Kevin De Bruyne was recently a guest on The Athletic’s Ornstein and Chapman podcast.
Mark Chapman asks him: “So if I said to you what position do you play etc would you
just say central midfielder?
KDB responds: “Yeah, I don’t think I play as a DM, I don’t think I play as an attacking
midfielder, it’s somewhere in between. I think people would say the box-to-box before
but I think these days, with the way football is played, it’s more about covering spaces
than just a position, so it depends what other teams are doing, to be honest.”
While most people consider De Bruyne to be an attacking midfielder he himself does not.
Why is this?
De Bruyne is rightly heralded as one of the most potent creative players of the Premier
League era. He leads the competition this season for assists and chances created. In
his five season career at Manchester City, there’s only been one during which he failed
to register at least 0.7 goals plus assists per 90 – that was last season, when he spent
most of it on the side-lines with injury, but returned in time to see City over the
line for the title. And this season has been his most productive so far.
De Bruyne has mostly be used in his City career in a central midfield role, but one with a
significant attacking function. In City’s most used 4-3-3, he occupies the right-hand
side of the midfield three, but gets forwards into the central attacking area or the right
half space. In the past, this has been referred to as
an 8/10 hybrid role, a central midfielder who spends a lot of time between the lines,
initiating attacks. In previous seasons, De Bruyne could often be found quite centrally,
with four City attackers ahead of him. De Bruyne also has a superb ability to create
from the inside right channel, whipping in low crosses that bend into the path of onrushing
attackers. While this ability to create, from through
balls, low crosses, and driving runs is what catches the eye, De Bruyne’s overall impact
on Manchester City can be missed. He’s not an out-and-out ten: he does too much elsewhere
on the pitch for that.
De Bruyne was asked, “How would you say your game has evolved.”
De Bruyne responded, “Well, I guess I’m more of a complete player. I know people see
me as a creative player, but there’s a lot of games where I just play, like, central
midfield and I know I have got the dynamism in my game to go up and down but I feel like
for the sake of the team I’m doing really well in all compartments.”
De Bruyne’s dynamism means he’s not just a creator from further back in the attacking
third. While the whipped cross is a potent weapon, De Bruyne can also drive into the
box, often assisting from a deep position where he gets in behind a full back who is
drawn forwards by City’s right winger. De Bruyne can also create from deeper, should
City’s wide players or forwards find space. But he’s not a deep-lying playmaker in the
Andrea Pirlo mould – City play higher up the pitch anyway. It’s more than he has
the footballing intelligence to maximise opportunity wherever he finds himself, be that around
the halfway line or deep in the penalty area. As De Bruyne himself says, it’s more about
space than positions. City have adapted this season, having regularly had to field Fernandinho
in central defence, with Rodri as the pivot in their favoured 4-3-3. De Bruyne has seen
less of the ball, which makes his overall attacking output even more impressive – he’s
also pressing less and tackling less than last season.
But the areas of the pitch where he’s operating have changed subtly – while his touches
and tackling areas are relatively consistent over the last two seasons, he’s pressing
more in the attacking third this season. De Bruyne’s positioning and defensive work
has shifted with the team. Although City are pressing at roughly the average rate they
did last season across games, he is pressing less overall, but closer to the opposition
goal. He’s adapted, but without compromising what he does best. And, although he’s seeing
less of the ball, he’s seeing it in the same areas and doing more with it.
He is, as he says, a more complete player.