Bernardo Silva’s excellent form with Manchester City hasn’t been ignored in Portugal. The player has now joined the national team squad as a star, and the local press is expecting great things from him.
This Wednesday, newspaper O Jogo has a story trying to say that he works better when playing centrally. And to confirm that, they’ve contacted three different managers who think the same.
Apart from the squad analysis, we’ve selected a few quotes about the Manchester City player, as one of the coaches interviewed has even compared him to Lionel Messi.
“Vagabond was what they used to call this type of player. And it’s not possible to castrate an element of these by setting a fixed position. Clearly he performs better in interior zones, because he thinks the game, he breaks and he dribbles, also finishes,” said Carlos Azenha, former coach of Portimonense and Vitória de Setúbal.
“Bernardo is a talent of nature, perhaps the greatest talent in the national team. And when a team is lucky enough to have such a talent, you have to realise clearly that it is a type of player who can’t have a fixed position. He is a player very close to Messi. He can have the ball on his feet, go straight to the opponent, look for the dribble and create spaces.”
Manuel José has claimed that Bernardo shouldn’t be playing on the wings: “I like it better to see Bernardo on the inside because he has no explosion to play on the wings. There is no speed to get out of the dribble and physically he’s not very strong either. In the central zone, although there is greater density, he doesn’t get so limited and manages to find space to let go.”
Oriental coach Antonio Pereira has agreed with that: “I don’t think Bernardo can be a winger since he’s not very fast. For me, he’s a ten, to play near the striker, or eight at the inside. It doesn’t seem to me that leaning against the line is a good asset, because this will remove the decision-making ability closer to the area, to pass or finish, which is what he does well.”
