Man City must drop 4/10 star with fewer touches than Ederson

As is often the case in high-stakes contests involving two sworn enemies, the football on display can be edgy and tense.

That was definitely clear for all to see during the latest installment of the fierce Manchester Derby, as Pep Guardiola‘s Manchester City and Ruben Amorim’s Manchester United played out a laboured 0-0 draw in the Premier League.

Not even the added spice of the Derby being Kevin De Bruyne‘s final ever one could raise the excitement levels, as the aforementioned Belgian struggled throughout to give his team that needed spark in attack.

De Bruyne’s performance in numbers

It was confirmed prior to the clash with Ruben Amorim’s Red Devils that De Bruyne would be departing the Citizens come the end of the campaign, bringing his ten-year association with the reigning top-flight champions to an expected halt.

Whilst he will go down as a certain legend at the Etihad having accumulated a sizeable 106 goals and 176 assists from 414 games, his performances this campaign in isolation have left a lot to be desired.

Indeed, the ageing Belgian struggled to ever get going at the Theatre of Dreams, with the declining 33-year-old failing to pick up a single key pass for his troubles, on top of failing to complete a single successful dribble from three attempts.

Haphazardly losing possession 20 times too, it’s evident that the serial trophy winner at City is way past his best now, leading to him hanging up his boots in Manchester come the close of the season.

But, Guardiola will know he has a number of underperformers to deal with ahead of the next campaign at the Etihad, with one City stalwart putting in an even worse performance than De Bruyne on Sunday evening.

The 4/10 City dud who must now be axed

Not even the deadly Omar Marmoush could come away from the stale draw with something to shout about, with four efforts unfortunately passing him by.

Whilst the Egyptian at least looked lively in patches, one of his partners in attack in Phil Foden

cut a lacklustre figure throughout, culminating in Guardiola hooking off the England international just before the hour mark.

It was largely an abject showing from the out-of-form 24-year-old, with only 11 accurate passes tallied up from his meagre 27 touches. Even Man City shot-stopper Ederson would tally up more touches at 30, with Foden constantly finding himself out of the contest, away from attempting to create openings galore.

Failing to register a single successful dribble too, alongside being unable to win any of his duels from five attempted, Foden could find his spot in the starting XI is taken up by a fresher body moving forward, with faces such as Savinho and Jeremy Doku exciting attackers on their day.

Handed a low 4/10 rating by GOAL journalist Adam Drury post-match – who stated that his usual ‘twinkle toes’ constantly sent him down ‘blind alleys’ – this looks to be a decisive point for Foden in his unfolding Citizens career, with next season having to be far better for the Stockport-born talent.

Whilst this campaign might still end with an FA Cup triumph and a Champions League spot to boot, this dour performance against a fragile United shows off how rusty Guardiola’s men have truly become, with Foden needing to shake off these poor displays quick, whilst De Bruyne reaches for the exit door.