Pep Guardiola picked out Julian Alvarez and John Stones for praise after Manchester City beat Liverpool in the Premier League.
14.03.2023 - 11:31 / manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Despite leading the Premier League assists chart with 13, while also grabbing three in the Champions League and two in the Carabao Cup, Kevin De Bruyne has once again come under some criticism from his manager.
Pep Guardiola has urged the Belgian midfielder to do the "simple things" and claimed he has repeatedly told De Bruyne to get back to this. The 31-year-old comfortably leads the Premier League when it comes to assists, but he has found himself among the substitutes in recent weeks.
De Bruyne was replaced against Newcastle last week before being named on the bench at Crystal Palace on Saturday. He also remained as a substitute for the win over Bournemouth. While the Blues midfielder has somewhat struggled to rediscover the form he was enjoying prior to the World Cup in Qatar, the former Chelsea man has still managed two goals and five assists since return from the Middle East.
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Speaking ahead of City's Champions League last-16 second-leg clash with RB Leipzig, Guardiola said: "It’s been a difficult season for all of us, me included, due to the World Cup and many things. I’m not going to discover [how good] Kevin [is]. What I’d like – I spoke many times to him – is to go to the easy principles and do it well. He has an incredible ability to make an assist, to score goals and see passes like no one else.
"But I always have the belief that they will increase and get better when the simple things [are done]: like don’t lose the ball, the mobility, the incredible capacity to be active in the movement. The simple things: do it again better and better. When this is going to happen the rest will come along."
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