🇧🇪 Kevin de Bruyne

[SykikJV 146]

I find this "Mourinho got the best out of Mata" narrative baffling. He had one assist on a free kick and played what was a pretty normal game for him. Hard to give Mourinho credit for an excellent player playing very well. I don't see the De Bruyne thing as Mourinho trying to light a fire or anything. I see it as a player who is our #6 attacking midfielder with no real role on the club not getting playing time. Where does De Bruyne fit with Chelsea? He's third choice at every single attacking midfield position.

De Bruyne is similar to Mata in that he needs a free role to operate to be at his best except a) he's not as good as Mata He's not as good defensively as Mata as crazy as that sounds because Mata is bad C) He doesn't drop deep like Mata does. You look at his average position for Bremen and he played almost as a striker, more forward than any of our midfielders get regularly, for the Belgian national team the he actually averaged being more forward than any other player on the squad in at least their last 3 matches. His average position is further forward than the strikers which is crazy. Either way, that's not the sort of player who is going to fit into a Mourinho team easily. Bremen was a very good loan for him as it allowed to show his ability as a playmaker but he was never going to get the job at Chelsea based on a loan spell and un-seat Oscar and Mata. A loan to a good club where he has to play as a complimentary player, where he has to play on the wing or is their #3 or #4 option to create but have been very beneficial IMO and would allow De Bruyne to round out his game. Sitting on the bench or not even on the bench is not.

De Bruyne is better then Mata defensively. Last season at Bremen De Bruyne ran the most miles of the entire Bundesliga if I'm not mistaken. At Genk he succesfully played the CM role. Ofcourse he still needs to grow to be as good defensively in the Premier League but I'm convinced he's better in tracking back then Mata.

I seriously doubt your stat about the national team. Belgium's national team play with one targetman Benteke and with three players behind him. I seriously doubt De Bruyne averaged being more forward the last three games then Benteke. De Bruyne always plays the part the coach asks of him. In the NT his primary goal is to create chances and be decisive. And that's exactly what he has done this campaign.

Mourinho is just wrong on this one. De Bruyne was part of the most succesfull Chelsea-team this season, which was the team in the first half against Hull. After that game he played at Man Utd where Mourinho chose to be unexistent in attack by playing 4 AM's and no striker. After that he only played one game against Swindon. You can't punish De Bruyne for playing one bad game if you see the number of average games played by Schurrle and mostly Oscar. Mourinho hasn't played the Hull-team in any of the games after the Hull-game. There is no way people can justify this if you see the lack of quality-games played by Chelsea this season.

Ofcourse lots of people will defend Mourinho. But there will come a time when we're looking at De Bruyne the way we look at a player like Sturridge, thinking "if only"... He's got something special, something that ables to always create chances, but at the moment Mourinho's is ruining his career at Chelsea.

[SykikJV 146]

As a fellow Belgian, I understand you fanboyism, as it's since long that we have some topplayers in Europe. But you got to realise that for every non-belgian fan KDB (or Lukaku for that matter) is just a soccerplayer like the next one. He got his chance and didn't take it. Too bad for him, better luck next time.

Mourinho's hired to make Chelsea win and get trophies, with his best team by his opinion. KDB just doens't look ready yet to play at Chelsea.

He's got his chance? When?

Against Hull? Great assist for Oscar and Motm-reward.

Man Utd? Playing with 4 AM's and no striker looking for a draw is indeed a real chance for an attacking midfielder with his main ability being able to create chances.

And there's the Swindon game. His first half was bad, his second half was better. I seriously doubt it was much worse than Oscar's game against Spurs, or one of Schurrles games. Haven't seen Willian play very good either.

De Bruyne is just the easiest victim for Mourinho. There won't be a Mata-story in the papers as De Bruyne doesn't have the price tag other players in his position have. So it's easy for Mourinho to sacrifice him.

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

I think that's a very harsh decision by the management team. This lad is a star.

[The only place to be 11,313]

It's still September. It's a long season. If he deserves another chance and can improve the team, then Jose will play him.

Again, Jose manages for the benefit of Chelsea Football Club, not Kevin De Bruyne, not Juan Mata and certainly not for the Belgian National Team. If you want Jose to make decisions with the purpose of helping Belgium out then you guys can pay him...I assume his wages would be about 10% of your GDP though, so maybe be careful with that.

[SykikJV 146]

It's still September. It's a long season. If he deserves another chance and can improve the team, then Jose will play him.

Again, Jose manages for the benefit of Chelsea Football Club, not Kevin De Bruyne, not Juan Mata and certainly not for the Belgian National Team. If you want Jose to make decisions with the purpose of helping Belgium out then you guys can pay him...I assume his wages would be about 10% of your GDP though, so maybe be careful with that.

You're doing the same thing you blame the Belgians. It's Mourinho's decision, so it's the right one and no-one should doubt it. So just because Mourinho gets payed by Chelsea, all of his decisions are correct? To be honest, I've seen a couple of bad decisions made by Mourinho this season. The 4 AM's and no striker at United, playing Ramires as a right midfielder against Tottenham, refusing to play Mata,... not everything Mourinho does is gold.

De Bruyne deserves his chance just as much as Oscar and Schurrle do. It's not about Belgians or the Belgian national team, it's about Mourinho making the easiest decision, but not the right one, while everyone watching Chelsea's games can see that De Bruyne can add something to this team. He proved this against Hull, the only game where he really got his chance.

[The only place to be 11,313]

You're doing the same thing you blame the Belgians.

No, I'm accusing certain Belgian fans of having an agenda that puts nationality above what's good for Chelsea. I trust Jose to do what's in Chelsea's best interests and right now he isn't seeing enough from De Bruyne to select him but it's a long season and people need to relax and trust him.

You can moan about some of his decisions like his decision to play Rami on the wing.....but he rectified that error at half-time on Saturday. If he's making a mistake not picking KDB then I trust him to have the vision to fix it.

Everyone needs to just chill out a bit though and stop getting their panties in a twist when their favourite player doesn't get selected.

[SykikJV 146]

No, I'm accusing certain Belgian fans of having an agenda that puts nationality above what's good for Chelsea. I trust Jose to do what's in Chelsea's best interests and right now he isn't seeing enough from De Bruyne to select him but it's a long season and people need to relax and trust him.

You can moan about some of his decisions like his decision to play Rami on the wing.....but he rectified that error at half-time on Saturday. If he's making a mistake not picking KDB then I trust him to have the vision to rectify it.

Everyone needs to just chill out a bit though and stop getting their panties in a twist when their favourite player doesn't get selected.

True, De Bruyne should stay calm and work hard, he doesn't really has another option. I just think that this decision is partly made because De Bruyne's reputation is still the one of a "minor" players. Some of the other AM's don't play much better, you can't deny that, but De Bruyne is the easiest to leave out the squad.

You have much more faith in Mourinho then I do. I used to be a fan of Mourinho's style, but at Inter and Madrid he's developed to much into a reaction-based coach. Looking for controversy and always adapting his team to the opposition's side. He gets the results, but I've seldom really enjoyed watching his previous teams. With the talent he's got at his disposal, I'd prefer a team that gets results, in a beautiful way, like Dortmund and Bayern did last year.

But I get your point, just remember that not every Belgian is just here for the Belgian player. You can be Belgian AND Chelsea-fan.

[TrippingStep 336]

I think I know why Kevin has this treatment.

If Mata had a rough treatment, It's normal that Kevin has the same if he doesn't react well to what Mourinho is asking of him in training and if he had arguments with Jose.

I remember last year that Kevin in his beginning at Werder said that he didn't really like the tactical training of his coach and that he would prefered that he would let the offensive player play a bit like they want.

I don't agree on everything and really like the way Jose set-up his teams but it's him the coach and the players have to do what he asks even if they don't like it.

[edetarod 2,155]

it's the Daily Fail...

Mou will come out and say it's bollocks probably

[dukeman 9]

Chelsea ruining Lukaku. Check.

Chelsea ruining De Bruyne. Check.

Chelsea ruining Courtois. From next season on.

GG.

[MetsajCFC 1,255]

Some of you make it sound as De Bruyne has done something remarkable to deserve the first team spot or to be in a better position compared to other players. I didn't watch most of the pre-season games but this season so far he hasn't done anything out of this world. He might be having great games during international matches where tactics are different, players around him are different, coach and the staff are different. This is Chelsea Football Club we're talking about, no player is bigger than the system, especially not a 22 year old who has only played two games for the club. It's infuriating to read "experts" degrading Mourinho, a man who works day in-day out with the players, he communicates with them on daily basis. A man who has won so much in his career, there's a reason players in every club he worked with (maybe less with Real Madrid) have good relationship with him, a special connection.

Comparing De Bruyne's situation with Mata's is just ignorant. Mata has been the player of the season twice in a row, won the Champions League, Europa League, World Cup, European Championships and so on and so on. Can't count how many times he saved Chelsea last season and how much we depended on him. We were a one-man team at times. De Bruyne has won a couple of Belgian titles and that's that. If you look at Kevin's statistics, he is just a normal player. Huge potential of course, but that will not open doors for him if he fails to take the chances he has been given. Keep in mind Mata's (25) and De Bruyne's (22) age difference isn't that big.

It's only been one and a half months into a season, early to judge. He'll get his chances for sure, he just has to take them. That's all Mourinho is doing - making sure no player is in his comfort zone when it comes to squad competition. Very welcomed thing if you ask me. Mourinho's done great.

It seems some of the Belgians here won't rest this case unless every Belgian player we have are starting the game on weekly basis. Ain't going to happen, not in the near future atleast.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

Chelsea ruining Lukaku. Check.

Chelsea ruining De Bruyne. Check.

Chelsea ruining Courtois. From next season on.

GG.

Ruining De Bruyne?

I thought Jose was perhaps going to ruin Mata but based on what I seen vs Swindon and Spurs, he's improved his overall game.

Sure some teams set up with a lot protection in midfield so certain players can wander and do whatever they want but how good was it to see Mata change and see him pressuring the ball when we lost it giving we have seen a very lazy Juan Mata in terms of off the ball work?

I wasn't happy with Oscar starting as a 10 and Mata out the team as we lost quality but I got it. We might lack a bit of quality but at least we can press high up and put a lot of pressure on.

Maybe its the same with Kevin?

Chelsea haven't ruined anyone, Lukaku will come back here next summer as a 21 year old, going to a World Cup after scoring close to 15-20 goals for Everton, he'll come back a better player as he was playing regular games week in week out, as opposed to 2 games a month. The same with Courtois, Kevin can do the same if he works harder, as based on how he played vs United and Swindon he has a lot of work to do.

Also a journalist has confirmed that Kev isn't happy about training with the u21s.. also stuff on who wanted to sign him this summer.

1. Gary Jacob ‏@garyjacob2h

   @Mr_Ayre Not sure why. De Bruyne had offers from Leverkusen, Dortmund and Schalke in summer and manager wanted him to stay. So he is puzzled

   View conversation
2. Gary Jacob ‏@garyjacob2h

   CFC De Bruyne likely to move on loan in Jan. Dropped from squad Steaua and unhappy at decision. He will train with the club’s under-21 side

[Yeboii 1,844]

You're doing the same thing you blame the Belgians. It's Mourinho's decision, so it's the right one and no-one should doubt it. So just because Mourinho gets payed by Chelsea, all of his decisions are correct? To be honest, I've seen a couple of bad decisions made by Mourinho this season. The 4 AM's and no striker at United, playing Ramires as a right midfielder against Tottenham, refusing to play Mata,... not everything Mourinho does is gold.

De Bruyne deserves his chance just as much as Oscar and Schurrle do. It's not about Belgians or the Belgian national team, it's about Mourinho making the easiest decision, but not the right one, while everyone watching Chelsea's games can see that De Bruyne can add something to this team. He proved this against Hull, the only game where he really got his chance.

When Oscar got his chance he sure took it. He has done brilliantly in the start of the season so ofcourse he deserved to play. KDB was not good against Swindon. He should not get special treatment. Im puzzled by the fact that Hazard stars in nearly every game since he hasnt really been as good as he can. Even though Hazard is great and is one of my favorite players I dont see why he doesnt get Jose's treatment.

[Jase 43,479]

Can understand De Bruyne being dropped out of the Spurs and now the game against Steaua after his poor performance against Swindon (even then it might have been unfair given he played his 1st game in a month!) but what I don't get is, why after he started the season reasonably alright - played very well against Hull and then OK against United - he wasn't used at all by Mourinho till last Wednesday?!

[meetdoscar 335]

Well i think he should be sold if he doesn't want to stay and learn and win important trophies. No player is bigger than a club we must learn from sir alex. In manu kagawa,anderson, chicharito, in mancity milner,lescot,rodgwell all experienced professionals get less playing time but they don't go to the media they improve to compete. The media know with mou, chelsea will be formidable so as usual they try to destroy success. Kdb is no mata yet(at least not to chelsea), he should keep his head really low and work really hard this is the same thing moses faced last season but still gave us an inspired run in the europa league without complain when he got his chance, kdb should do the same he's got talent he just has to believe.

[OneMoSalah 8,886]

De Bruyne is better then Mata defensively. Last season at Bremen De Bruyne ran the most miles of the entire Bundesliga if I'm not mistaken. At Genk he succesfully played the CM role. Ofcourse he still needs to grow to be as good defensively in the Premier League but I'm convinced he's better in tracking back then Mata.

I seriously doubt your stat about the national team. Belgium's national team play with one targetman Benteke and with three players behind him. I seriously doubt De Bruyne averaged being more forward the last three games then Benteke. De Bruyne always plays the part the coach asks of him. In the NT his primary goal is to create chances and be decisive. And that's exactly what he has done this campaign.

Mourinho is just wrong on this one. De Bruyne was part of the most succesfull Chelsea-team this season, which was the team in the first half against Hull. After that game he played at Man Utd where Mourinho chose to be unexistent in attack by playing 4 AM's and no striker. After that he only played one game against Swindon. You can't punish De Bruyne for playing one bad game if you see the number of average games played by Schurrle and mostly Oscar. Mourinho hasn't played the Hull-team in any of the games after the Hull-game. There is no way people can justify this if you see the lack of quality-games played by Chelsea this season.

Ofcourse lots of people will defend Mourinho. But there will come a time when we're looking at De Bruyne the way we look at a player like Sturridge, thinking "if only"... He's got something special, something that ables to always create chances, but at the moment Mourinho's is ruining his career at Chelsea.

Chelsea played good for 20 or 30 minutes against a newly promoted side who were all over the place in those 20-30 minutes. As mentioned by many people on here, De Bruyne was almost invisible against a League 1 team. For someone who has got something special and always able to create chances he was very very poor. He needs to wait and prove himself, unlike at Bremen and Genk where he was arguably the best player. It meant his standards could slip still and he'd play 90 minutes as they didn't have anyone better to use. Being at a big club that will have to change. Hes playing for his next minutes in the team.

He doesn't offer anything that we don't already have either, he isn't a winger, he's an attacking midfielder, plays in between the lines, might start on the right but primarily comes inside to link up with Mata/Oscar/whoever in comparison to Schurrle who is a winger.

Like Mourinho did at Madrid he had:

Ronaldo - Ozil - Di Maria.

- Ronaldo played as an inside forward/inverted winger who did the odd bit of work defensive at times but not very much.

- Ozil played the number 10 role made himself available to take the ball from the pivot.

- Di Maria played as a winger, offering width but most importantly he ran back helping Arbeloa out.

I think hes trying to recreate that at Chelsea with Hazard - Oscar - Schurrle, Hazard playing a role similar to Ronaldo's obviously with a bit more off the ball work, Oscar playing the #10 role but in the industrious way like he does for Brazil pressing high up and Schurrle offering width, running back to help Ivanovic. Sure he can get the same from Mata on the right and Kevin on the right as well and I think we will see Mata in that role more with Schurrle coming on at times to stretch teams when we are too narrow.

Obviously Mourinho played low block at Madrid and on the counter but he's changing his philosophy, he wants a high block and high pressing so perhaps Kevin also has work to do with his defensive input as well as his offensive input. He ran so many miles in the Bundesliga last year but that was last year.

[The Skipper 20,609]

If those reports are true then I'm not really surprised. This is why I said the Willian signing is unnecessary and will be a problem regarding KDB.

Willian is a good player but not that much better than KDB. We should've just kept the money and kept Moses around with KDB than signing Willian - knew something like this would happen. Shame really.

[happy_juan 64]

Tbf, the anxiety of belgians in KDB's case is justified. He has been one of their best and most important player in qualifying and they would want him fit and raring to go for the world cup.

Given KDB had offers before this season, he has reasons to feel aggrieved.

[bushman 2,043]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2438017/Kevin-Bruyne-axed-Chelsea-squad.html?ico=sport^headlines

Once again Chelsea & bombastic Jose vs players is on.

[Neira 19]

Hoping he doesn't get loaned, but rather sold. Dortmund prefferably, then maybe next season to other PL club to proove Jose's wrong.