Daily Mail - 19.08.2019

WHAT a performance

from Dani Ceballos on

his full Premier League

debut. Arsenal must

already be tempted to ask

Real Madrid how much it

would cost to sign their

loanee on a permanent

deal. Jurgen Klopp will

watch back Arsenal’s win

over Burnley and note

they need to stop Ceballos

at Anfield next week. That

will be a great test of the

23-year-old’s ability.

DE BRUYNE IS CITY’S BECKHAM!

I WAS fortunate enough to play and

train alongside Steven Gerrard and

David Beckham for club and coun-

try, and their crossing never ceased

to amaze me.

The secret of their success at whip-

ping balls into the box was that they

didn’t need to stop to take a touch.

They could put the goal on a plate

for you at the first time of asking.

It gives the opposition defence no

time to get organised. It catches

them cold, rather than giving them a

moment to ready themselves.

Stevie and Becks wouldn’t take

unnecessary touches, and neither

does Kevin De Bruyne. Right now,

there is no better crosser of the ball

than the 28-year-old Belgian.

The way he gets it into Manchester

City’s forwards in a flash, it is like a

sixth sense. That is what he did

brilliantly against Tottenham.

In the 20th minute, Bernardo Silva

cut the ball back to De Bruyne. With

one touch, he whipped a cross to the

back post for Raheem Sterling,

who had sneaked in behind Kyle

Walker-Peters to head home.

Then in the 35th minute, Silva

again fed De Bruyne. With one touch,

he drilled the ball into the feet of

Sergio Aguero, who made it 2-1.

It sounds easy, but it is a skill in

itself. He spots a team-mate, finds

him with a single touch, bang, goal.

My old England team-mate Beck-

ham was the best I’ve ever seen

when it came to crossing. He knew

his strengths. He didn’t have to beat

a man — he was confident of finding

space and creating goals.

De Bruyne is City’s equivalent.

When you’ve got someone like him,

it makes your job as a striker so

much easier. You know that if you

burst into the empty space, then he

will find you. Sterling knew that on

Saturday and so did Aguero.

It helps that he used to spend time

on the wing at Genk, where he

started his career. That helped him

hone his crossing skills.

In 2016-17, De Bruyne ranked fifth

in the Premier League for number of

crosses. In 2017-18, he ranked fourth.

His 2018-19 was curtailed by injury

but he has fired off 15 so far in the

current campaign, and two of those

led to goals against Tottenham.

It is frightening to think that City

did what they did last season with

De Bruyne only fit enough to feature

in 19 Premier League games. Imag-

ine what they can do under Pep

Guardiola this year if he stays fit.

I was at the Etihad and towards

the end of this match, for the final 20

minutes or so, De Bruyne looked a

little tired. That suggests he will

have even more to offer, once he has

got more games under his belt.

He has racked up three assists so

far this season, and Thierry Henry’s

20 for Arsenal in 2002-03 remains the

record to beat. Could he surpass

that? You wouldn’t bet against it.

If you love football, then you have

to love watching De Bruyne.

Secret to his success is whipping in crosses first time

Bend it like Kevin!

10

THE VERDICT: PREMIER LEAGUE

It’s only two defeats for Steve Bruce

but already Newcastle are...

Over the top: Emil Krafth

Down and out: Krafth is

I

N oNE breath, Steve Bruce

said he could not question

the desire of his Newcastle

players, in the next he was

accusing them of not even

putting their boots on.

It is this scrambled thinking, the

mixed messages and a sense of being

overwhelmed by the job he has taken

on which have accentuated a feeling

of impending crisis, even at this early

juncture.

Forget Rafa Benitez, Mike Ashley,

protests and boycotts, the cause for

concern among supporters and

observers is entirely the making of

Bruce and his players.

There is a myth that the new head

coach has entered a toxic club where

fans are willing him to fail. That isn’t

true, they are reacting to what they

have seen on the pitch.

Had they won at Norwich on

Saturday, the team would have been

cheered from the field, likewise if

they’d beaten Arsenal on the open-

ing weekend.

But they did not, they lost both

matches, the latest featuring a per-

formance so abject that Bruce can-

celled yesterday’s day off and ordered

his players to report for an inquest.

‘I can’t go on to the pitch with

them,’ said Bruce. ‘But the one thing

in management I’ve always tried to

instil into my team is — yes, we make

mistakes, but I can’t forgive a per-

formance where basically you don’t

put your boots on.

‘Unfortunately, it’s happened

already, which is the second game in,

but I’ll do all I can to make sure that

changes.’

Downing tools after two

games of a new management

regime, as Bruce (right) sug-

gests, is reason for alarm.

The boss has attempted to

protect himself by making

reference to Benitez not

winning any of his first 10

matches last season.

And yes, he deserves — and

will get — at least that

amount of time to

make his mark on a

team he has only

worked with for a

month or so.

But to ignore

the warning

signs would

risk sleep-

walking

towards an

irreversible

position,

much like

the club did

under Steve

McClaren four years

ago.

First up, Bruce

must determine what it was that

caused his players to not even match

Norwich for effort.

‘We’ve got to do the basics better,’

said Bruce, whose side were

beaten by a Teemu Pukki

hat-trick, aided by defensive

disarray.

‘Whatever level you’re at, the

first thing you have to do is do

more than the opposition. I

didn’t think we did that.’

Then there is the formation,

a 3-5-2 that has at least

four players — two

wing-backs, Matt

Ritchie and Emil

Krafth, and two

advanced mid-

fielders, Isaac

Hayden and Ki

Sung-yueng —

in positions

they would not

regard as their

strongest.

It is also a

system in which

the £61million front

pairing of Joelinton

and Miguel Almiron

appear isolated

from each other

and the team.

As Alan Shearer observed on Match

of the Day: ‘Where do you start with

Newcastle? Terrible defensively, no

creativity at all.

‘Time and time again Joelinton was

on his own. They could have played

for another three or four hours and I

wouldn’t have fancied those two

forwards to combine.

‘Scoring goals will be a big problem

for Newcastle unless they change

things.’

Bruce has to make those changes

quickly, otherwise talk of a far

more drastic change will soon be in

the offing.

NORWICH CITY (4-2-3-1): Krul 7; Aarons 7,

Godfrey 7.5, Hanley 7, Lewis 7 (Byram 90min);

Leitner 8, Trybull 7 (Tettey 87); Buendia 6,

Stiepermann 6 (Vrancic 84), Cantwell 7.5;

PUKKI 9.

Subs not used: Fahrmann, Roberts,

McLean, Srbeny.

Scorer: Pukki 32, 63, 75. Booked: Aarons.

Manager: Daniel Farke 8.

NEWCASTLE UNITED (3-5-2): Dubravka 6; Schar 4.5,

Lascelles 5, Dummett 5; Krafth 4.5, Ki 4.5

(Longstaff 74, 6), Shelvey 6, Hayden 7, Ritchie 6;

Almiron 5, Joelinton 4 (Muto 67, 5).

Subs not used: Darlow, Clark, Willems,

Fernandez, Manquillo.

Scorer: Shelvey 90+3.

Booked: Joelinton, Longstaff, Dummett.

Manager: Steve Bruce 5.

Referee: Stuart Atwell 8.

Attendance: 27,059.

CRAIG

HOPE

at Carrow Road

3

1

Shelvey 90+3

NEWCASTLE

Pukki 32, 63, 75

NORWICH FALLING FLAT

ON THEIR FACES

WATCHING Chelsea

face Leicester, it felt

like we were watching the

future of English football.

Mason Mount, 20, and

James Maddison, 22, were

the two best players on

the pitch. They showed

exactly what they are all

about with their pressing

and attack-mindedness. If

I was Gareth Southgate, I

would be thrilled seeing

that in a big game.

3

ASSISTS in the league this

season — one more than

the whole of last season!

2

SINCE his City debut, De

Bruyne has more PL assists

(48) than anyone other

than Christian Eriksen (49).