De Bruyne ‘controls pitch’ better than Gerrard or Lampard did, say ex-Prem star

Manchester City ace Kevin De Bruyne controls the pitch better than England legends Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard did in their playing days, according to ex-goalkeeper David James.

But James, 52, stopped short of labelling De Bruyne a better player than his former midfield counterparts as the Belgium international has had the luxury of playing on modern pitches – which Gerrard and Lampard missed out on before they both went into management. Gerrard's gone onto take the reins at Aston Villa since hanging up his boots, while Lampard's trying his luck in Everton's dugout.

Plus, James reckons De Bruyne's benefitted by having the likes of ex-City striker Sergio Aguero, Gabriel Jesus – who moved to Arsenal in the summer, and new goal-scoring phenomenon Erling Haaland up front to finish off his assists. And its the aforementioned trio's prowess infront of goal that's put De Bruyne ahead of Gerrard and Lampard in the all-time Premier League assists rankings, James thinks.

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De Bruyne recently overtook Gerrard in the Prem assist rankings when he setup team-mate Jack Grealish for City's first goal in their 3-0 win over Wolves. It was the 31-year-old's sixth assist in seven Prem games this season, and 92nd in 217 appearances in the top-tier division.

Former Liverpool anchorman Gerrard only managed to reach the same amount of assists in 504 Prem games – which is 287 more matches than De Bruyne took to reach the milestone. And De Bruyne's on the cusp of leapfrogging Lampard's record of 102 assists that he attained in 609 Prem appearances for Chelsea.

When asked about De Bruyne overtaking Gerrard, James mulled to the Games Cabin: "It’s unfair to say he’s better than Steven Gerrard because they haven’t played on the same pitches. The conditions we had to play in 15 years ago were different to the more modern pitches that Kevin De Bruyne is used to.

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"Kevin De Bruyne has had the best team in England to play with, so whether it’s been Erling Haaland, Sergio Agüero or Gabriel Jesus, then those are some very good forwards to finish off the chances you create for them. When Kevin De Bruyne is on his game, then he’s incredible.

"It’s like the game is played at his tempo. I can’t remember Steven Gerrard or Frank Lampard controlling the whole pitch like Kevin does. They both, however, possessed a high level of ball control, passing ability, and they scored a lot of goals between them.

"Kevin De Bruyne paroles that pitch, and when he’s on it, Manchester City scores lots of goals and wins football matches so often. I don’t want to say that one player’s better than the other, but in the modern game, you’re not going to find a better midfielder than Kevin De Bruyne at the moment."

And De Bruyne will have the opportunity to increase his assist tally when City take on bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday. The reigning Prem Champions welcome a revitalised United to the Etihad in a game that could see them return to the summit of the league if current top spot holders Arsenal lose to Tottenham on Saturday.

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