His most recent performances for City suggested as much, leggy and lacking in the technical quality and accuracy with the ball De Bruyne is known for.
It was a similar situation at the World Cup, his sub-par performances were just one contributing factor in what was a disastrous group stage campaign for Belgium.
After three games the side ranked second in the world is out, the hopes of a golden generation taking one last shot at glory extinguished with a goalless draw against Croatia.
That result while not the worst on paper followed an underserved win against Canada and a thoroughly deserved 2-0 defeat to Morocco.
This story is from the December 02, 2022 edition of Manchester Evening News.
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This story is from the December 02, 2022 edition of Manchester Evening News.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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