Chelsea Transfer: What on Earth Do the Blues Do with Kevin De Bruyne?
Chelsea’s Belgian international Kevin De Bruyne is playing well on loan at Bundesliga side Werder Bremen.
But what on earth do the Blues do with him next season?
This article will update you on Kevin’s performances for Werder and look into his future with CFC.
Feel free to comment below with your views of De Bruyne.
Kevin De Bruyne Werder Bremen Loan Update
1 of 3WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Kevin De Bruyne has started every single one of Werder Bremen's Bundesliga games.
Subjectively speaking, he is Kicker's 30th highest rated midfielder and 38th at Bild.
From a purely statistical perspective, WhoScored currently rank him as the ninth best midfielder in Germany.
Along with Hannover and Eintracht Frankfurt, Bremen are viable niche sides to follow if you love attacking football.
Werder have fire power in their attack with Kevin, Nils Petersen, Aaron Hunt and Marko Arnautović.
There is no blame attached to KDB for Werder Bremen being in 13th place because he isn't paid to defend nor does he coach the team in a Claudio Ranieri-like manner.
I'm talking about De Bruyne's manager Thomas Schaaf, who is the Bundesliga's version of Mike D'Antoni—Bremen are tied with Hoffenheim for the most goals conceded (49 in 25 games).
Some of Schaaf's tactical oddities are as incomprehensible as Chelsea's transfer policies (via Raphael Honigstein at The Guardian):
"After conceding 28 goals and losing seven games before the winter break, the Bundesliga's most attack-minded (read: defensively shambolic) coach had been out to prove a point to the doubters and Guardiola-groupies: he switched his gung-ho 4-1-4-1 system to a 4-2-4 with Clemens Fritz as a second holding midfielder and no real No. 9 up front.
"
It worked out a treat—for less than 10 minutes, until Marco Reus laser-guided a free-kick into the net. Nine minutes later, Mario Götze's deflected shot ended the match as a contest. Three more goals in the second half from Felipe Santana, Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski were scant reward for the Black and Yellows' utter superiority.
By contrast, Werder had plenty of possession (54 percent) but nowhere to pass it in the final third.
"We only got to 25, 20 metres in front of their goal," said the midfielder, Zlatko Junuzovic. "It felt like there was no one in the box for us." There wasn't.
Nils Petersen, the supposed Messi in Schaaf's masterplan (or was Kevin De Bruyne the false striker? Who can possibly tell?), had no idea where and how exactly he was supposed to operate.
DIFFERENCES FROM GENK: Kevin played mainly as a left attacking midfielder in Belgium but in Germany, he is generally always the No. 10.
He has had spells as a false 9 (like against BVB and Borussia Mönchengladbach).
The Belgian international completed zero successful dribbles in four UEFA Champions League games during the 2011-12 season for Genk.
Now, he has the sixth highest dribbles per game average in the Bundesliga this season (3.2).
QUOTABLE: KDB said some bizarre things about Werder, only to claim it was lost in translation—google translation must have F'd up real bad for the Bild staff writer (from Bild via Marcus Christenson at The Guardian):
"I miss the warmth and atmosphere in Genk.
The Germans are stiffer.
Their mentality is not for me. If Werder is a family then it is only for the people from here.
I was doing German lessons with the club but I stopped doing them. I didn't like it. If I am honest I wouldn't want to live in Germany in the future.
To everyone who reads German papers: the interview that has been published about me is a translation of a Belgian interview.
In the translating process, some things obviously went wrong. I really am happy in Bremen and I'm fully adapting to the German mentality.
"
He wouldn't need to adapt to the German mentality if he stayed in England.
Only Chelsea would make an asinine decision in loaning a player, who speaks perfect English and is of English ancestry with relatives living in England, to a German club.
Comparing Kevin De Bruyne to His Chelsea Teammates
2 of 3Heading into the January transfer window, Kevin De Bruyne's agent made it clear that his client would return to Chelsea once his loan at Werder Bremen ended (from Wolfsburger Nachrichten via Thomas Zocher at Sky Sports):
"It's great to know that Kevin de Bruyne is of interest to many clubs in the top leagues.
We are definitely aware of that. But up to now we have not been discussing a transfer.
He has a contract going on at Stamford Bridge. The fact is that he will return to Chelsea at the end of the campaign.
"
Let's statistically compare KDB to Juan Mata, Eden Hazard, Frank Lampard and Oscar.
| LEAGUE ONLY | G | SPG | A | SCPG | P% | C% | CDPG |
| Eden Hazard | 7 | 7.0 | 7 | 1.8 | 85.0 | 15.4 | 1.6 |
| Frank Lampard | 11 | 4.7 | - | 1.1 | 81.9 | 29.2 | 0.5 |
| Juan Mata | 10 | 5.3 | 9 | 2.6 | 85.1 | 19.5 | 0.5 |
| Kevin De Bruyne | 6 | 10.7 | 8 | 2.5 | 76.6 | 30.3 | 3.2 |
| Oscar | 1 | 44.0 | 4 | 1.8 | 83.9 | 26.6 | 1.2 |
G = goal/s; SPG = shots per goal; A = assist/s; SCPG = shots created per game; P% = passing percentage; C% = crossing percentage; CDPG = completed dribbles per game
Kevin is more high-risk therefore increasing the likelihood of turning over possession but he is productive in the final third.
The most startling improvement is his dribbling which was nonexistent in the UEFA Champions League for Genk.
What Does the Future Hold for Kevin De Bruyne?
3 of 3Kevin de Bruyne is two-footed maestro à la Glenn Hoddle; can conjure up Enzo Scifo-esque moments; is a world-class crosser; and has all-encompassing passing range.
In light of Oscar's inconsistent performances, there's no reason for Chelsea management to treat KDB with such disdain next season as they have done with Marko Marin this season.
Belgian football writer John Chapman pointed out Franky Vercauteren's (Kevin's former manager) belief that Kevin can play in any midfield position (per Belgofoot.be):
"De Bruyne has been impressive in recent games for Belgium and in the Bundesliga.
His time with Bremen has really helped him; he’s much fitter, he’s a certain starter and a key player in any of the central midfield positions.
Ex Genk and Belgium coach Franky Vercauteren reckons that De Bruyne can play anywhere—6, 8, 10—and that’s a player who played his first two seasons of professional football on the wing.
"
De Bruyne built up a near-telepathic relationship with Christian Benteke in his last season at Genk.
14 assists looks good but it could have been so much higher if Christian wasn't such a wayward finisher.
Kevin could potentially form a similar bond with Romelu Lukaku, the Blues' future No. 9, and it would be great chemistry to have three Belgian internationals (Kevin, Romelu and Eden) in the starting XI.
Before you ask... I have no idea how Lucas Piazón (been superb in the games I've seen him in) fits in.
"2 - Lucas Piazón has made his second assist in La Liga in his third game as starter for Malaga. Magic
— OptaJose (@OptaJose) March 9, 2013"
The Oscar signing (£25 million) seems extremely economically inefficient (in hindsight) with De Bruyne and Piazón impressing on loan.
Please comment below with your thoughts on KDB's future with CFC.
Statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com, EPLIndex.com and Squawka.com.
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