Pep Guardiola sends message to Kevin De Bruyne over form struggles

Pep Guardiola has urged Kevin De Bruyne to go back to basics in his quest to rediscover his best form.

The Manchester City midfielder is widely regarded as one of the best players on the planet but, after missing two games through illness, has attracted plenty of criticism from fans for his sluggish return to action.

Guardiola has confessed to needing to speak with De Bruyne at half-time of his return against Forest because the Belgian was being 'too passive', but the 31-year-old followed that up with a sloppy showing against Newcastle which saw him hooked on the hour mark.

Despite De Bruyne's drop in form, Guardiola insisted it is just a matter of time before his midfield maestro is back to his best.

""Kevin, always the standards of Kevin are the sky," Guardiola said. "Everyone knows his level. In one week he has an opportunity to show his quality, delighted for the victory we had, this is what we have to do. Come back to principles, work hard.

"Everything will come back without any effort. Just do it your usual quality, your best."

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Taking De Bruyne's place against Newcastle was Bernardo Silva, who Guardiola was happy to shower with praise.

"Bernardo has never been a top top scorer or assists but he helps us to play better," the City boss said. "Something that is unique, Bernardo is unique to make all of us play better, be aggressive and play our rhythm that we need to play to make us play better.

"The game in some moments is so quick, sometimes it is necessary, but sometimes not. Bernardo helps us to to play in a different pause to after make explosion. Bernardo is unique in the world to help us do this."

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