How De Bruyne Became The Perfect Midfielder

hi and welcome back to football made simple with the broiler my goodness Jeff you know the world is going mad isn't it you look at the amount of money they're paying for this boy is just absolutely well bonkers just play as you see and you think yeah I just don't see this I don't see 50 odd million pound for this player I really do not see it at all and what he does like on top midfielders he affects the game in terms of obviously assists Golds he's the best in the world at him in terms of you know that position of offensive Midfield player can you even explain how he thinks because I struggled at times because it's very difficult to understand engine it's me too to understand the evolution of Kevin De bruyne is to understand the evolution of the modern day attacking midfielder many midfielders who were the centerpiece of their teams when the number 10 was at the peak of its relevance struggled as the elite team's need for a Mercurial playmaker declined by every time the game evolved and demanded something different from the number 10 Kevin De bruyne answered the call in this video we'll look at his tactical versatility to explore the many faces of Kevin De bruyne [Music] and when assessing de bruyne's utility we won't charge his Evolution season by season but instead will switch lens from position to position to capture the breadth of his evolution de bruyne made her senior team debut in the 2009-2010 season meaning that he arrived at the tail end of the dominance of the 442 across many European leagues and this was the formation of his primary coach at genk this formation of course meant that there was no natural home for a number 10 behind the striker but a wiry 17 year old DE bruyne was already showing not only his adaptability but the fact that he would go on to be a genuine Difference Maker de bruyne slotted in on the left-hand side of the 442 and this was where most of his appearance came as he showed that even on his weak side he had the ability to hit the byline and take on his fallback especially in cases where his left back was less willing to overlap as was more common back then this meant that de bruyne was more often tasked with providing the width for the team but still when the opportunity presented itself de bruyne pounced at the chance to drift centrally and allow his Natural play-making Instincts to flourish as he had already started to produce staggering assist numbers in three of his Four Seasons with genk he was absolutely vital to the side but the 2010-11 season was a high water mark with a 19 year old DE boina being vital as before de bruyne genk had only ever won the league twice with the last time being almost a decade prior but that season de bruyne scored five and racked up 11 assists to lead genk to the championship for just the third time in their history this form would draw the attention of Europe's top sides but at the same time the landscape of many midfields was shifting as slowly the 442 a staple for many sides was truly fading away and being overtaken by another formation that allowed artists like de bruyne to once a again be the key cog in the machine distance in the Bundesliga across Wolfsburg and Verde Bremen were where we most often saw de bruyne as a traditional 10. and here he began to truly set himself apart if phase one was going from being a promising Starlet seeking game time away from Chelsea Phase 2 was becoming truly one of the best young players in the world and phase 3 threatening to become one of the best players in the world regardless of age and both of these he achieved in Germany as with werder Bremen he won the young Player of the Year award and his teammate and future vertebrae and Captain would declare that de bruyno was a major reason they had avoided relegation from the 10th position both with vertebraiman and Wolfsburg de bruyne roamed the pitch making the most of his positional Freedom with his coaches trusting him to know where the spaces were where he could make the difference on the transition in particular he had the ability to pick the ball up at speed and slide in Wingers ahead of him but his major role was that of chance Creator at Wolfsburg and in fact at times he stayed so high up with his strike partner that he looked like a second forward primarily though he was the one tasked with picking apart defenses and to try riskier passes and as a result he had one of the lowest pass completions in the side but that was because this risk was often worth the reward and at this time he was honing his skills that would Elevate him to the next level such as a whipped cross both low and high that always seemed to keep itself between the keeper and Defender effectively becoming impossible to defend at Wolfsburg called hero bastos was often the beneficiary with de bruyne to bastos being the most fruitful partnership in the 1415 season in the Bundesliga and if winning the young Player of the Year Award with a struggling vertebraeman was shocking he upped the ante as in a league that featured the likes of Robin Ribery Royce Neuer and Lewandowski all operating in and around their prime a young de bruyner Shone above all others with 30 gold contributions in 34 matches with this Maestro role seeing him being named as a player of the Season setting a then League record for assists in a season and being a part of two of the three major trophies that Wolfsburg have won since 1997. de bruyne from attacking Midfield showed that he can make the difference in Saving trogly sides from relegation as well as elevating teams to the next level with silverware and this secured his move to Manchester City and in his early City days and brief Chelsea spell de bruyne was faced with a problem that many attacking midfielders of the time were facing just before the 4231's dominance began to fade what happens when your team plays with the number 10 but you are not the established playmaker for the side [Music] while at Chelsea during the Broner's time there was a clear First Choice number 10 in Oscar while would the Sky Blues David Silva was already at Club Legend status and would be difficult to display centrally under Pellegrini in both cases de bruyne reprise his wide rule with 89 of his Chelsea appearances coming wide primarily on the right hand side and 69 of his 15-16 minutes with Manchester City coming wide as he showed he could do it from either side but where at geng he attended to stick wider when he did start wide now de bruyne's Creative Flair was too good to keep on the flanks and he was again entrusted with knowing when to drift in centrally but he could still create from wide when needed and the skills he had honed in Germany came in useful like the searching crosses from wide that allowed him to hit the byline and looked across the times or even crossed from much deeper regions the accuracy was such that despite often having only the diminutive Aguero to aim for the ball like a heat-seeking missile would find its way to the Argentinian one way or another but de bruyne's spells as the wide creator coincided with the peak of the marauding fullbacks who would look to move up and down the pitch hugging the touchline and joining attacks as quickly as they could so that the fullbacks were often tasked with providing all of the width and this freed up wide creators in the ilk of the royal to drift infield so often rather than hugging the touchline he found himself moving inside the pitch early as more of a 10 forming a good relationship with David Silva where they would look to create and maintain possession with similar ease in many ways this position was a microcosm of his versatility the ability to hold the width when needed and still create with arrowing crosses and good combination play with his fullbacks as well as knowing when to drift in centrally to be the architect and when to create with more intricate passes but the best was Yet to Come As now rather than merely looking to adapt de bruyne alongside Pep Guardiola helped to Pioneer a new type of role de bruyne had survived the first trial that many attacking midfielders of the time had faced by showing adaptability in playing across the three in a 4-2-3-1 however the demands and midfielders will shift once more as a 4-3-3 that had been dominant in Spain for years became the first choice on English soil spearheaded by Guardiola this of course meant that suddenly there was no dedicated number 10 as we saw in the 423-1 this could have seen the Broner slip into home Comforts and drift out wide as he had done previously but guadiona favored traditional Wingers heard the pace to take on their man and the discipline to stay outwired rather than drifting centrally as de bruyne would have so pep saw the opportunity to use the Broner in a much more reserved role now having him as a central midfielder in a three the role that would see the Belgian develop into a world-class player and soon a generational one it was a role that was facilitated by the adaptation of the fallbacks as an evolution of fallbacks and attacking midfielders had become inextricably linked at Manchester City from perhaps the very first season the inverted fallback came to the fore and as they moved in alongside fernandino David Silva and Kevin De bruyne would be Unleashed pushing higher up the pitch in a role that de bruyne coined as the 3-8 ironically this free Aid position was one of the first times that de bruyne was forced to take up a much more disciplined role rather than instinctively drifting to wherever he felt but this position had all the benefits of having de bruyne as their Chief Creator as you would often be found in zone 14 and close proximity to the center forward where he could slip in his Striker as now he had the elite movement of Sergio Aguero and eventually Harlan to pick out with the pairs enjoying fruitful relationships with de bruyne directly assisting Aguero 23 times and Harland already on 13. but the belgian's adaptation poured new conversations to the Forefront he and David Silva's roles combined with Pep's front Phi structure meant that now the half space had increasingly become a talking point the front 5 tended to outnumber many back fours especially when the Winger hugged the touch light meaning that opposition fullbacks were often dragged wide under Broner time and again made a now trademark run between the fullback and center-back unchallenged that Low cross that had looked so threatening at Wolfsburg had become a finely sharpened tool and with the cold-hearted Precision of a viper he would whip across along the ground giving his teammates the easiest of finishes but he could also play a more withdrawn role potentially drawing three men as a midfielder fullback and center-back were never quite sure who should be picking him up in this position allowing de bruyne to slip in Wingers who could then do the Crossing from the half space instead or if the Wingers were picked up de bruyne's crosses from the horse base to the back post could cause just as much danger to defenses [Music] foreign [Music] there were rarely step overs or fancy footworks but the Precision Simplicity and Effectiveness could make him nigh on impossible to defend and as a result de bruyne racked up the assists and was now truly world-class and rapidly moving into the generational and soon all-time great conversations but the free Aid role also brought a new side to him we had seen him play Creator to an elite level but now he at times stepped into the role of conductor when it was needed you see even as a free 8 it was impossible to just spend all of his time roaming between the lines as he did when he was a 10. especially when the ball was deep initially so now he instead had to drop deep to assist in the Builder play combining in Earnest with his pivot helping to dictate the tempo of the game speeding it up and slowing it down as required he showed the composure in these highly contested Central regions to not Buckle Under Pressure but also kept his a decisive streak being the one in Midfield who was willing to take the risk to bypass his man or attempt a riskier pass he even showed the intelligence to know where the spaces were on the pitch and when to break free from his more disciplined role often dropping into this pseudo-right-back position to have the room to get his head up and cross even from Deep this 3-8 position where he was forced at least initially to begin deeper saw him have his highest attempted passes per 90 in Lee competition as the play truly began to go through him even in deeper zones however de bruyne still had more in his tool kit if pep was dipping his toe into having de bruynize his conductor Roberta Martinez went all in with the Belgium national team [Music] Martinez decided that the back three would be key to unlocking Belgium's golden generation in a 3-4-2-1 Belgium were blessed with attacking prowess but when Lukaku had been nailed down the center forward rule it meant that there were two slots left for de bruyne Hazard Carrasco Andrews Mertens Hazard and de bruyne had to be automatic starters but Martinez felt that he had to sneak in an extra attacker and there was a way to do this instead of having to bring a play here which would have been his natural position often Martinez started him in a Midfield two alongside vitzel or Fellaini meaning that de bruyne now genuinely had to operate as one of two pivots and even in this role he showed discipline and restrained as rather than being at his swash partying best he looked to dictate Tempo from deep as often his partner deferred to him meaning that de bruyne had to know when to play it safe and look for his wide men or just maintain possession when to find one of the dangerous floaters between the lines and went to look for something more expansive de bruyne had showed almost every way that a number 10 could adapt not only to remain a starter as the game's Evolution got rid of the 10 rule but also to reach new levels and become the centerpiece no matter how the Midfield evolved but there was one more arrow in his quiver this was a role designed to take advantage of De bruyne's Elite movement and spatial awareness as well as his great ball striking and was an emergency measure as a wearer's availability slowly began to decline as he made his way out of the cub [Music] it came in two primary forms initially as a genuine solo false nine in a 433 who looked to drop deep and cause Midfield overloads whenever it was possible though physicality may not be the first word associated with kdb the Belgian has more than enough Pace where when gaps were made in the backline it could burst into them to look to finish the second iteration of this was when pep shifter the side to a 442 but of course with pep it was not a traditional 442 and instead employed a double false nine in the shape of Bernardo Silva and de Broiler with Bernardo Silva alongside him the flexibility was taken to the next level as the pair were interchangeable with one or both dropping deep at any moment while Bernardo was often happy to act as a beacon to draw Defenders to create room for de bruyne in the absence of a traditional forward de bruyne elevated his potency in front of Gaul and in the 21-22 season he scored a career-high 15 goals in the league as he dragged the citizens to yet another league title Kevin De bruyne over the last decade has proven to be the barometer for modern attacking midfielders he has delivered on paper with ridiculous assist numbers as well as having a menacing call to it while still being able to deliver in big game moments he has shown Flair and a taste for the spectacular especially from range but most of all his constant adaptation has shown why the game could never evolve past him and why he became a truly iconic player ha and if you enjoyed this video you'll love this one on screen now where we take a tactical look at Messi's most iconic match linked in the top right as well as on screen and in the description and the visuals for this match were provided by play by Metro sport whose software helps you to make these analysis the best part is that if you click the link below you will get 10 off of your subscription

Channel: Football Made Simple

Views: 258,235

Keywords: tactical analysis, Tifo, tactical, analysis, de bruyne, de bruyne analysis, de bruyne tactical analysis, de bruyne goals skills assists, de bruyne wolfsburg, de bruyne chelsea

Id: Rn01ef-zjnM

Length: 17min 29sec (1049 seconds)

Published: Sat Jul 29 2023