After Mo Salah gave Liverpool a 2-nil lead over Manchester City from the penalty spot in the 78th minute at Anfield Kevin De Bruyne was finally brought on. It was too late for the Manchester City legend to have a meaningful impact on yesterday’s Premier League fixture at Anfield. Pep Guardiola’s side needed De Bruyne on the pitch well before Mo Salah’s penalty. But he wasn’t seen until it was too late. While De Bruyne played a promising cameo when he came in you do get the sense that the situation surrounding the Belgian international is fast becoming an elephant in the room.
Kevin De Bruyne had begun this season in good form. That was until he suffered an injury during City’s nil-all draw with Inter Milan in September. He subsequently missed 9 games after that injury. Since he has returned he has only made brief appearances off the bench. He made another one of those yesterday at Anfield. But Manchester City needed more minutes from De Bruyne. Why they aren’t getting it remains a mystery.
READ MORE: The end of an era has arrived at Manchester City now it’s about building towards the next one.
It could be down to Kevin De Bruyne’s body. That could be the issue still plaguing the Manchester City legend. Speaking before City’s 3-all draw with Feyenoord, De Bruyne explained that he is now pain-free. But the statements made by De Bruyne and Pep Guardiola before that Feyenoord game don’t marry up. If De Bruyne was pain-free you’d assume he’d be playing more than 10-20 minute cameos off the bench. That’s me speculating on this issue but what we were told a week ago isn’t matching up to what we are seeing on the pitch.
Speaking after City’s defeat Pep Guardiola did tell the media that Kevin De Bruyne did get good minutes into his legs at Anfield. Although he didn’t explain why he waited so long to introduce De Bruyne into a game where his presence was needed. Guardiola told the media: “There is a moment where maybe it’ll click. Kevin [De Bruyne] played good minutes, Jack [Grealish] played well, Jeremy [Doku] played good minutes after a month out. Bernardo and Rico [Lewis] have a lot of minutes in their legs.”
The situation surrounding Kevin De Bruyne is fast becoming an elephant in the room for Manchester City. At some point, he has to return to the starting lineup. That may well come against Nottingham Forest this week. But if it doesn’t the story will continue to fester. It is now becoming one of the bigger stories surrounding Manchester City and their recent slump. They have needed De Bruyne’s influence on the pitch, and as it stands, he is only making cameo appearances off the bench. Whether or not he starts against Nottingham Forest is now a story to watch for ahead of Wednesday night’s match.
