Manchester City’s players specifically could find certain aspects of international football difficult to digest.
With City being as successful they are, the transition to playing in a potentially inferior side that are not used to winning silverware could be frustrating; especially for players who are accustomed to lifting trophies.
Similarly, the lack of a manager who is as tactically adept as Pep Guardiola is must also be a tough task to adapt to.
Playing alongside players who are not even remotely as talented, experienced or intelligent as the ones they play with at the Etihad Stadium is also bound to be a challenging reality.
Considering how much a majority of the Sky Blues’ players have achieved at club level, there is an expectation on them to perform at the same level for their respective countries.
However, to do so is easier said than done.
Craig Burley makes “frustrating” observation about Man City superstar
Especially when such players do not have the time to fully gel with their teammates as they do at club level.
Even so, a player like Kevin De Bruyne, for instance, performed well at Euro 2024 — despite Belgium’s struggles as a side.
However, the midfield maestro cut a forlorn figure during his side’s latest 2-0 defeat to France in the UEFA Nations League.
Goals from Randal Kolo Muani and Ousmane Dembele meant Domenico Tedesco’s side could not exact revenge on Monday after their loss to the French at the Round of 16 stage at the European Championship.
The £54.5 million man played the entirety of the contest against Didier Deschamps’ side.
Craig Burley claimed that things could get “very frustrating” for De Bruyne due to the lack of many players who could help Belgium win silverware at major tournaments.
Burley said via ESPN FC: “For a really, top-class, world-class player, I think it’s going to become very frustrating very quickly for Kevin De Bruyne. Very frustrating because the support cast has pretty much gone around him, all those guys that were playing at elite-level clubs around Europe.”
“There’s still some are, Jeremy Doku was ineffective, [Dodi] Lukebakio was pretty poor to be honest, [Youri] Tielemans and [Amadou] Onana are okay and he looked really sharp again as he looked against West Ham in the league, Kevin De Bruyne. He looked really sharp.”
Burley added: “But there’s only so much he can do and then you look at the backline, there’s no [Jan] Vertonghen in it anymore, there’s no [Thomas] Vermaelen, no, who’s the other guys, I’m missing somebody out there.”
“But a bunch of them are playing at the back and before we even get to the goalkeeper [Thibaut Courtois], who doesn’t want to play and we saw the goalkeeper here [Koen Casteels], he’s not Thibaut Courtois, he’s not even close.”
“And so when you look at it from now this respective, it’s going to be very frustrating for Kevin De Bruyne, there’s no doubt about that.”
Kevin De Bruyne would have every reason to be frustrated
If De Bruyne was indeed frustrated with his Belgian side, he would have every reason to.
Whether it was at Euro 2024 or against France, it seems like the Belgian Red Devils are quite a disjointed team.
Furthermore, despite De Bruyne’s brilliance in terms of creating chances or moments of magic in the final third, his teammates fail to capitalise.
Tactically as well, Belgium tend to be quite defensive against top sides like France, sitting back, soaking pressure and solely trying to play on the break.
However, Tedesco’s approach in this regard does not seem to do the trick, as Les Bleus found it relatively easy to beat them in their last two meetings.
As things stand, Belgium do not seem like a nation that will even contend for the major honours and for an elite player like De Bruyne, that being the case must be frustrating.
