Kevin De Bruyne impressed on his Chelsea debut on Sunday, was thanked his manager for having faith in him and demonstrated why many tip him to shine this season.
During the first half hour of the Blues’ match against Hull the likes of De Bruyne were influential as he assisted Oscar for the opening goal of the game and there was plenty of wonderful link-up play between the pair of them and Eden Hazard.
Things died down a little during the last hour as Chelsea saw out a 2-0 lead. The second half may not have been much of a spectacle but it was a mature display, we have a match against Aston Villa to think about and it’s difficult to go full pelt for the 90, especially on the first day of the season.
De Bruyne was quoted on the club’s official website saying how much he was enjoying the challenge at Stamford Bridge considering how much quality is boasted within the squad.
“The manager has confidence in the group. We have a squad of 24 or 25 players and he believes everybody can start. There are a lot of good players playing at a high level. As a team, we will grow and get better and better.
“It’s always nice when the manager has confidence in you; I never have any stress before a match. Football, for me, is still a game, there’s a lot of pressure but that doesn’t matter.
“You just have to try your best; sometimes you play good and sometimes you are a bit nervous, but that’s football.
“We know we have six good players for that position so we have to prove ourselves on the field. The manager will probably rotate so we will see what happens. I’ve started well and team rotation is normal when you play so many games.
“If you play for a club like Chelsea you have more players at a high level, you have to fight for your spot which is good for the team.”
It was great to see that De Bruyne already has such a good understanding of his team-mates. It’s of no surprise that he clicks with Hazard well as they play for Belgium together but both he and Oscar enjoyed finding each other with a few neat flicks and tricks. Fernando Torres’ contribution was a little understated on Sunday but I thought he played well and helped kept the attack ticking over during the early onslaught when it looked as though we could have scored four or five.
When Juan Mata is back in contention it will be a lot tougher for De Bruyne to get into the side and he knows that, but it was the perfect start for him and with the amount of games the top sides play in a season you just know he will get his chances.
Sunday was a good day for Chelsea and although there are things to work on, like keeping the tempo up for longer and I thought Ashley Cole was beaten for pace far too often on the left, we saw a lot of positive signs and De Bruyne was just one of them.
Source: ChelseaFC.com
