Bernardo Silva could be set for a big season at Manchester City. Silva has started well for Manchester City and looks ready to seize a key role. Adam Bate looks at the reasons why the player could have a bigger impact this season…
Only goalkeeper Ederson and player of the year Kevin De Bruyne were involved in more games than Bernardo Silva in Manchester City’s title-winning season. The problem for Silva was that 13 of his team-mates made more starts. He was present but peripheral. Always available but rarely given the opportunity to take centre stage.
The early signs are that this could change in his second season with the club – both figuratively and literally. Operating in a central role, it was Silva’s crashing first-time shot that settled the game in City’s favour in their 2-0 win over Arsenal. This came after he had been even more impressive in the Community Shield win over Chelsea.
Pep Guardiola was typically effusive in his praise following that display at Wembley. “The performance of Bernardo Silva was a masterpiece,” he said. “Right now, it is Bernardo and 10 players more. Right now. But in 11 months it depends on what they show me on the pitch. Bernardo is far away from other guys, so that is why, at the moment, he plays.
“He is so intelligent, he is clever. He is a fighter, a competitor. I think he is the guy most beloved in our team and today he showed me a lot of things. He came back earlier and that showed me again a lot of things and that is one of the reasons we won today. It was for many reasons. One of the reasons was Bernardo.”
Guardiola’s reference to Silva’s superior conditioning was evident in the stats against Arsenal too. He covered 12.68 kilometres – over a kilometre more than any of his team-mates but also more than anyone on the opposition line-up, despite the fact that they were the team chasing the ball. Silva just never stopped moving.
Bernardo covered the most ground of any player on the pitch in Sunday’s game
City needed this sort of form from him. By deploying Silva in the middle rather than out wide on the right, Guardiola has not only been able to accommodate his £60m club-record signing Riyad Mahrez but also ease the key pairing of David Silva and De Bruyne back to full fitness too. Bernardo Silva has plugged a gap but he has done so in style.
He is far from a novice in the position, of course. The 24-year-old Portugal international wore the No 10 shirt at Monaco and played that role intermittently with the club. But, for a number of reasons, he could be used there much more often at City this season.
There were signs against Arsenal that Guardiola is keen to evolve the team’s approach. That is perhaps no surprise given that three of the back four – Benjamin Mendy, Aymeric Laporte and John Stones – started only 29 Premier League games between them last season. Their increased involvement naturally changes the shape of this City side.