Manchester City – Leeds: Bernardo Silva, back in favor

The years go by, the recruits parade, and Bernardo Silva still remains one of the essential elements of Manchester City. Arrived in the summer of 2017, the ex-player of AS Monaco is probably like good wine. The older he gets (he’s only 27, after all …) the better he gets. We can even predict without batting an eyelid that the 2021-2022 vintage promises to be one of the best of recent years. With seven goals in the Premier League, the Portuguese is even the top scorer for Pep Guardiola’s team, who continues to savor the performance of his number 20. He has even scored five goals … in the last six matches.

“He is a player of another level. He has special qualities and he can do whatever he wants. When a player has this talent, it depends on him, said Pep Guardiola after Silva’s double against Watford. Bernardo Silva was the best player in the league two or three seasons ago and he’s the best right now. You have to look at the tapes from three years ago, when we had 98 points, and you see the player he is now. “Yes, even better, probably. By his vision of the game, his technique or his tactical sense, Bernardo Silva is probably the dream player for any coach. With, what is more, an ideal personality for a locker room. plays or not, the one who was trained at Benfica never has a word higher than the other, even when he goes through more complicated times.

A loss of speed, and then …

In difficulty these last two seasons, the Portuguese international had even lost his place in the starting eleven. Without his usual genius, sometimes overwhelmed by the intensity of a match, he clearly seemed destined for a start last summer. Even if, last season, Bernardo Silva could boast five goals and nine assists in 45 matches. We have seen worse returns. But between the arrival of Jack Grealish, the explosiveness of Riyad Mahrez and a still very important traffic jam in front of the Skyblues side, the end point of the story seemed registered. Rumors of a breakup escalated, with many clubs on the lookout to get him back. The British press then speculated on an arrival at AC Milan or Atlético Madrid. In vain. Under contract until 2025 with City, the Portuguese has a solid gold contract.

Replaced in the middle of the field in the traditional 4-3-3 of his trainer, Bernardo Silva has finally recovered his superb this season. “At the moment, it’s impossible to take him out of the team. Considering what he has achieved this season, it is difficult to find the equivalent of a player like him in Europe or in the world.“, welcomed Guardiola after a recent victory against Everton. He had then aligned in false 9, as against PSG. It is a solution that the Spanish technician does not hesitate to use in case of need. ’emergency.

“My opinion is that he is one of the best players in the world today., enthused Gabriel Jesus a few weeks ago. Its quality is incredible and it has something else: it is that it runs a lot. He is a player that I like because he has a lot of qualities, everyone knows that. He works hard every day. When you watch him play soccer, you like him a lot. For me, he’s one of the best players in the world right now. “Even his teammates are under the spell, almost admiring the return to favor of a player who has always shown it. Pep Guardiola does not deprive himself any more, not hesitating to start him fifteen times out of sixteen in Premier League, and five out of six in the Champions League.

Shining with City, Bernardo Silva will also have to be with his selection next March. Turkey first, then probably Italy next, the Portuguese international will certainly be part of the play-offs at the 2022 World Cup which promises to be hot. “I can not find the words, he confided last November after the fatal defeat against Serbia. We need to do more than we have done today. We have dams where we will give the best of ourselves. At home, with 65,000 people, we had to do better. I want to apologize because the supporters saw a game they shouldn’t have seen. “It’s up to him to play so that they can at least be part of the trip to Qatar.