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BBC News
27-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ambitious Manning taking the easy option
So barely two weeks after steering City to the play-offs and an ignominious defeat against losing finalists Sheffield United, head coach Liam Manning is moving to his native East Anglia to take the hot seat at Norwich City. Why would he leave to go to a side who finished mid-table last season? There have been rumblings of discontent brewing behind the scenes over how much money he would have been given to invest in the squad and build on the success of this season – the indications are it was not going to be a lot, which isn't surprising when City have operating losses approaching £20m before player fans be upset at the departure of this so-called up and coming English coach? OK, he steered the club to its highest league placing for 17 years, but he was hardly a fans favourite from the time he took over from Nigel Pearson in November 2023. Why would this be so? Save for a run of fine home form since the turn of the year, the football style he adopted was not of a type to get you out of your seat. He had some bad luck with injured players - Luke McNally absent from the defence being a key loss - but his record in the transfer market is questionable. Few City fans would disagree with the sentiment that not far short of £10m was squandered in last summer's spending on hopeful forward punts Senny Mayulu and Sinclair Armstrong, whilst marquee signing Scott Twine has largely lived up to his billing. Manning seemed infatuated with this player, who was under him at MK Dons and, although his injury record has ruled him out for spells, even when fit he's only been used in 68% of his available minutes. Few would complain if Manning tried to lure him away from Ashton Gate to join him at Carrow Road!Manning is ambitious to the extent that he's done to City what he did to Oxford as he seeks to further his career. With City owner Steve Lansdown appearing reluctant to splash some cash, Manning probably realises it will hard going to emulate this season's play-off participation. Rather than see this as unfinished business he is taking the easier option of moving on while his stock is still more for David at the Forever Bristol City Podcast, external
BBC News
25-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
'If I was a City fan - which I am - I'm not complaining'
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has been speaking to BBC Match of the Day about manager Pep Guardiola saying that securing Champions League football for next season is "like winning a title" for the club: "It's not a title feeling but I know what he means and I agree with him. It is really important."This club has to play in the Champions League, I have to play in the Champions League, Pep has to manage a team in the Champions League. So it is important and we are relieved to be there because it has been a hard and difficult season."We are really happy. We came back after a really difficult period and we have been working through it together. It's not been easy but we have shown great character. In the end, we have come third and we are relieved. We are really happy."We are focused on going into the Club World Cup now in good shape and we want to attack that."On whether he knew he would be the penalty-taker this afternoon: "Yes, I knew it."On what is needed going forward: "I mean, you cannot win it [the Premier League] every year. Nobody has ever won it four years in a row. We came third this season, but City have won the Premier League in six out of the past eight years."If I was a City fan - which I am - I'm not complaining. I wish we had won it this year as well, but you cannot win it every year. Next year we are going to do everything we can to make it a much better season."
New York Times
23-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Kevin, the creator: Analysing the four distinct eras of De Bruyne's time with Manchester City
Kevin De Bruyne is leaving Manchester City. It is a sad reality that many supporters are yet to come to terms with — in fact, many have been wondering and hoping whether the club's decision-makers may yet change their mind and offer him a new contract to replace the one that expires next month after all. Advertisement After a touching goodbye at the Etihad Stadium following the game against Bournemouth on Tuesday, De Bruyne will — most likely — kick a ball in City colours for the last time in their season finale away to Fulham on Sunday. The Belgium international, who turns 34 in June, has been one of the finest players of the Premier League era, not only helping City win the title six times but lighting up the division with his assists, goals and all-action approach. Over the years, he constantly developed as a player, including a now-forgotten adjustment period to what was then known as a 'deeper role', the emergence of his trademark back-post crosses, a spell up front and setting up the Erling Haaland supply line. In celebration of his sparkling decade with City, The Athletic dives into the four notably different eras of his time in Manchester. It is easy to forget, nearly 10 years on, that De Bruyne spent much of his first season at City playing as a right-winger. In fairness, he also spent a lot of it on the left… and a lot of it in the middle, too. De Bruyne arrived from Germany's Wolfsburg as a very versatile player — something that has been on display throughout his time at the club, but it was in those very early days under Manuel Pellegrini's management when he was asked to play in so many different positions so often. Pellegrini described him as 'in all senses the perfect player to arrive to our team', due to his creativity and goal threat after De Bruyne had scored a late Champions League winner against Sevilla on one of City's more memorable nights from that season. Having started on the left wing, he was moved up front — and scored that goal playing from the right. No matter which side he played, though, the one constant was that he would always operate in the attacking third — to the extent that the main talking point around De Bruyne when Pep Guardiola took over as manager the following summer was him having to adapt to playing deeper. 'It's a different role,' De Bruyne told Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws at the very start of Guardiola's reign. 'It's alright. It's a little change, but it's alright. The coach has his own tactics. I play not as a No 10 but as a free No 8, with a lot of movement everywhere.' Advertisement He, and David Silva, were asked to perform as more box-to-box midfielders rather than the previous No 10 roles that allowed them to stay high up the pitch. Guardiola and his coaching staff noticed a dip in De Bruyne's output while he adjusted to these new orders, partly due to the extra amount of running he was having to do, around the midpoint of that 2016-17 season. That said, he still got 18 Premier League assists, including a remarkable crossfield pass to Raheem Sterling against Arsenal, which he played despite not once looking at his target: Guardiola and his staff were always convinced that De Bruyne and Silva were the perfect men to do the job, and they also surprised their new manager — he did not expect them to play forward quite so quickly and effectively. Against teams who did not sit deep, this was something that Guardiola really liked. A De Bruyne-Silva partnership ahead of a holding midfielder became part of the blueprint for City's success, and across the Premier League these days it is common to see two 'free eights' in that kind of set-up, but a bit of historical context is important here. 'Guardiola's Manchester City will win the Premier League with a three-man midfield featuring a box-to-box player and two natural No 10s, something no one would have dreamt of before his arrival in England,' Michael Cox, now of The Athletic, wrote for ESPN in February 2018, citing the English national team's failure to pair Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard as just one example. If you had to identify De Bruyne's best position, it would unquestionably be as the right-sided attacking midfielder — and yet it was something he had to adapt to during Guardiola's first season. This was, of course, the period when City really took off. For many of their supporters, the 2017-18 team remains the best, most attractive version of all Guardiola's City sides and indeed the style and approach that many would like to see them revert to — presumably something they would do had the Premier League not changed fundamentally since then. Advertisement But that is another story. 'He played in a holding midfield position against Chelsea,' Guardiola said of De Bruyne at the start of that season. 'He can play in four, five, six positions.' Versatility was definitely the main De Bruyne talking point as 2017-18 got rolling. 'I am used to playing in six different positions in my career, so that's not an issue for me,' he said at the time, in his typically phlegmatic way. 'I have always changed positions and I don't expect any different. It's all the same to me. It's all about the way you interpret it.' Nevertheless, this was when De Bruyne really began to make that central, box-to-box role his own, and with runs in-behind from Sterling, Leroy Sane, Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus, he was able to use his passing range to its full extent. If his 2017-18 season could be boiled down to a single moment, it would probably be the long-distance, crown-green-bowls-like through ball to Sane against Stoke City, which had enough speed to evade four opponents but slowed down enough for his team-mate to run onto perfectly. He missed a lot of the next season through injury but played a part in City's perfect 14-match run-in, perhaps most memorably with a slide-rule assist for Sterling to open the scoring in a truly vital fixture at Crystal Palace in the middle of April. It was also the time when he started to perfect the now-famous back-post cross from the right-hand corner of the box. Although their heroics eventually came up short in the tie, City beat Tottenham 4-3 in a thrillingly dramatic Champions League quarter-final second leg, in which De Bruyne notched three assists — one of them a perfect example of the type of cross that set up so many City goals for the next year or so. The exact specifics could change from game to game but the two main ideas were to get De Bruyne to the byline by underlapping or overlapping, like in the Spurs example above, or to manufacture a situation where somebody else got the ball on the right wing, attracted players to them, and set it back for De Bruyne, who would invariably be in enough space to cross — like this one from the FA Cup semi-final against Brighton, 11 days before that Tottenham epic. Despite 2019-20 being known, at least until this one came along, as City's off season, it was probably De Bruyne's best as an individual, and his far-post crossing really thrived. This was the year when he equalled Thierry Henry's long-standing record of 20 league assists, and while De Bruyne is annoyed to this day that the Premier League took a 21st off him (yet later included it in its own video celebrating his 100th in the competition), the fact Mohamed Salah of Liverpool has become the latest player to be on course to comfortably match, at least, their shared milestone, only to fall short in this season's final two months, it does highlight how well De Bruyne did to rack up so many. He also hit one of his best ever goals during that season — a thunderous effort away to Newcastle. It is worth watching if only to hear the collective intake of breath among the St James' Park crowd as the ball cannons off the underside of the crossbar. If the far-post crosses now suddenly dried up, it's no coincidence. In trying to get out of their 2019-20 slump, City eventually stumbled upon a system that utilised a false nine — initially Jesus dropping off the forward line but soon using a revolving cast of midfielders in that role instead. De Bruyne did a stint as the false nine himself, although during the 2020-21 pandemic-lockdown season there were times when he moved back to the left side. With City's forward dropping deep and the wingers now tasked with cutting inside, rather than running in behind, like the old days, the opportunities to play through balls fell away. De Bruyne actually did the bulk of his creative work at the start of that campaign, when things looked not much better for City than the one beforehand. With Guardiola playing more cautiously than ever to try to make his team more stable (sound familiar?), it seemed that only Joao Cancelo, Riyad Mahrez and De Bruyne were given licence to create — the sort of role that the latter obviously relished. Advertisement A run of nine assists in 12 league games from October to January kept City afloat while they found their feet, and it was that sort of contribution that helped him land a massive new contract. De Bruyne drafted in data experts to highlight his importance to the team, which helped him fight his corner after being offered terms that would have earned him less over the course of the mooted deal (the one that is expiring this summer) than his previous agreement. In the end, he secured a significant pay rise, partly because of data which highlighted, among other things, that City were a certain percentage less likely to win the Champions League were he to leave, while their rivals would be more likely to win it if he were to join them. They actually reached the competition's final that season, with De Bruyne playing and scoring from a false nine position during some of their knockout-phase matches, but were beaten there by Chelsea — in a game where De Bruyne went off injured on the hour after a nasty collision with opposition defender Antonio Rudiger. City tried but failed to sign Harry Kane from Spurs that summer, meaning the false-nine approach stuck around for one more season, requiring all of their attackers to chip in with goals. No surprise, then, that 2021-22 was the first and only one of De Bruyne's 10 seasons at City where he scored more league goals than he assisted, and indeed he finished as their top scorer in the Premier League. He scored inside the first five minutes against Manchester United, Liverpool and Real Madrid at a time when City showed a real ruthless streak, and hit four — including the first three with his left foot — against Wolves on the day in May when it came to light that another of the world's elite striker, Erling Haaland, would be joining them for the next season. It was probably not a coincidence, then, that De Bruyne celebrated that evening at Molineux with a standing-up version of Haaland's yoga pose. If goals were more necessary than assists from him for a year or so, then De Bruyne's normal creative service for City was resumed when Haaland signed. 'This pass is maybe the best I ever got, because I only had to run around the ball and put it in the back of the net,' the striker said of a De Bruyne through ball on his Premier League debut against West Ham in August 2022. 'I didn't have to do anything. The pace is just perfect.' De Bruyne did not see it quite the same way when he was asked about it in a separate interview. 'It's actually not really difficult, you know. It's true. You find the space and you put it into the space behind and he runs onto it.' Through balls have been back on the agenda since Haaland came to town, and De Bruyne has been able to dust off his old far-post crosses, too. If one game summed up the De Bruyne-Haaland supply line, it would be the 6-2 FA Cup tie away to Luton last season, where he set the Norwegian up to score four of the goals. The game plan was essentially set up for that partnership to thrive: goalkeeper Stefan Ortega played the ball up to Haaland, he knocked it down for De Bruyne and then spun in behind, allowing the Belgian to pick him out. De Bruyne has set up 20 of Haaland's 120 City goals, over 16 per cent, and 12 of his 84 in the Premier League, which is over 14 per cent. Those rates may not sound quite as high as you might expect but remember De Bruyne missed half of last season and also much of this one through injury. After he returned in January last year, he registered 10 assists, enough to finish joint-third in the entire league, despite playing in only 18 of City's 38 top-flight matches. Advertisement 'Kevin De Bruyne is warming up and the whole country is shaking,' then Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said ahead of that much anticipated return: a couple of days earlier, he had trotted down the touchline to do some stretching during a largely sleepy 2-0 home win against Sheffield United, and the sight of him generated more excitement than most of the on-pitch action. De Bruyne then missed around two months of this season in the autumn and endured problems for several more weeks after he returned, which presumably would have been one factor in City's decision not to renew his contract. It is a development that De Bruyne is patently not happy about but, true to his word, he has continued to give his all for City on the pitch: he helped turn last month's home league game against Palace on its head, sparking City into life at two goals down and inspiring a 5-2 comeback win. He put the team on his shoulders that afternoon in the way that he has done consistently for the past decade, which is something that is not going to be easy to replace. He then scored the goal that beat Wolves and although he faded when City and Palace met again in the FA Cup final, he created two clear-cut chances. Even in what has undoubtedly been his most difficult season by far, he still has the most 'shot-creating actions' per 90 minutes in the 2024-25 Premier League. Yet as much as the numbers have always been a fine accompaniment to De Bruyne's contribution, what will really stay in the memory is the way he went about his work with a mixture of artistry and sheer destruction. Players like Kevin De Bruyne do not come around too often. (Photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
An emotional night awaits as Manchester City farewell a club legend
Tonight, Kevin De Bruyne will play his final match at the Etihad Stadium as a Manchester City player. Pep Guardiola's side faces a crucial Premier League fixture tonight against Bournemouth. But De Bruyne's farewell almost overshadows tonight's match. It promises to be an emotional night as Manchester City and the City fans farewell a player who has given everything to the cause for his team. Ahead of his final home game as a Manchester City player, Kevin De Bruyne has established himself as a club legend at City. In 420 appearances, he has scored 108 goals and contributed 177 assists. Those are staggering numbers. As are the 19 major trophies that Manchester City have won during De Bruyne's time at the club. He has been a key player at City during his time at the club. De Bruyne will arguably leave City as their greatest ever player and one of the greatest players in Premier League history. But he means so much more than that to the City fans and the club. Memories 🥹 — Manchester City (@ManCity) May 19, 2025 Kevin De Bruyne has been a symbol of Manchester City's dominance throughout his time at the club. With his laid-back attitude and brutal honesty, he is and has been a breath of fresh air. His deeds on the pitch just further illustrate what a legend De Bruyne is. But as a person, he's adopted Manchester as his home. In turn, he's become a legend to Manchester City's fans and a player that will always be held in high esteem by the Manchester City faithful. Tonight promises to be an emotional night when De Bruyne finally says goodbye to the City fans at the Etihad. In an interview with Kevin De Bruyne explained that he is proud of everything he has achieved during his time at Manchester City. Speaking on his City career, he explained: 'I am proud of what we have done. When you come here, you know that City has a chance of winning trophies. You don't really think about how much you can win. You hope to win and then you hope to win again.' 'After you can see all of the trophies that you have won, and you reflect on that. It has been amazing. I wanted to have a good time, and I wanted to entertain people, I wanted to play good football; I wanted to be positive in the way that I play and to enjoy myself. I think the way that I am is the way that I play. We do something that a lot of people wanted to do, and I hope people are happy with the way that I played football.' To answer De Bruyne's question, everyone associated with Manchester City, from his teammates to the City staff and fans, and even opposition fans, is happy with the way De Bruyne played football. He is a once-in-a-generation footballer, and it's been a privilege to watch him ply his trade at the Etihad. But more than that, De Bruyne is a symbol of City's unparalleled dominance of English football. It will be an emotional night when De Bruyne says goodbye at the Etihad tonight. Tonight has always felt so far away after De Bruyne's departure was announced. But his final game at the Etihad for Manchester City has come around. The hope is that he can put in one more inspiring performance in front of the fans who adore him tonight.
New York Times
14-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Morgan Gibbs-White and why signing him might not excite Manchester City fans
Gauging fan sentiment is never an exact science — between the terraces and the timeline, where do you start? — but it would be fair to say that a sizeable number of Manchester City supporters are lukewarm about the idea of Morgan Gibbs-White joining their club. The Nottingham Forest midfielder, 25, is a target for City as they look to overhaul their squad this summer and while there are some very good reasons for that, it seems that his potential arrival has not captured the imagination in the way that the possibility of signing, say, Florian Wirtz of Bayer Leverkusen or Milan's Tijjani Reijnders has. Advertisement As The Athletic's Thom Harris recently highlighted, Gibbs-White's 'energy, leadership and positivity on the ball has endeared him to Forest fans' and 'he is a driving force behind their transitional attacking style'. His contributions at the weekend against Leicester City — a goal (a towering header from a set piece, an aspect of the game City are not especially good at) and an assist with a floated ball to the back post — did soften some stances, but there is a sense that the newly-deposed Premier League champions should be looking elsewhere or aiming higher. Rightly or wrongly — again, there is plenty to suggest Gibbs-White would be a very good fit for City — there are several reasons for that scepticism. With Kevin De Bruyne leaving, City should be bringing in a world-class replacement, especially with many of their supporters not wanting him to go in the first place. De Bruyne has been so outlandishly good for so long that people think the only way to replicate what he has done at City is for them to sign somebody from the very top level of the game, or at least somebody with the kind of well-hyped potential to get there. That is where Wirtz comes in. The 22-year-old Germany international midfielder is widely heralded as one of the next big things in world football, and City have made a big push to sign him. There is an ongoing battle with Real Madrid and, particularly, Bayern Munich, but signing him is a far more seductive option to many of the club's supporters. Landing Wirtz would be a major coup and provide confidence that City are building another era of success, but the mindset that only somebody of his stature should be considered for De Bruyne's replacement is a little misguided. City have only gone shopping in the high-end supermarket once over the past decade, and that was when they bought Erling Haaland. Advertisement De Bruyne himself, as well as other stalwarts of the era — including Bernardo Silva, Ilkay Gundogan, Rodri, Ruben Dias, Ederson and Raheem Sterling — are examples of how City have excelled at identifying very good players and taking them to the next level. Successful value signings, such as Manuel Akanji and Julian Alvarez, also highlight an ability to spot a bargain. A few less successful examples from recent years may have affected the thinking. Two of City's most recent Premier League buys have backfired: signing Kalvin Phillips from Leeds United proved a complete disaster and bringing in Matheus Nunes from Wolverhampton Wanderers has barely been better, save for the midfielder's recent stint as a right-back. Even Jack Grealish has split opinion among the City support — there are plenty who dispute his impact on the club's treble success, despite his importance to Guardiola's game plan and his consistency during that particular season. His fitness problems over the two years since have done little to win him any more supporters and he could leave this summer, most likely on loan, with Newcastle United among those interested. Grealish cost £100million ($132m at current rates) — which is Gibbs-White's rumoured price tag — and was 25 when City signed him, so there are a few parallels. City generally sign players between the ages of 20 and 23, leading to the sense that any older ones coming in should be better equipped to shine. Grealish was signed when Phil Foden was 20 — the point being that if the kids at City are that good, those in their 'prime years' should be even better. Omar Marmoush, 26, will probably find that he has to play better than 22-year-old Jeremy Doku and Savinho, 21, to fully win over the City crowd. The other thing that probably counts against Gibbs-White is that he was involved in a clash with Rodri last season that saw the City midfielder sent off. The Spaniard pushed Gibbs-White in the throat during the incident but such are club loyalties, it was the man on the receiving end who attracted more scorn. His importance to Forest is not in doubt (illustrated above) but, as much as anything else, City need homegrown players. UEFA rules compel clubs to register at least eight domestically developed players, with teams losing a spot in their squad for every homegrown place they do not fill. This season, City only registered six homegrown players, cutting their senior squad from 25 to 23. Advertisement Fortunately, nobody had to miss out but with Grealish a candidate to move on, James McAtee also considered likely to go and uncertainty around John Stones, Nathan Ake and 39-year-old reserve goalkeeper Scott Carson, new homegrown players could be needed. If City only signed players who spent most of their early years abroad, they would surrender squad places and could not register all their senior players for European games. If Ederson leaves, a strong possibility, another goalkeeper will be needed, but there are not many homegrown candidates to replace him. For Gibbs-White, maybe there is still something lacking in terms of (for want of better phrases) his hype or his PR. Making a case to sign a player based on stats normally only serves to make the sceptics more sceptical but as well as the points made in Thom's article — for example Gibbs-White's ability in duels and second balls, an undeniable need for City going forward — it can also be highlighted that he makes similar movements to De Bruyne on the pitch (as illustrated below). Gibbs-White is also very positive in how he plays. Like De Bruyne, he is often ahead of the ball and makes lots of underlapping runs. The big difference is that De Bruyne generally delivers more crosses and Gibbs-White generally gets on the end of them, but those are tactical details relating to different managers. Of course, it remains to be seen whether Gibbs-White ends up at City at all, but if he does, it will be fascinating to see how his chance creation and physicality translate to a team entering their post-De Bruyne era — not to mention what the reaction of the fans will be.
