Kevin De Bruyne is the Premier League's best player but Paul Pogba is far more important
The Frenchman's return from injury has underlined how much he was missed
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Your support makes all the difference.It is said that absence makes the heart grow fonder, but in the cases of the two Manchester clubs and their chief playmakers, Kevin De Bruyne and Paul Pogba, that saying does not quite fit.
Top-of-the-table Manchester City are playing to a tune conducted by De Bruyne and have found themselves top of the table as a result, with the Belgian proving unequivocally that he is the best player in the Premier League right now.
During the last eight weeks where De Bruyne has really established himself as player of the season, a brief glance over to the red half of Manchester would have found you a band marching out of time without a rhythm or a beat. No Pogba, no party.
If you looked at the simplest of statistics, the ones which are at the forefront of the minds of Fantasy Football players, Pogba has the same number of goals and half the assists but in seven games fewer. But scratch even a slither past that and it should leave you in no doubt as to De Bruyne’s brilliance.
This season he has become the master of the ‘pass before the pass’ or the ‘second assist’, playing two to three impossible passes in a game that most players would be lucky to make two or three times in their careers. It is these moments why the likes of Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling are looking so formidable – all they need do is run and De Bruyne’s GPS system will find them. He could spend the rest of the season quaffing his impossibly blonde hair in the centre circle and still be the toast of the PFA awards come May. He’s that good - but is he that important?
Yes, he can do things that no one else in Manchester City’s squad can do, but he is not their only playmaker, he is not the only one who can find space where there is none and a pass who all else are blind to. Pep Guardiola has the vision of the Silvas, David and Bernardo, who can do that too. He also has the power of Yaya Toure, or the composure of Ilkay Gundogan, or the pace of Sterling and Sane. There is even now the youthful promise of Phil Foden.
A long-term injury to De Bruyne would be disappointing and a bitter pill to swallow - but more so for the player than the team who have the means to cope without him. They have a second, third and fourth choice to cover the 26-year-old.
Manchester United are not so fortunate, they are the Paul Pogba Team, and the last seven weeks has proved as such. Where City have Silva, Silva, Toure, Gundogan et al in De Bruyne’s absence, United have used Jesse Lingard, Scott McTominay and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in Pogba’s - but to minimal effect. The Frenchman is that important.
His comeback on Saturday against Newcastle United completely changed the way United played. Hesitation turned to action, doubt turned to swagger and turgidity turned to fluidity. He brings the sort of strut that has been missing from the centre of United’s midfield for the best part of a decade.
Jose Mourinho proved that his side could not cope without Pogba. During his absence they lost eight points on City in the hunt for the title. Would they do the same without De Bruyne? It is unlikely, given the way Guardiola has cultivated a squad able to cope with such eventualities.
Pogba is not as good as De Bruyne, the Premier League’s best player, but the first 12 games of the season have proven that he is far more important. The absence of De Bruyne wouldn’t dent City’s cause as a whole, whereas the absence of Pogba does just that for United.
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