Football

Overlooked and underrated, Bernardo Silva embodies Man City’s restored ruthlessness


Bernardo Silva piled the pressure back in Liverpool (Picture: Getty)

In a team boasting the likes of Lionel Messi, Xaxi and Andres Iniesta at Barcelona, Pep Guardiola had his own personal favourite in the unassuming Pedro.

Guardiola rejected advice from the club’s technical staff to get rid of Pedro and integrated him into the first-team when he made the step-up to first team manager in 2008.

Pedro, bound to Guardiola by the faith shown in him when others were willing to cast him off, was a symbol of the manager’s philosophy and repaid the manager’s loyalty by sticking almost religiously to his tactics

In the post-Ronaldinho era, Pedro was a reminder to the galaxy of stars at the club that the team came first and he remained a constant in arguably the greatest club side ever produced between 2008 and 2011.

Bernardo Silva was already an established talent by the time he arrived at the Etihad but the parallels between the two, in the way in which they operate and are used by Guardiola, are striking.

Silva scored the first and set-up the second (Picture: AP)

Floundering after a disastrous 2-1 defeat to Newcastle, Manchester City knew only a win against title rivals Liverpool would keep their hopes of retaining the Premier League alive.

No team in the league can live with City when they click but their win at the Etihad that night was far from eye-catching. Instead it was a homage to hard work and determination.

Silva set a Premier League record that night for distance covered [13.7km], beating the previous record which he set earlier in the campaign against Tottenham.

City have now recovered from that period of complacency that saw defeats against Crystal Palace, Newcastle and Leicester, and it’s no coincidence that Silva continues to start ahead of the likes of Riyad Mahrez and Leroy Sane, who are often considered too free-spirited to adhere to Guardiola’s system.

Silva’s already managed 11 more starts this season compared to last season’s Premier League campaign and his performance against Fulham was a symbol of City’s renewed focus.

After witnessing Liverpool’s struggles at Craven Cottage City were keen to make a quick start and they hounded Manchester United loanee Timothy-Fosu Mensah into relinquishing possession inside his own half after just four minutes in west London.

Sergio Aguero pounced on the loose ball and laid it off for the supporting Silva, who curled a neat effort past Sergio Rico.

City were already completely at ease and Fulham, without the injured Aleksandar Mitrovic, already looked as though it was a case of damage limitations given their system of five at the back.

The damage came again though just before the half-hour mark when Silva turned provider and played in Aguero as repayment for his opener. The Argentine shuffled past Calum Chambers and smashed into the top corner from close range to effectively tie up the game.

City are back into top spot (Picture: Getty)

The goal took Silva’s tally for the season to seven in the league but his stats fail to tell the full story of what has been an impressive campaign.

PFA Player of the Year votes are bizarrely conducted in February and the winner will almost certainly be team-mate Raheem Sterling or Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk.

Silva, though probably not worthy of the main prize itself, stakes a strong claim as ‘best of the rest’ for his performances this term.

The midfielder is affectionately known as ‘Bubblegum’ by his team-mates because the ball seems to stick to his feet when he’s in possession and he’s endearingly shy of the field for someone so charismatic on it.

Personal accolades are unlikely to come Silva’s way but they’re not what he craves.  The support of Guardiola appears enough.

MORE: Lionel Messi names Eden Hazard and Sergio Aguero in his top five players in the world





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