Kevin De Bruyne

Greck said:
SAF didn't sell Pogba. It was a mistake not to play him but he would never have let Pogba leave if he had the choice
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Wasn't comparing it pound for pound, of course the circumstances were very different and SAF didn't actively sell the player thereby judging him as not good enough (so Jose's looks worse). I still see SAF's handling of Pogba as a colossal feck up though.
 
Up to the age of 22/23 there was little hype about the guy, no one really seemed to pay much attention to him except for a few posters acknowledging his performances at Bremen and the first few months at Wolfsburg. Interesting career trajectory he's had.
 
Gareth williams said:
Mourinho has a nasty habit of dumping really top young prospects then questioning their professionalism to justify it

In Salah lukaku and KDB. He's sold maybe 300-350m worth in today's fees for less than 50 and an idiot knew them players would make it given a chance
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This is either a naive or ignorant post. When young players don’t break into first team that requires “success now” they look elsewhere for more play time. People keep saying Jose dumped them. If a young player wants to play now but is not ready and has a bad attitude about it, a manager has to let them go. Jose has always said that he never stops players who don’t get enough game time to go if they have decided they want to go.

When they mature and become a better player, you actually have to thank the manager for letting them go elsewhere to develop. If the manager held on to them, they may not develop that chip on their shoulder to go get to the next level. Many of the pundits who were successful ex-players have said this. Young players don’t always put their efforts in thinking they’ve made it. So, it’s good to give them a kick in the bum to get them to see out their potential.
 
Gareth williams said:
Mourinho has a nasty habit of dumping really top young prospects then questioning their professionalism to justify it

In Salah lukaku and KDB. He's sold maybe 300-350m worth in today's fees for less than 50 and an idiot knew them players would make it given a chance
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Don't care. As I said in Salah thread, as long as he doesn't do it here I'm fine with any player he sold at Chelsea. In fact him selling Lukaku benefited us, he's now ours!
 
VorZakone said:
Up to the age of 22/23 there was little hype about the guy, no one really seemed to pay much attention to him except for a few posters acknowledging his performances at Bremen and the first few months at Wolfsburg. Interesting career trajectory he's had.
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People who knew of him since he was 20/21 knew he was the real deal though.

I remember how hyped people were about his passing even then. It's unreal!
 
hn4manunited said:
This is either a naive or ignorant post. When young players don’t break into first team that requires “success now” they look elsewhere for more play time. People keep saying Jose dumped them. If a young player wants to play now but is not ready and has a bad attitude about it, a manager has to let them go. Jose has always said that he never stops players who don’t get enough game time to go if they have decided they want to go.

When they mature and become a better player, you actually have to thank the manager for letting them go elsewhere to develop. If the manager held on to them, they may not develop that chip on their shoulder to go get to the next level. Many of the pundits who were successful ex-players have said this. Young players don’t always put their efforts in thinking they’ve made it. So, it’s good to give them a kick in the bum to get them to see out their potential.
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The problem was that Jose benched KDB because KDB is a bit of a red ass and can be difficult. Even in 2012 KDB’s talent was clearly evident.

Lukaku and Salah were different in that regard.
 
If he and Belgium do well in the world cup could have a real shot at winning the ballon d'or. Top three at the least.
 
hn4manunited said:
It’s in every thread. Every single bit that anyone can dig up whether it was reasonable or not will be used.
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Didn't Mourinho want to keep KDB but the player himself wanted to play elsewhere to develop ? It's bad enough when pundits blame Mourinho any chance they get, to see so-called United fans do the same is weird to me. It's not like KDB would be playing for Man United right now anyway is it ?
 
kouroux said:
Didn't Mourinho want to keep KDB but the player himself wanted to play elsewhere to develop ? It's bad enough when pundits blame Mourinho any chance they get, to see so-called United fans do the same is weird to me. It's not like KDB would be playing for Man United right now anyway is it ?
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He did, but I don't think he recognized what an insane talent KDB is, or he wouldn't have acceded to his request to let him go. Think Jose probably thought he was a talent on the level of Lukaku or similar, and not potentially one of the best players in the league.

It was a massive mistake, but every manager makes some mistakes, so no sense beating him with that stick.
 
Kapardin said:
He did, but I don't think he recognized what an insane talent KDB is, or he wouldn't have acceded to his request to let him go. Think Jose probably thought he was a talent on the level of Lukaku or similar, and not potentially one of the best players in the league.

It was a massive mistake, but every manager makes some mistakes, so no sense beating him with that stick.
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Maybe, maybe not. KDB was sure hellbent on leaving and in the end you cannot refuse that to a player. I just find it annoying the way Mourinho keeps being blamed for it over and over again.
 
What a player. De Bruyne is like City's midfield version of peak Wayne Rooney, top quality in every aspect, has that engine to run for days but most importantly - he has the attitude and mentality of a world class player and a winner, which is what helps in elevating the whole play of Guardiola's football.

The worst thing is they have such a young squad and might even have another level in themselves, but I guess we will see that next season.
 
kouroux said:
Didn't Mourinho want to keep KDB but the player himself wanted to play elsewhere to develop ? It's bad enough when pundits blame Mourinho any chance they get, to see so-called United fans do the same is weird to me. It's not like KDB would be playing for Man United right now anyway is it ?
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DeBruyne wanted to play more, Jose wouldn't guarantee him more play time.
 
kouroux said:
Maybe, maybe not. KDB was sure hellbent on leaving and in the end you cannot refuse that to a player. I just find it annoying the way Mourinho keeps being blamed for it over and over again.
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Even at the time the decision and the whole situation seemed baffling.
 
kouroux said:
And rightly so IMHO considering the context at the time. In the end, it worked out for him.
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So playing Oscar instead of De Bruyne turned out better for Chelsea? I mean, just look at where both players are currently.

I'm also pretty sure Chelsea fans would love to have KDB in their current team and maybe then Hazard wouldn't be pushing for a move to Real Madrid.
 
Maybe an unpopular opinion but I can't help but feel Pogba would look almost as good in a similar system. No prejudice to KDB as he's clearly a better player and more mature passer and isn't a lazyass like Pogba but Baldie's system is a playmaker's paradise. Attackers are well drilled on positioning and off ball movement. You'll always have an embarrassment of options on the near and far post
 
diplomat said:
So playing Oscar instead of De Bruyne turned out better for Chelsea? I mean, just look at where both players are currently.

I'm also pretty sure Chelsea fans would love to have KDB in their current team and maybe then Hazard wouldn't be pushing for a move to Real Madrid.
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I'm not 100% on this but was it not Lampard who was in his position at the time?
 
diplomat said:
So playing Oscar instead of De Bruyne turned out better for Chelsea? I mean, just look at where both players are currently.

I'm also pretty sure Chelsea fans would love to have KDB in their current team and maybe then Hazard wouldn't be pushing for a move to Real Madrid.
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I didn't say that now did I ? Of course it's easy, in hindsight to say that Mourinho should have kept KDB but try to understand it from his POV. Certain managers don't like it when players, specially young ones, want guarantees in terms of playing time. SAF didn't want that with Hazard too (on top of not wanting to pay his agent).
GhastlyHun said:
Don't think anyone at Chelsea sees it that way. Certainly not now.
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That is why I put "considering the context at the time". It's so easy to criticize in hindsight.
Keeps It tidy said:
Even at the time the decision and the whole situation seemed baffling.
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Not really for me tbh. I could understand both parties' views.
 
De Bruyne would not be the player he is now if he stayed at Chelsea. Him moving to City has actually raised his level; which would obviously be impossible if he stayed at Chelsea.

Not to mention, him moving to Wolfsburg was probably important for his confidence. To be the main man, and get consistent game time, and eventually player of the season would have done wonders for him.
 
Ian Reus said:
I'm not 100% on this but was it not Lampard who was in his position at the time?
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I just checked and both played a lot of games - 47 in total for Oscar and 40 for Lampard (33 league appearances to 26, respectively for each player). They also had Schurrle as a player in their starting eleven, who has nowhere near the talent of De Bruyne.
kouroux said:
I didn't say that now did I ? Of course it's easy, in hindsight to say that Mourinho should have kept KDB but try to understand it from his POV. Certain managers don't like it when players, specially young ones, want guarantees in terms of playing time. SAF didn't want that with Hazard too (on top of not wanting to pay his agent).
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Well SAF was wrong about both Hazard and Pogba. We wouldn't have needed such a big transition after Sir Alex's retirement if we had these two players and in my opinion, we would even have been title contenders under anyone else but Moyes.

Jose was also wrong for his handling of De Bruyne and even Salah. I do say it in hindsight but considering their peak performance levels, I don't understand how Mourinho did not see their incredible potential.
 
diplomat said:
What a player. De Bruyne is like City's midfield version of peak Wayne Rooney
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Please stop. Peak Wayne Rooney was never in the same conversation as a potential Ballon D’or winners nor actual winners.

If KDB continues this trajectory, he’s miles ahead of Rooney.

Time will tell.
 
diplomat said:
I just checked and both played a lot of games - 47 in total for Oscar and 40 for Lampard (33 league appearances to 26, respectively for each player). They also had Schurrle as a player in their starting eleven, who has nowhere near the talent of De Bruyne.
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That was also 4 or 5 years ago so a different player now.
 
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