City’s superb start under Guardiola continued as they won their eighth successive game in all competitions – an unprecedented feat for the club at the beginning of a season – by thrashing Bournemouth 4-0 in the Premier League on Saturday.
Advertisement
In between those moments of class from De Bruyne, young forwards Kelechi Iheanacho and Raheem Sterling set each other up for goals on the counterattack as Bournemouth was continually picked off.
“[Other opponents] just used the long ball”.
Keown watched the Citizens taken Bournemouth apart and then Guardiola’s comments afterwards, and was left with the clear impression the former Barcelona coach still wants more from his squad.
“He knows absolutely everything, he sees absolutely everything and in front of goal he makes assists and scores goals. But I think Bayern were rarely as dominant as under him, when they won three championships in a row”, he added.
“I’m a little bit surprised how much we are able to play some good level now”.
“Yes, I give them a lot of credit for the way they played but I felt we could have done better without the ball and definitely better with the ball”.
Callum Wilson, who scored the victor in Bournemouth’s 1-0 win over West Bromwich Albion, was dropped from Howe’s starting line-up to make way for Jack Wilshere in a five-man midfield, and Howe admitted the Arsenal loanee had a tough afternoon.
De Bruyne, 25, has made an electrifying start to life under Guardiola, having also played a decisive role in City’s 2-1 win over rivals Manchester United last weekend.
“Important ones. I need to be stable”, he said.
“Believe me, we are going to lose”.
“People don’t see the hard work that goes but we know – and that’s why we are so sharp on the pitch”. “We will take care of him and I hope he will enjoy it with us to play his wonderful football”, Guardiola told reporters after the match, reported AFP.
Advertisement
“They wanted to play and our high pressing in the first half was not ideal”. He started so many good things for them.
