Kevin De Bruyne described the inner sanctum of Manchester City‘s training ground as chaotic across a month that threatened to derail their season and saw him failing to strike a football without pain shooting through his abdomen.
Battling choppy waters, City need victory against Feyenoord on Tuesday night not just for their Champions League campaign but the general mood at a place coming to terms with five straight defeats, their worst run since Stuart Pearce thought shoving David James up front was a neat idea.
De Bruyne is indicative of their issues, playing just 38 minutes since mid-September. The groin injury sustained against Brentford didn’t seem particularly troubling – De Bruyne starting a goalless draw with Inter four days later – but eventually kept him out for two months. He’s been training for almost four weeks yet hasn’t trusted his body to turn up on matchdays.
‘Every time I would shoot the ball I would get real, real pain,’ De Bruyne said. ‘Everything with the nerves around it was creating pain in my groin. I was trying to find methods to get better, to get my power back but it took a long time. It only got better on Friday, I don’t know why, I can’t explain it.’
Undoubtedly they have missed the 33-year-old, who will need to be handled with care by Pep Guardiola. De Bruyne was steadfast in telling City that he wasn’t fit enough to feature for any length of time but watched others go through the pain in defeats at Brighton and Bournemouth.
The physio room has been a revolving door and it is only now that City are beginning to welcome back a proper squad – even if Rodri‘s deputy, Mateo Kovacic, is out for weeks. That presents further problems to fix and City were too easy for Tottenham to play through at the weekend.
Kevin De Bruyne spoke to the media on the eve of Manchester City’s game against Feyenoord
De Bruyne, pictured (right) training on Monday, could make his first start since September
De Bruyne’s game time has been significantly reduced this season due to a painful groin injury
‘It has been a bit chaotic, I have seen so many people passed around the medical area,’ De Bruyne added.
‘Seeing who is playing, who is not, people who shouldn’t be playing but did with an injury, these games we were all over the place. Everyone is a bit down but we have to move on.’
There are two things that will stalk Guardiola’s dreams at the moment: obviously the downturn and how to arrest an alarming slide in results but also the long-term rebuild. Does De Bruyne, out of contract in the summer, feature in that? He’s started just 19 of 50 league games since winning the Treble.
Guardiola talked about how the Belgian – who skipped international duty this month – will decide whether he stills feels able to operate at his best. City appear to be leaving the decision in the hands of their talisman, who confirmed no talks have taken place over a renewal as interest from MLS rumbles in the background. ‘There’s no rush, I’m not uncomfortable,’ De Bruyne said.
City are uncomfortable though and De Bruyne, on a watching brief for much of the campaign, has noticed the trend of failing to respond to setbacks. Guardiola contested that suggestion after the 4-0 reverse by Tottenham but then he is renowned for publicly backing his players to the hilt.
Even so, he was honest in admitting that, by City’s mountainous standards, this could shape up to be a bad season. And there came a warning to his players not to merely gift Liverpool the Premier League title.
‘We come from there,’ he said, pointing to the sky. ‘So we can only go down if we lose. It is nice. I think we deserve some patience when we lose games. It will not be a big mess.
‘You are defending a legacy, tradition, success and that is so difficult to handle. If we don’t do it, try to focus on short periods of time and win the next games. What I want is commitment from players to still do what we have to do. We will congratulate the team that takes our crown because they deserve it, not because we deliver it to them, give it to them.’
Many City players are still out injured, including star midfielder and Ballon d’Or winner Rodri
Without Rodri, City have lost their last five matches in a row – including two against Tottenham
City boss Pep Guardiola also spoke to the media at Monday’s press conference in Manchester
Over recent weeks, Guardiola has become more expressive. On Friday, before Tottenham, he was menacingly leaning over his desk and looked this agitated flurry of movement in the same seat on Monday. He won’t back down, he’ll double down.
‘What should I change? If I changed in the first season when I was asked to change, maybe we don’t win six Premier Leagues in seven years. The desire is there to change and we’re going to try.
‘One good result can change our minds. It’s unusual, yeah. We won a lot. We’re thinking but in this situation we have to go back to our principles more directly. Don’t think about changing much, less than ever.
‘I always thought when we were winning that This Too Shall Pass and right now, This Too Shall Pass. In life, nothing is eternal.’
