10 Things We Learned From The English Premier League Football Weekend (15-17 September 2017)

6. Kevin's De Best

Manchester City's Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring their fourth goal
© PETER POWELL/epa/Corbis

Apologies for the tabloid headline. Puns are more or less mandated, or at least an effective brainwashing tool. Besides which, it's accurate: Is there a better player in the Premier League right now than Kevin De Bruyne?

More so than any other top manager, Pep Guardiola has benefited from a surplus of sublime quality. He's never managed a side that isn't capable of great things, which renders him difficult to judge in comparison to his peers - but the decision to deploy De Bruyne in a deeper role speaks to his innate gifts as a tactician. De Bruyne has controlled games with a maestro's aplomb this season, adding to his awesome assist record with a durable, elongated influence. His cross for Sergio Aguero's first goal was pin-point; only the slightest glance was required to break the deadlock. From that point onwards, Manchester City were imperial. This wasn't just tiki-taka technical incision; City hammered a beleaguered Watford side, who are no mugs on early-season form, from all angles. Nicolás Otamendi's contribution was a real English number 9's goal.

It was Aguero, not De Bruyne, who stole the headlines. Comparing an Argentine footballer to Diego Maradona is the coldest of takes - but the run he embarked on to complete his hat-trick was the legend channelled; low centre of gravity, supernatural close control and persistence saw him shatter a record and, perhaps, any notion that this season is not already a two-horse race.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!