Kevin De Bruyne has started a needless battle at Man City

Oh, Kevin De Bruyne.

It's what the Manchester City vice-captain hears at the Etihad multiple times during a match as fans serenade one of the best players they have ever seen. And it's what plenty of supporters ended up sighing when they saw what he had said after the West Ham game.

Asked about how the West Ham goal had affected the crowd, he responded: "Yeah but I don't know why. I can understand that we are not up to the level but they should support us. They know the effort is there 100 per cent and we were still winning 4-1 so I don't understand why it's happening. It's not like [West Ham] created a lot of chances either."

If the mood felt nervous inside the ground, it certainly wasn't helped by the sight of Pep Guardiola on the touchline spending most of the final 30 minutes either on his haunches or with his head in his hands. This was in relation to what was happening on the pitch rather than in the stands because City had gone to pieces.

In the last home game, what should have been a comfortable win over Everton ended with the visitors blowing an 'unacceptable' breakaway in injury time to steal all three points. Before that, the worst United side in Premier League history won despite trailing in the 89th minute; before that, De Bruyne was one of three substitutes to come on against Feyenoord with 15 minutes to go and see a 3-0 lead turn into a draw.

City fans are agitated because they are seeing the same warning signs on the pitch that have seen the team drop so many points in the last few months. Guardiola certainly did not sugarcoat the performance afterwards, so should he be taken to task because he also 'knows the effort is there'?

De Bruyne also risks opening the wider can of worms that is the general