Celebrating the Legacy of Kevin De Bruyne
I would rather celebrate Kevin De Bruyne than mourn him. In a sport that often feels so complicated and torn off the pitch, he has always represented the timeless beauty of football on it. There are a lot of players I have loved watching over the past 10 years in the Premier League, but none more than him. De Bruyne has been a maestro, a player who epitomized the artistry and precision that make football a spectacle. His vision was unparalleled, and the passes he could curl around a startled, helpless defense into the path of an onrushing striker were nothing short of masterpieces. Whether it was Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus, or Erling Haaland, De Bruyne’s ability to load their bullets was a treat to watch. The way he could thread the ball through the heart of defenses, spotting runs and playing passes that no one else could see, made for breathtaking moments of theater.
The Artistry and Precision
De Bruyne’s goals were equally absurd. He is up there with Steven Gerrard as one of the sweetest strikers of the ball I’ve seen in the English game. His drives, off either foot, were often still rising when they smashed into the net. He has made the best goalkeepers of his generation look like helpless bystanders. One highlight reel stands out: the moment he cuts outside onto his left foot and drills a classic drive high past Leicester City’s Kasper Schmeichel. Another memorable moment is the laser-guided missile he launches from 30 yards, flying past Swansea City’s Lukasz Fabianski, which Gary Neville aptly described as a "world-class strike from a world-class player." These moments are etched in the memories of football fans, a testament to De Bruyne’s extraordinary talent.
The Greatest in City’s History
When the debate arises, I have always put forward Colin Bell as Manchester City’s greatest ever player, partly because he is preserved in my memory from my childhood. However, I have no hesitation now in saying De Bruyne is the greatest ever to pull on the sky blue shirt. David Silva was a genius, too, but De Bruyne was a leader in the team that won the Champions League for the first time in City’s history in 2023. He was the best player in the City team that became the first side in the history of top-flight English football to win the league title four years in succession, and he was beautiful to watch along the way. His penetrative runs and incisive defense-splitting passes were the driving force behind one of the greatest sides in Premier League history.
The Inevitable Decline
Many noticed, with a slight jolt, earlier this season, that Pep Guardiola had openly started to talk about De Bruyne’s prime in the past tense, and he was absolutely right. Perhaps it is the accumulation of injuries he has suffered, or perhaps it is the accumulation of all the medals he has won and the realization he has no new lands left to conquer. Or perhaps it is just that he is 33 and counting. De Bruyne’s decline this season has been startlingly quick. He was left out of the starting line-up for the second leg of their Champions League tie with Real Madrid last week, and even when City were being humbled, Guardiola did not turn to him. On Sunday, he started his first league game for a month, but it did not go well. He looked as if he was playing at a different pace to everyone else, certainly everyone on the Liverpool team, and not in a good way. He looked like a player out of time.
The Symbol of Decline
The most obvious symbol of his decline came right on the brink of half-time when he took a couple of tentative steps forward on the edge of the Liverpool box and swung back that shotgun of a left foot. My seat in the press box was in a direct line with the ball’s trajectory. This time, instead of bursting the net, it sliced away wildly, high and wide towards the corner flag, where the Liverpool fans welcomed it with glee. De Bruyne turned away sadly and put his finger to his cheek, as if he were puzzled by what he had just done, as if he could not quite grasp that his body would no longer obey his mind. I almost wish I hadn’t seen it, but then I was there for so many of the beautiful things he did, too, and I wouldn’t have missed them for the world.
A New Era and a New Villain
Kevin De Bruyne’s decline marks a new era for Manchester City, but it also highlights the broader landscape of English football. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the new owner of Manchester United, is fast turning into a rip-roaring good old-fashioned villain of English football. This “businessman” handed £200 million to Erik ten Hag in the summer to buy another gang of duds and then sacked some of the little people at Old Trafford, letting it be known this week that he’s closing the staff canteen. One of his many executive lackeys might want to point out that United aren’t losing money because Dylan from marketing has a small portion of lasagne for his lunch on Wednesdays. They’re losing money because of the incompetence that appears to run right through the organization, the latest manifestation of which was the huge £4 million pay-off doled out to Dan Ashworth after he was sacked five months into his job as sporting director. You can get an awful lot of paninis for £4 million. Maybe the canteen caper is another of Sir Dave Brailsford’s brilliant ideas of a marginal gain.
