How Kevin De Bruynes worst Premier Leagu

Three of Manchester Citys five previousPremier League triumphshave gone right to the wire, where margins are so fine the title battle can be settled by a single man ina single moment.Sergio Aguero of course set the standard in 2011-12 with surely the most iconic goal of the Premier League era, defeating QPR at the death and clinching a first City championship in 44 years.Then, in 2018-19, it was Vincent Kompanys turn. Although the departing City captain made only 17 league appearances that year, he will forever be a sociated with the title win after his thunderous strike secured a vital late-season victory over Leicester City.Where do you want your statue, Vincent Kompany? asked Sky Sports Gary Neville. Both Aguero and Kompany and those celebrations have since been committed to steel structures outside the Etihad Stadium.The City hero was perhaps not quite so clear-cut in 2013-14 Denver Broncos Kids Jersey , when Liverpools collapse took centre stage, but Yaya Toures 20 goals from midfield kept his side in touch. While City spent only 15 days of the season at the summit, the win that put them there in the final weekperhaps provided the definingimage of the champions campaign, as Toure charged through the Aston Villa defence to score a goal that BBC Sports Alan Shearer consideredlike watching a 15-year-old against under-12s.Three City legends have had seasons to call their own. Kevin De Bruyne, until now, had not.De Bruyne was the PFA Players Player of the Year in consecutive years, but the 2019-20 campaign in which he equalled Thierry Henrys 20-a sist, single-season record ended with Liverpool on top. The 2020-21 season played out largely without fans and ultimately without a serious challenge to City, robbing their leadingman of his platform.Consistent excellence hadfor so long characterised the midfielders career rather than any particular peak.Now, however, 2021-22 might be remembered as the De Bruyne season a most unexpected conclusion given how the campaign started, as perhapshis worst in a City shirt.Difficult physically and mentallyThe player of the year he may have been, but De Bruynes 2020-21 season did not finish in the manner he would have wished.The former Calvin Anderson Jersey Chelsea man lasted only an hour of Citys Champions League final defeat to the Blues last May, suffering facial fractures that impacted his preparation for Euro 2020. De Bruyne found form again at the finals, only to hobble out of Belgiums last-16 win over Portugal with an ankle i sue.Although De Bruyne played in the next round, as Belgium lost to Italy, he continued to be hampered by the injury at the start of this season, appearing in Citys Premier League opener but then not again for almost four weeks.Its been a bit difficult physically and mentally, the 30-year-old told the MIDMID podcast in November, revealing he had played through some serious pain.Its going to be a little more difficult this year than usual, De Bruyne suggested, and that seemed a fair prediction.The City superstar, who also mi sed time with COVID-19, made his 10th league appearance of the season in a 1-0 home win over Wolves on December 11. At that stage, he had scored only twice in the competition and failed to provide a single a sist averaging a goal involvement every Frank Tripucka Jersey 246 minutes.The only comparable De Bruyne season in a City shirt was in 2018-19, when two knee ligament injuries meant his 10th league appearance did not come until early February. Over 465 minutes up to that point, he scored once.That is the sole other example of De Bruyne not contributing an a sist through his first 10 league outings in a season for City; in fact, he had tallied at least four a sists and six goal involvements by that point in each of his other five campaigns prior to 2021-22.A week before De Bruynes podcast appearance last year, Belgium coach Roberto Martinez was also asked to addre s his star mans form, acknowledging the scrutiny he faced while underperforming in a team as talented as Citys.Im not worried at all, Martinez said. We feel that his best football is coming back.De Bruyne added: I just needed more time than expected.Now he scores a lotDe Bruynes 11th game of this campaign was very different. In a 7-0 City win over Leeds United, the teams talisman doubled his seasonal tally by scoring twice, including a thunderous 25-yard drive for his second.For the whole team, its a booster, De Bruyne told NBC Sports although that surely applied more to the two-goal star than his team-mates, with City moving four points clear at the top of the table with the victory.Theres been a lot happening this year, a little bit out of my control, so the only thing I can do is try to work hard and come back as quick as po sible, he said.It was clearly a turning point for De Bruyne, P.J. Locke III Jersey who has scored 13 goals and provided seven a sists in 19 matches from the Leeds game onwards. A goal involvement every 81 minutes over this period just beats his single-season best from 2019-20 (85 minutes per goal involvement).Yet De Bruynes role has altered in the past two years. He will not match his outstanding 33 goal involvements from the year Liverpool won the title, but 15 goals already represent a career high with one game still to play on Sunday.The reason for that change perhaps has more to do with De Bruynes City team-mates than the player himself.In 2019-20, six of De Bruynes 20 a sists were for record goalscorer Aguero more than for any other player. Of course, Aguero has since departed.The retired striker was Citys leading marksman in six of his 10 league campaigns in Manchester, including each of his first four playing alongside De Bruyne.With Aguero gone and Erling Haaland not arriving until next term, City needed someone to fill the void in front of goal. De Bruyne, whether used in midfield or attack, has done that in the second half of the season.Despite the slow start, Citys top scorer has scored with 20.3 per cent of Shelby Harris Jersey his shots in 2021-22; his previous high, in his debut 2015-16 season, saw a shot conversion rate of 14.3 per cent.I like it a lot, Pep Guardiola said in April after De Bruyne had netted four in four games including two against Manchester United and one against Liverpool.He is not just a player to make a sists now he scores a lot of goals. Ive said to him many times, I know you enjoy making a lot of a sists, for you and your team-mates, but you have to score goals to reach another stage. Now he is doing that, a lot of goals and chances.We have to move onDe Bruyne has either scored or a sisted in 13 of his past 19 games, but he saved his best performances for when it mattered most at least in the league.There were suspicions Citys season might fall apart when Real Madrids remarkable s