How can Manchester City nullify De Bruyne's absence?

Kevin De Bruyne was in an imperious mood for Manchester City during the 2017 - 18 season. He assisted 16 goals and scored 8 in a season where Manchester City set different standards for the Premier League. Just as a testament, De Bruyne was awarded the Playmaker of the Season award, voted as the Manchester City Player of the Season and was selected in the PFA Team of the Year.

De Bruyne was one of the two brains that structured the City attack last season. Manchester City faces two kinds of teams - Teams that are brave to play their game with the ball (few in number) and teams that want to have three or four blocks of defensive lines to dent the City attack. Though, efficient and confident with teams using the latter strategy where patience is the key, De Bruyne was deadly with teams trying to express themselves.

Once the opposition lost the ball while attacking, De Bruyne is exceptional at - avoiding the one-man press, exploiting the disjointed defensive shape and setting one of the many runners of City free with a pass. Add to this, the scoring range outside the box, physicality to maintain rhythm and the dead ball ability, he is one of the first names in the playing eleven.

De Bruyne suffered an injury in training, mid-August, damaging his ligament in the right knee. Fortunately, he avoided surgery but expected not to play for three months.

This is a psychological blow of sorts for City as they are gearing up to be the first team to retain the title for the first time in nearly a decade (local rivals, Manchester United were the last team to do so, in 2009). However, City has a well-oiled style, exceptional personnel and a world-class coach to deal with the case in hand.

Let's see the possible actions by City -

Change in Formation with a Back 3

City predominantly played with a 4 man defense, at least on paper, over the last season. By doing so, they had three exceptional mid-fielders playing in front of them in general - Fernandinho, Silva and De Bruyne. While the former screened the defense, the other two were the masters at pulling off ideas that opened up opportunities for the front three of City.

In the absence of De Bruyne, City can shuffle the defense into a 3 man system. Additionally, they can play an attacking midfielder in the place of a wing back. This seems a favorable option on two fronts.

3 Man Defence can be the answer

Firstly, the defense is not jeopardized with four defensive players still on the pitch along with Fernandinho shielding the defense. Secondly, this formation lets an additional ballplayer into the fold. With the extra pair of legs, attacking shapes would be more flexible and there'll be an extra man trying to win passes between the tight lines of opposition. So, that is an incremental burden to mark and take care of for the opposition.

This formation makes sense in the short term as the upcoming fixtures for City are five of the six promoted teams over the past two seasons. Conversely, this can be a risk when playing against a more open team as they might exploit the makeshift wing back and create chances.

Exploit the Wings

The City are masters of playing with the ball. They hold the ball well, by-pass the presses, pass short confidently and come up with breathtaking long ones. These abilities combine with the visions of De Bruyne and Silva to let them largely work through the midfield, exploit the half spaces and create chances.

With one visionary down, it would be difficult to exploit through the middle and the half spaces this consistently. Gundagon, B. Silva, and Mahrez are available to pick it up but they are yet to make their case at scale. They do have the apparatus to try something else.

Kyle Walker, along with Benjamin Mendy, can turn up the heat with pace and crosses

Manchester City can look to aggressively exploit the wings with pace and cross with precision. Obviously, City has talented wingers in Sane, Sterling, and Mahrez to be just that smart and quick to accelerate. They now also have flying full-backs on both sides in Mendy and Walker.

The attributes of their full-backs make it a perfect case for the play. With the ability to maintain the balance at full throttle, the full backs can burst forward and drive accurate passes into the box that can leave the opposition catching for breath.

The drive of Benjamin Mendy

One of De Bruyne's fortes is to exploit the open spaces once the opposition loses the ball during an attack. He is not only smart in avoiding the initial presses, but also feeds passes into the rushing forwards. He is not a bad runner himself, holding onto the ball for longer periods of time and then letting out the ball just to have the forward to finish.

With De Bruyne's absence, it can be difficult for City to exploit the counters with deadly authority. This is where Benjamin Mendy can play a part. Mendy was out of the playing eleven for most of the last season with a cruciate ligament injury. This makes Mendy as good as a new signing for Manchester City.

Benjamin Mendy can be vital during the counters in the absence of KDB

Mendy has a few attributes similar to De Bruyne. He's fast, intelligent, strong and has a knack for finding the forward in the box at pace. This lets City try out their counters with one extra passing option to drive forward. Silva, along with Gundagon, can try to play the role of De Bruyne to open up paces. With Mendy acting as the extra body pushing forward, the pressure on the opposition's defense can be maintained.

The rise of Phil Foden

One of the features of City's style is to be patient with the possession, circulate the ball so as to move the opposition enough to get the right pass through the lines. This requires immense skill on the ball and mental strength to stay consistent in doing so. Manchester City players also come across some harsh tackles their way. Nothing incites the opposition like being outrun or outplayed for long intervals of time. So, the team is at the risk of injuries constantly.

It was refreshing for City to see Phil Foden perform at a high level. The 18-year-old City academy product performed exceptionally during the pre-season against the likes of Borussia Dortmund, Liverpool, and Bayern Munich. He was composed on the ball and was working hard off it.

Phil Foden would like to cement his place in the squad over the next few weeks

With Gundagon likely to replace De Bruyne to a large extent over the next few weeks, Foden would become invaluable for the team. He would be the fresh pair of legs for the outgoing midfielder in a match, would be the much needed reliable cover if any other ball-players go down with injuries. Foden can also be an answer if Fernandinho is down, as Gundagon would play the defensive mid role and Foden would take up the duties going forward with Silva.