De Bruyne's feats with both feet

“You’ve come to see him, haven’t you?” shouted a Manchester City fan outside Old Trafford. I nodded, knowing he meant Kevin De Bruyne. The City fan ran a finger down from his eye, signalling a tear. It is a sad moment knowing you are watching a Premier League great on his farewell tour – and yesterday’s Manchester Derby was so supine it felt almost like a testimonial for De Bruyne. The Belgian’s many qualities have been celebrated since he announced he was leaving City, and one in particular deserves special acclaim. He’s two-footed: 23 of his 70 Premier League goals were scored with his allegedly inferior foot. He’s scored some belters with his left foot, past Kasper Schmeichel in a game against Leicester City in 2017 and past Illian Meslier when the Leeds United keeper was at the top of his game in 2021. When parents or academy coaches talk to young players about developing their game, they should show a video of De Bruyne scoring off either foot. Twice the threat of many others.

Kevin De Bruyne. Photo: Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images.

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For the second home game in succession, Bradford City got more than 22,000 – in the fourth tier. For Saturday’s visit of Crewe Alexandra, Bradford City Community Foundation offered tickets in the TL Dallas Community Stand for £3 to all “local women’s and girls’ sports teams, schools who girls’ football teams and local social and support groups” to mark City's “Her Game Too” fixture. For every community ticket bought, the Foundation gave away a free ticket for “a friend or family member”. Swelled by those buying these community tickets, 22,214 flocked to Valley Parade. The atmosphere was fantastic by all accounts, Bradford won 2-0 and the food and drink bars will have been far busier. Win win all round.

The club have done other community ticket days for schools, youth clubs, community organisations and charities. It’s about filling the stadium, supporting the team, and making fans for life. For the previous home game against Colchester, Bradford offered all tickets for £5 to “Pack the Parade”. 23,381 turned up, and Bradford won 4-1. Usually, tickets range from £5 to £20 or £5 to £25 if bought on match-day. Bradford’s manager Graham Alexander hailed the “special occasion” deal and vibe as a huge help in inspiring the team. Treating fans with respect is being rewarded. Some other clubs should take note.

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Maxime Esteve, the tall Burnley centre-back, won’t be in the Championship much longer. The France Olympic player will either up go up with Burnley or be snapped up by Premier League admirers. He played 16 times in the top division last season but has developed even more under Scott Parker in the Championship this term. Burnley have conceded only three goals in the last 18 league games he’s played. James Trafford, the young keeper, and others have obviously contributed handsomely to those 15 clean sheets but week in, week out, Esteve delivers. Esteve, who signed a five-year contract in September, has already been linked with Everton and Tottenham Hotspur. He recently told Le Figaro about how happy he is at Burnley, that he feels “at home” there, partly because the fans have been so welcoming. He’s impressive off the field, too. The latest “Mission to Burnley: Revelations” shows Esteve arriving in January 2024 on loan, being driven in a taxi to the club, talking to the driver and showing not only his decent English but also that he’d read up on the town and the club’s history.

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When Ipswich’s keeper Alex Palmer tipped over a header from Wolves’ Toti Gomes, it was worth noting the scene around. Palmer’s team-mate, Liam Delap, Town’s centre-forward, was on the line, guarding the goal. Delap’s goal return this season, 12 in 33, is impressive in a struggling side. His worth ethic out of possession is also commendable.

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Bowen’s leap sounds like a challenging if scenic section of Snowdon. Jarrod Bowen is only 5ft 9in but has an impressive ability to jump high. He demonstrated the knack again with another header at the weekend, this time in the draw with Bournemouth. Spring truly is in the air. Of Bowen’s 51 Premier League goals, nine have been headers. It's partly timing, and also hunger for the ball regardless of the size and pointed elbows of those trying to stop him. It’s also down to the strength in Bowen’s calves which generate power for upward propulsion. Those calf muscles were built up running up and down the muddy furrows of his uncle’s farm in Herefordshire. They don’t teach that in many academies.

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Occasional debates surface over whether Jordan Pickford is England’s undisputed No 1 but the idle chatter tends to die down quickly. Pickford has performed admirably during his 75 international appearances and is still only 31. What is also encouraging for Thomas Tuchel is the form of Dean Henderson, 28, for Crystal Palace. England’s undisputed No 2. Henderson’s kicking has improved. His shot-stopping has always been good as shown by Saturday’s double save to deny Carlos Baleba and Danny Welbeck. If Manchester United had kept Henderson, would he be starting ahead of Andre Onana now?

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Little about Southampton has been Premier League quality this season – apart from their fans. They keep turning up even when too many of their players didn’t. They keep supporting even with a head coach in Ivan Juric painfully out of his depth (and inevitable speculation about Steve Cooper). Their average of 30,973 is the highest St Mary’s has seen in 21 years. The travelling fans stayed to the bitter end at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium yesterday, and applauded their under-performing players who have taken only 10 points from a possible 93 so far this season. The least the players could have done was put up a fight rather than going down with a whimper. Saints fans deserved better.

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A final word on KDB. One of the buzz words in modern football is about players “scanning”. De Bruyne is hailed as a master of the technique of constantly looking around to check team-mates’ and opponents’ positions. Scanning allows the practitioner to be ahead of the game. It allows them to be able to play the ball first time to friendly feet, rather than those belonging to foes’. One of De Bruyne’s most celebrated pieces of scanning came in Manchester City’s 7-2 win over Stoke City in 2017. He directed a reverse pass past five Stoke players to Leroy Sane leading to Raheem Sterling scoring. He knew exactly where everyone was like pieces on a chess board. And he was the grand master. Against Feyenoord earlier this season, De Bruyne scanned and knew Bernardo Silva was making a run inside from the right, used it as a decoy and instead delivered a 50-yard pass on to the chest of Kyle Walker.

Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were also master scanners. Cristiano Ronaldo has been scanning for 20 years. But it isn’t some revolutionary 21^st century development. In the 60s and 70s, Ron Greenwood at West Ham constantly encouraged Trevor Brooking to have a “picture in your mind” of where everyone was, scanning. Greenwood would stop training, tell everyone to shut their eyes and visualise where everyone was. “Scanning” is simply the new “pictures” just as pressing is the new closing down which Ian Rush and Liverpool were doing in the 80s.

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Enjoy the week.