Kevin De Bruyne has a lot of passes in his locker. Some are through balls, some are crosses, some are flicks and some are, somehow, a mixture of all sorts.
Some are obvious, like those back-post crosses that evade defenders but find his strikers and wingers. Others are less obvious, like the little passes that, on their own, might not look like much but really add impetus and often goals to City’s play.
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It is fascinating how some of the passes he used to play for Raheem Sterling and Sergio Aguero are now aimed at Erling Haaland and Jack Grealish or Phil Foden. And they’re not all a result of Pep Guardiola’s coaching instructions: De Bruyne’s been pulling these strings for Belgium, too.
With the World Cup underway and De Bruyne hoping to be one of its stars, why not enjoy an encyclopedia of his best work over the years?
Here, we try to identify and even codify a wide selection of De Bruyne’s most notable passes, using Wyscout screengrabs where necessary but usually video highlights, so the magic can be enjoyed in full.
It had been a while since we had seen this fairly basic ‘press triangle’ FIFA through ball, but De Bruyne’s straight-line passes in behind are making a bit of a comeback now with Haaland on the scene.
There have been some beauties over the years. This one against Liverpool in the 5-0 game in September 2017 is a good example of a short one, and the damage he can do if he suddenly finds a bit of space with runners ahead of him.
And this one for Haaland against Newcastle this season is basically the same.
This one at Leicester was threaded through the eye of a needle — look at the two defenders sliding in for it.
Then there’s this one, from a crucial game in the 2018-19 title race at Crystal Palace. The distance the ball travels, its accuracy and its weight are all spectacular and so was Sterling’s finish.
City hadn’t played with runners in behind too often in the 18 months before Haaland came but on the Norwegian’s Premier League debut, he reminded us that it’s still very much an option, and De Bruyne still has the pass in his locker.
This is perhaps the trademark De Bruyne pass, which was probably most popular between 2018 and 2020. From a withdrawn position on the corner of the 18-yard box, about 10 yards in from the right-hand touchline, he and his team-mates worked on getting him into space to whip a ball, high or low, to the back post.
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The two main benefactors were Aguero and Sterling: if the former didn’t meet the ball, the latter would.
This is a great example of how City engineer the cross — another common target, Gabriel Jesus, converted the cross after just four minutes, but City had tried to pull off this exact move two or three times beforehand. This time, they got it right: as soon as Aymeric Laporte played the crossfield pass to Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne dropped into ‘his’ space. Bernardo found him, Jesus made the run and the rest is et cetera, et cetera.
This is another good example, with Sterling and Aguero as targets this time. Again, watch how De Bruyne pulls back when Bernardo receives the ball, which is something City did over and over in this game.
And this one is just sumptuous.
This is one of the more remarkable De Bruyne passes, as he somehow combines that ‘corridor of certainty cross’ with a through ball to slide players in on goal from very wide and deep areas.
This usually happens on the counter, or at least at pace, with the opposition defence out of shape.
This one against Stoke in 2017 also took the breath away, given how it just seemed to slow down at exactly the right moment for Leroy Sane to bury it, like something straight from the bowling green.
At one point, De Bruyne named this one at Aston Villa, when he played in Jesus, as his favourite assist.
Just a couple of weeks ago, he reminded us that he’s still got it with this one for Julian Alvarez. The names may change but the supply line is consistent.
Next, you’ve got the ball that’s flashed right across the face of goal from closer to the byline. Like the one from slightly deeper, City work very hard to get De Bruyne into these areas, as highlighted by this move in 2019…
And then these examples. This one against Wolves is very similar to the one above, down to the pass to set it up. It’s the same principle again, but this time with Haaland and Grealish: if the striker doesn’t get it, the winger should do.
City make it look so easy at times, not least this one against Sevilla in September when they worked to play that little cut pass behind the defender for De Bruyne to run into the channel and meet without breaking stride.
But he can do it off the cuff as well, if needed…
He was at full pelt in that Villa example above and that’s how a lot of his passes are performed. Guardiola’s men normally find one or two opportunities to rampage forward even against deep defences, and it’s often De Bruyne at the heart of it.
Typically, he will charge through the middle and often he will be shrugging off attempts to stop him. Once he gets into a position to play the ball and find a player in a position to have a shot on goal, he will do, cutting a defender or two out of the equation if he can.
Here’s an example from the Manchester derby last season, when he picks up the ball deep, carries it, meanders inside and then splits Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof with a through ball that finds Foden inside the box in a shooting position.
And here’s the same thing from City’s most recent game.
Watch how that central run, this time from Haaland, would have opened up a pass to the right had there been another runner, because the defenders are tracking the Norwegian…
The way City are drilled means that when they have a three-v-two overload on the break, that central run from Haaland (or others) as shown above is designed to attract markers and open space on the right. In the above example, Bernardo Silva was the right winger but he didn’t keep up with the move. Below, you’ll see how it works when somebody is there on the right.
Here it is in full.
De Bruyne just rolls it into Riyad Mahrez’s path, there, although the Algerian cannot convert. This one below is not quite the same type of pass, but it gets Mahrez into the same position, and also comes after a fast break when De Bruyne is at full pelt.
Let’s start with one for Belgium, to prove that it’s not just Guardiola’s coaching of certain runs that makes these passes possible. This one to Yannick Carrasco deserved a goal.
And here’s a quiz everybody knows the answer to because they’ve seen it. But in case you haven’t, guess where this ball is going.
That’s right, through this gap that barely exists to a player he can’t see.
Speaking of which, this might be the king of this type of pass.
And yes, the ball travelled through Joe Willock’s legs.
Sometimes he goes all Joao Cancelo and crosses with the outside of his foot. It doesn’t particularly matter where on the pitch he is for this one, it just happens if it feels right.
This one is remarkably inventive, but City somehow contrived to mess it up.
And this one is on the other side of the pitch and played much more directly into the box, and John Stones makes no mistake (and keep watching the video for a bit of a Hail Mary left-footed ball into the box from the middle of nowhere, which doesn’t really fall into any category but shows just how dangerous he is).
And then there’s this one, which is like the crossfield through balls, only from the left and with the outside of his boot.
Sometimes, you just have to put the ball in an area, knowing that somebody will, or at least should, be there. Like this example for Belgium, with his left foot from the left side.
It’s similar to this example, where he stands one up for Haaland at the back post, from a wider position on the right, with a little more curl on it.
Here’s one that is potentially more subtle: during a counter-attack, De Bruyne can act as the link man in the sense that he will receive the ball and help it on in the same general direction but with more pace and purpose, invariably playing somebody else in on goal.
There’s a very similar example from an otherwise forgettable Manchester derby in December 2020. It is, basically, exactly the same pass. Here’s how it panned out…
Jesus breaks down the left with De Bruyne in support through the middle and Mahrez in space on the right.
Jesus’ square pass finds De Bruyne, who immediately helps it on its way to Mahrez, through Luke Shaw’s legs…
Mahrez is in a fine position but his shot is saved by David de Gea.
Back to the videos — here’s one against Real Madrid, played with De Bruyne’s right foot, which also involves a through-ball element.
De Bruyne has a good sense of when to inject some impetus into a move. With City slowing moving the ball side to side, waiting for an opening, if he spots a gap and a runner he will play a fairly simple-looking ball that sets a team-mate away into a position to create a chance or score themselves.
Look here as Cancelo and Grealish weigh up their options. De Bruyne suddenly arrives on the scene and plays the ball back to Grealish, who has made a run in behind. Suddenly the attack moves at pace and Haaland has another comfortable finish.
It’s similar here against Burnley last season. City work it out to the right, Sterling gets the ball, gives it to De Bruyne and sets off. De Bruyne plays the right pass and suddenly City are in behind and score.
A lot of these passes and crosses tend to travel large distances, but De Bruyne has got plenty of delicate little flicks in his armoury, too. Check out this one against Brighton last season.
They don’t always have to lead to goals, but it would have been nice had this one done so. Sadly, there are no rights-friendly clips of this next one, but against Fulham the other week, he started a City break with a delightful flick around the corner on the edge of his own area, under pressure from two men in the 91st minute, which could have gone horribly wrong but instead opened up a counter-attack.
Look as Joao Palhinha stretches to get any body part on the ball, but simply can’t.
Here’s another one, from the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid in May. Wonderful.
This one below isn’t strictly a flick but look at the improvisation to play a first-time pass with his left foot and set up Ferran Torres.
To finish, how about some of his best work for Belgium (of the ones on official YouTube channels)?
These are the kinds of passes and crosses we might be seeing in Qatar, and this one is particularly delightful, showing what he can do in deep areas when teams leave a lot of space in behind.
Here’s a delicate little pass for Romelu Lukaku from last season’s Euros (there was also a superb one over a greater distance earlier in the match, which isn’t in these highlights).
And this one from the same game…
This, from the same game, is one of his more subtle passes that he does a lot for City: a little slide-rule ball to somebody in a crossing position inside on the left.
Finally, a different game, and this one shows his awareness to take a touch when everybody is expecting a killer pass. That gives him the space to play the killer pass.
So keep your eyes peeled in the next few weeks, you’re bound to spot plenty more.
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(Top photos: Getty Images; design: Eamonn Dalton)