Kevin De Bruyne says Man City’s medical center has been ‘a bit chaotic’ amid club’s injury crisis as he opens up about his own painful problem

Kevin De Bruyne has described the inner sanctum of Manchester City’s training ground as chaotic during a month that threatened to derail their season and saw him fail to kick a football without pain passing through his abdomen.

Battling rough waters, City need a win against Feyenoord on Tuesday night, not only for their Champions League campaign but also for the general mood in a place that has suffered five defeats in a row, its worst run since Stuart Pearce thought pushing David James up front was a good idea. .

De Bruyne is indicative of their problems, having played just 38 minutes since mid-September. The groin injury suffered against Brentford did not appear particularly worrying – De Bruyne started a goalless draw against Inter four days later – but ultimately kept him out for two months. He’s been training for almost four weeks and doesn’t trust his body on game days.

“Every time I shot the ball I felt very, very bad pain,” De Bruyne said. “Anything around the nerves was creating pain in my groin. I was trying to find methods to improve myself, to regain my power but it took a long time. It only got better on Friday, I don’t know why, I can’t explain it.

They are undoubtedly missing the 33-year-old, who will need to be handled carefully by Pep Guardiola. De Bruyne firmly told City he was not fit enough to play for a while, but he saw others suffer the pain of defeats at Brighton and Bournemouth.

The physio room has been a revolving door and only now are City starting to welcome back a proper team – even if Rodri’s deputy Mateo Kovacic is out for weeks. This presents other issues to resolve and City were too easy for Tottenham to play this weekend.

“It’s been a bit chaotic, I’ve seen so many people moving around the medical area,” added De Bruyne.

“Seeing who’s playing, who’s not playing, people who shouldn’t be playing but did due to injury, we were all over the place in these games. Everyone’s a little down but we have to move on thing.

There are two things that will be chasing Guardiola’s dreams right now: obviously the economic slowdown and how to stop an alarming decline in results, but also the long-term rebuild. Is De Bruyne, at the end of his contract this summer, included? He has started just 19 of the 50 league matches since winning the treble.

Guardiola explained how the Belgian – who skipped his international duty this month – will decide whether he still feels able to perform at his best. City appear to be leaving the decision in the hands of their talisman, who has confirmed no discussions have taken place over a renewal while MLS interest rumbles in the background. “There’s no rush, I’m not uncomfortable,” De Bruyne said.

City are uncomfortable, however, and De Bruyne, under scrutiny for much of the campaign, has noticed the tendency not to react to setbacks. Guardiola disputed the suggestion after Tottenham’s 4-0 defeat, but was subsequently renowned for publicly backing his players to the end.

Despite this, he was honest in admitting that, by City’s mountainous standards, it could turn out to be a bad season. And there has been a warning to his players not to simply hand Liverpool the Premier League title.

“We come from there,” he said, pointing to the sky. “So we can only go down if we lose. It’s nice. I think we deserve a little patience when we lose games. It won’t be a big waste.

“You’re defending a legacy, a tradition, a success and it’s so difficult to deal with. If we can’t do that, let’s try to focus on short periods and win the next games. What I want is commitment from the players to continue doing what we have to do. We will congratulate the team that wins our crown because they deserve it, not because we deliver it to them, give it to them.

In recent weeks, Guardiola has become more expressive. On Friday, in front of Tottenham, he leaned menacingly over his desk and on Monday watched this whirlwind of agitated movements in the same seat. He will not back down, he will double down.

“What should I change? If I changed in the first season when I was asked to change, maybe we won’t win six Premier Leagues in seven years. The desire to change is there and we will try.

“A good result can change our minds. It’s unusual, yeah. We have won a lot. We reflect but in this situation we must return more directly to our principles. Don’t think about changing much, less than ever.

“I always thought when we won, This Too Shall Pass and right now, This Too Shall Pass. In life, nothing is forever.