Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was thrilled with Bernardo Silva's return to the team and spoke about why he keeps selecting him
Bernardo Silva and Pep Guardiola
Bernardo Silva and Pep Guardiola(Image: )
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Anyone who tuned in for the second half of Manchester City's win against Wolves will have seen more farcical scenes than the delay over Omar Marmoush's penalty shout before the break. As the visitors prepared to take a corner, Bernardo Silva picked out Joao Gomes and Jorgen Strand Larsen trying to obstruct Gianluigi Donnarumma and took it upon himself to physically wrestle them out of the way.
Both men were bigger and stronger than him yet Silva did it anyway, resulting in ludicrous scenes as the two Wolves players laughed in disbelief at what Silva was trying. They overpowered him, but the scrap was enough to stop them getting to Donnarumma in time to impede him.
Silva isn't the antidote to every City issue, as the Manchester derby showed. The captain was poor in a grim 2-0 defeat where the Blues failed to really show any fight or flair. If he leaves at the end of the season when his contract runs out, there is every chance his replacement will rustle up more than the five goal involvements he has in this campaign despite being one of Pep Guardiola's most used players.
Guardiola missed him against Bodo/Glimt though, and was thrilled with his performance against Wolves on Saturday for all the things he contributes that aren't marked by charts. The manager is well aware of how some fans are extremely critical of Silva online - he recently referred to him as 'my weakness' - yet he is not willing to bend.
“I sleep better when I decide to play him in the team and I have to take care of my health,” he said on Saturday. “He’s another type. He’s a competitor and he has fire in his eyes still. Hopefully he can inoculate this fire to the rest of the group.
“How we defend every single ball, how we read what we have to do. The guy who creates excuses forgets the mistakes and he never finds excuses. He is special because of how he competes in every single game. Sometimes he cannot because he is exhausted. He has played the most minutes with me in 10 seasons here, it’s because he’s really good.”
Silva has been important off the pitch this year in his role as captain to reintroduce standards to the dressing room that had been lost. As much as the squad is becoming younger and new, they still need some remnants of the old guard to give them something to aspire to.
Guardiola sees Silva's role as more than that though, which means that he can expect to continue to be picked for the biggest games City have left this season whether it is Premier League, Champions League or cup finals. It won't please everyone, but Guardiola already has the first name on his teamsheet for the biggest games.
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