out at Chelsea. Probably more talented as well, but he's just fallen off a cliff since his move to Madrid. Hard to have him over KDB at this point especially if De Bruyne keeps it up for a few more years.
 
He had arguably the higher peak of them two while he was playing lights out at Chelsea. Probably more talented as well, but he's just fallen off a cliff since his move to Madrid. Hard to have him over KDB at this point especially if De Bruyne keeps it up for a few more years.
Fair enough, I just thought Hazzard was exceptional in 2018 wc so that must tip the scales a bit in his favor.
But yeah he's been so shot since he moved to Madrid, what a downfall.
 
I think they are different types of players, Bruno and KdB is better comparison. I have to agree that Pogba has slowed down and looks to have gotten a bit heavier the last couple years. Not sure if its him getting older or lack of fitness but he's definitely lost a bit physically.
I do think Pogba at his best playing for a dominant team gets or surpasses KdB's assist stats. Even under poor united teams at times hes topped the assist charts.
I think KdB does not to help control and run games than Pogba does, I am not sure what Pogba supposedly does most the time.
 
Mourinho selling KdB when he still had 3.5 years left on his contract has to be up there with the stupidest and most negatively impactful decisions in history.
 
Mourinho selling KdB when he still had 3.5 years left on his contract has to be up there with the stupidest and most negatively impactful decisions in history.

We had the best defensive 10 in the world though, so worth it I guess. Or something :lol:
 
Mourinho selling KdB when he still had 3.5 years left on his contract has to be up there with the stupidest and most negatively impactful decisions in history.
You know what's even worse is he was actually doing well in his first few appearances, moved to Germany and 6 months later he was a god among mortals in a league with Lewandowski, Ribery, Robben, Muller, Thiago...so it wasn't a case of a young player not being ready and behind an established star on a win-now team

It was probably the single stupidest decision in recent memory
 
You know what's even worse is he was actually doing well in his first few appearances, moved to Germany and 6 months later he was a god among mortals in a league with Lewandowski, Ribery, Robben, Muller, Thiago...so it wasn't a case of a young player not being ready and behind an established star on a win-now team

It was probably the single stupidest decision in recent memory

And on top of that he'd already been on loan at Wolfsburg and was incredible the year before! 10 goals from 33 appearances as a 21 year old in his first season in Germany.

Mourinho lied to him and said he was in his plans so he goes back to Chelsea, gets zero minutes, and gets binned off in January for £18m at Mourinho's insistence. It was insane at the time and Chelsea's own scouts were telling him as much. As exciting as it was to bring Mourinho back it set Chelsea back a decade plus and in contributing to City's rise did more to put the league out of reach than anything.
 
Think at his best he's the best midfielder the prem has seen. Everyone at their best I think Beckham would be 2nd on that list even though he was on the right, but de Bruyne is just more complete IMO.
Yeah, at this point it's almost impossible to argue against that.
 
One of the most effective, complete midfielders ever to play the game. His combination of technical skill, football brain and physique needed for the position is pretty much unrivalled. And he also happens to be a very consistent performer.
 
You know what's even worse is he was actually doing well in his first few appearances, moved to Germany and 6 months later he was a god among mortals in a league with Lewandowski, Ribery, Robben, Muller, Thiago...so it wasn't a case of a young player not being ready and behind an established star on a win-now team

It was probably the single stupidest decision in recent memory

This is why I say not every title is worth the cost of winning. People refer to Mourinho 2.0 at Chelsea and always mention the 2015 title as a way to say it was a success but we also lost a generational player that would have set us up for more titles in the years after that. We've won 1 title since 2015. Not only do we not have him, but he rocked up at a direct competitor. It was a disastrous decision on so many levels, and the crazy thing is, because we all loved Mourinho so much back then, we all drank the kool-aid and parroted his lies about KDB with our chest.
 
He has definitely upped his goal scoring capabilities.
Ultimate big game player. He didn’t deserve to lose to Madrid but City did.

Having a so called average season but still top class and it’s madness when we compared Bruno to him. Both considered to not being having a good season yet the difference between both is night and day
 
I used to compare him to Bruno thinking they were on a par. For god sake. What a player thus guy is. Complete attacking, ball playing, goal scoring midfielder.
 
Always say teams should stick a man on him Park style, he's nearly always the pivotal creator for City.
 
On his day he is. I don’t think his days are as frequent as they once were and he’s turning 31 soon. City will need to look at replacing him soon.
This season he definitely isn’t the best in the world but still is so good and so effective when it matters. I remember 2 seasons ago Roy Keane saying he KDB was a better player than him and that was when he was at his peak.
KDB will go down as one of the PL best but definitely not the best in the world at the moment
 
Ultimate big game player. He didn’t deserve to lose to Madrid but City did.

Having a so called average season but still top class and it’s madness when we compared Bruno to him. Both considered to not being having a good season yet the difference between both is night and day

He can’t be the ultimate big game player when he didn’t show up in Madrid, this is a big game in the context of the league but Wolves are an average side:
 
He can’t be the ultimate big game player when he didn’t show up in Madrid, this is a big game in the context of the league but Wolves are an average side:
That's pretty harsh, he ran the game in the first leg. No player turns up in every big game
 
He can’t be the ultimate big game player when he didn’t show up in Madrid, this is a big game in the context of the league but Wolves are an average side:
That is harsh naming one game as you can do that to Ronaldo/Messi and everyone else. Throughout KDB at City he has shown up for the big games way more than not