Former City player Craig Bellamy thinks that manager Pep Guardiola can deal with the absence of Kevin de Bruyne. The Belgium midfielder injured his knee during training yesterday and could be out for a few months. Bellamy who played with City for two seasons, said that losing De Bruyne is a blow for the club. However, he believes that Guardiola can deal just fine with his absence.
The former City player said, “It sounds crazy but they can cope without him. You want to see De Bruyne playing but with the quality City have, the way they play and especially with the manager they have, if they need to tweak the system to suit the players who are available the best coach I’ve seen in England – Pep Guardiola – can.
It’s a big loss for Manchester City but with the quality of players they have and the manager, I can see them being able to pick up the points without him.”
Former Manchester United player Danny Higginbotham also believes that with the quality of players Manchester City possess, there are players who the club might miss more than De Bruyne.
Higginbotham said, “Guardiola can transform players, so he’s got plenty of players that can go and play in that position. Bernardo Silva has started the season very well, he can fit into there. Ilkay Gundogan is another, Riyad Mahrez can come inside as well and play in those position. Guardiola has got an embarrassment of riches but because he’s such an open-minded manager and players can play in a number of positions, he will be able to fill the void.
De Bruyne is obviously going to be a big miss, but City can deal with it. When you look at most of the top teams in the Premier League, they got the odd player of the quality of De Bruyne – City have got three or four. Because of the quality City have got in that position, bizarrely enough, there are other players who could be more missed than De Bruyne, not because of quality but because of strength in depth.”
Manchester City play their next Premier League game against Huddersfield Town on Sunday.
