The roles and responsibilities of those around Erling Haaland have changed this season as Manchester City looks and feels different. Kevin De Bruyne's shape shifting qualities have become apparent.
De Bruyne scored 15 goals in 30 appearances for Manchester City last season. Heung- Min Son scored more non-penalty goals than him.
The international can score a goal. During the international break, he showed that with a sweetly-struck shot from the edge of the box. Since Haaland's arrival, the player in the middle has embraced a new position.
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"Kevin scored a lot of goals last season," said the coach after the win over Wolves, which saw Haaland score for the seventh match in a row. He is more interested in assists than goals. Two of them were for De Bruyne.
It was a great place to show the shift. In May, the stadium was the scene of a four- goal performance from De Bruyne. He has been involved in more Wolves goals than any other player in the past four years.
He is once again in the role of provider. The Belgian has six assists in the premier league. That's more than any other player. He is going to try to break his own record for assists.
The quality of his teammates' finishing is what inflated the figure of his six assists. The creativity of De Bruyne is unparalleled. He has an expected assists total that is double that of most other players in the league.
In a recent interview, De Bruyne was straightforward in his assessment of his own contribution. He said he tries to create as many chances as possible for his team and if they score he will get an assist. Since I arrived, I have been doing the same thing.
That is true in one way. He has helped out in the premier league 92 times. It's a level with Steven. Behind David Silva is one. Behind Dennis Bergkamp are two other people. Soon, all three will trail him. He is doing it in a different way now.
Two of his assists against Wolves came from right wing crosses. Phil Foden gave him food for the first and second times. Three of his assists have come from the right wing.
I wonder if there is a new plan this season. He says it is a game by game situation. In the past, I have played more defensively and more attacking. It depends on what he's thinking.
The heatmaps from the last three seasons are very similar. He plays in those half spaces where he can cross, shoot or thread a pass through the defence with his feet.
There is a blue patch this season that is closer to the touchline than before. It's possible that that is an indication of the overlap runs where De Bruyne is now opting to go outside rather than crowd Haaland.
He wants to serve other people than himself.
The ring wing has already been touched 61 times. His previous six seasons at Manchester City have seen a higher percentage of touches in that area.
Maybe this is the next trick. When asked about the seventh anniversary of the player's signing for City, the coach couldn't come up with a new word to describe him. His work rate is one of the things he likes about his season so far.
The entire game against Dortmund was played by De Bruyne. He took a four-week break from football this summer for the first time in his life because he knew it would take him more time to get up to speed.
De Bruyne seems to have got it right. The shapeshifter has always been interested in searching for space. It's natural for him to try to find space on the other side of the pitch if he has had to adapt.
The so-called half-space is about 30 yards from goal and in from the touchline. The zone was called the De Bruyne zone. "I think it's getting to a point now where you can't allow De Bruyne into this space on the right," said Gary.
"De Bruyne is repeating the level of quality and precision from that inside-right channel that David Beckham produced for Manchester United and that is not something that I expected to see again in the premier league for a long time."
Three years later, De Bruyne has found a new area. The city has changed due to Haaland. In order to ensure that his team always have what they need from him, De Bruyne modifies his own game.
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