Bernardo Silva is a special case. Pep Guardiola is not one to be too effusive in his praise of players, but he gushes over his captain’s performances most weeks. Why? Simply because Bernardo is timeless; his display against Arsenal was transformative for Manchester City’s title chances.
The 31-year-old is of course an expert in this area. Along with a small handful of others remaining at City, he knows very well the ins and outs of a title-winning campaign.
But this metronome of Manchester City, a six-time champion, is in scarce company when it comes to truly understanding the intricacies of becoming a Premier League winner over an entire campaign. Perhaps only Rodri and Erling Haaland (of those starting against Arsenal) can be categorized in the same way.
Bernardo has been there since the start of Guardiola’s reign and confirmed last week that this will be his final season in Manchester. A poetic ending might still claim another title. It would be fitting for a player so indestructible. Few have the class or the composure to surpass every iteration of Guardiola’s City. Bernardo does.
His specialty is with the ball and yet what impressed most against Arsenal were the things he did without it. Rayan Cherki will get all the credit for setting the tone with a spectacular opener, but if you see the whimsy of the run that creates confusion for those trying to intercept the goalscorer, it’s Bernardo who does it. Declan Rice is busy.
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Rayan Cherki gives Man City the lead in their Premier League clash with Arsenal
When Kai Havertz goes through 1v1 with Gianluigi Donnarumma, with the scoring level, it is Bernardo who leans on him to throw him off balance. When Martin Odegaard is gone, Bernardo tracks him down. And when City were under the cosh late on, it was the Portuguese playmaker who produced a decisive clearing header to beat Viktor Gyokeres in the air.
The act prompted Haaland to compare him to Italian great Fabio Cannavaro.
Most of this work goes unnoticed by the untrained eye. But not Pep. “I just feel gratitude, if I talk a lot, I will cry one day,” reflected the boss in his press conference. “From the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you have done. Bernardo proves that football starts here,” he added, pointing to his head.
The intelligence is what Guardiola, who once joked about his desire to field 11 Bernardo Silvas, loves. “Without him, my nine years would be so, so different. He’s special.”
Underrated players like Bernardo are rarely so unique in their reading of the game. The vision and complementary skill with which to execute every pass in the book is rare. This season, only Matheus Nunes can boast a higher number of passes, while no Man City player beats his number of attempted passes in the final third (583).
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Gary Neville says Manchester City can smell the title after their decisive win over Arsenal and says Bernardo Silva put in an “above-and-beyond” performance
But only by recreating the function of a traditional central midfielder can one accurately analyze Bernardo’s role for City. He is the key to every phase. A technician and a warrior. Out of possession he organizes, beats the press, intercepts and tackles like a terrier. In total, he has covered 327 km in distance this season, which is almost 40 km further than second best Haaland.
On the ball, he is closer than anyone to being as gifted as Kevin De Bruyne. And therefore, along with the great Belgian, he will be the most difficult of anyone to replace.
There is no copy of De Bruyne’s genius, just as there is no copy of Bernardo. And yet the latter goes completely against the profile of new-age midfielders. He is not tall in stature or physically imposing. Joking in a video with teammate Ruben Dias last week, he stated: “I don’t do gymnastics – it’s for the guys who don’t know how to play with the ball.”
Positionally, Bernardo is almost always spot on. Cleverness over sprints (a metric he ranks 46th among league midfielders). But when the vantage point is two steps ahead, pace and raw power become indispensable assets. Haaland calls him “the smartest player he has ever played with”.
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Erling Haaland believes that Bernardo Silva is the ‘smartest player’ he has ever played with
And so, to close the chapter on Bernardo’s Manchester City career, this summer will mark another poignant switch. A sign that Guardiola’s end is certainly near as well. There is perhaps no player who better defines the Spaniard’s decade in charge.
But for now, his influence on City’s latest charge towards the title is keenly felt. A player, as Gary Neville puts it, who just “grabs a game”, much in the same way that Paul Scholes did during Manchester United’s unimaginable era of success. The control, the dominance, the ability to speed up and down at will. It’s Bernardo Silva.
452 games into his unrivaled City career, he remains remarkably exceptional.