“I’m very different from them. They are very fast players that can take one or two players in a few seconds that can kill a game.”
It’s fair to say the challenge facing Bernardo Silva is not an easy one. Both Leroy Sane and Raheem Sterling are enjoying the best football of their careers under Pep Guardiola this season, while Manchester City also possess two of the best No10s in the business in Kevin De Bruyne and David Silva – the position the Portuguese international grew up playing in.
Bernardo has featured almost exclusively as a right-winger for City since his arrival in the summer from Monaco, switching from a central position to a wide role, with just a handful of appearances in his natural position of attacking midfield so far this season.
So how does Bernardo stand out up against two of the Premier League’s most exciting wingers, who have been directly involved in a combined 55 goals since the start of the campaign?
“I try to do different things and the manager helps me every day to learn and to see what I can do to help the team. Sometimes I cut inside, sometimes I stay wide. I try to do my best,” he told Sport360 during City’s visit to Abu Dhabi.
“Of course, I wanted to be as fast as I could. Especially when you play on the wings you have to try and be fast. I did all of my formation playing as an offensive midfielder in the middle, so my position naturally is not wide.
“But when I moved to Monaco I started playing a lot and now I feel good there. Even though I’m not fast and usually in these kind of positions you need a bit of agility and rapidity to take on one or two players sometimes.”
Bernardo Silva on the ball for Manchester City.
At just 23-years-old, Bernardo has a long Manchester City career ahead of him and while he acknowledges his natural position is more central, he’s happy to do whatever he can to benefit Guardiola’s side.
If he’s finding the going tough, he knows he can look for inspiration in the form of two compatriots he looked up to growing up, who were able to showcase their qualities in both the No10 role and a wider position.
“In the long run I see myself wherever is best for the team. When you have players like Kevin, David and Gundo (Ilkay Gundogan), that can play those positions it’s difficult to find the space as well,” he admitted.
“But I did all of my formation as a player from seven until 19 playing in the middle in those kind of positions, so I’m used to that. When I was young I liked Rui Costa. He was playing wide sometimes, but mostly in the middle.
“Deco as well, sometimes he played wide as well, and he’s not that fast. When you don’t have these kind of attributes, you have to compensate with other things and that’s what I try to do.
“[In Portugal] we have a lot of wingers as well. Cristiano [Ronaldo], Nani, Simao and Ricardo Quaresma. I think the work the teams do in Portugal to develop the players has been fantastic, and now we have a good team to try and do something at the World Cup.”
