For those that saw both live who was better?

I'm too young to have seen Bell play but Silva is the best I've seen in my lifetime. Better touch, control and calmness on the ball than any player we've ever had. He provides a rhythm and flow to City's play that gets the best out of everyone around him and by looking after the ball so carefully it gives a priceless sense of calm and confidence throughout the rest of the team. Look no further than when he came on against Napoli, it was a total masterclass in how to dictate a game. I'd describe him as a footballer's footballer. What I mean by that is there are a lot of great players but put many of them in a lower league team say and they might not improve it that much, one of Silva's biggest strengths however is combining with the players around him and knowing when to give them the ball exactly where, when and how they want it. He would grace any team and the other 10 would be thanking their lucky stars.

ETA: And he can and does score goals, just maybe a little bit rarer than we'd like but his finishing certainly isn't poor. His goal at Upton Park with a little drop of the shoulder to glide past 3 defenders then find the far corner is still one of my favourites of all time.

 
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Imagine an 18yr old King Colin with our current facilities, resources and Pep's genius -- we'd only need ten men. Also feel if David played back in the day his career would end in the same way as Colin's. So, both in each other's era, very close but Nijinsky's pace gives him the edge imo.
 
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Best is very subjective not totally so ie Aguero v Creaney but for others there will always be debate
Messi v Maradona
Silva v Bell
Pogba v Palmer
For me Silva is outstanding in his era as Bell was in his but they are two different eras and now football is of a higher standard whether Bell with modern training techniques equipment etc would have reached the same level I'm not sure but I suspect he would still have been an outstanding player.
 
Imagine an 18yr old King Colin with our current facilities, resources and Pep's genius -- we'd only need ten men. Also feel if David played back in the day his career would end in the same way as Colin's. So, both in each other's era, very close but Nijinsky's pace gives him the edge imo.


He would be Pep's dream player.

He could just move into pretty much any position on the pitch & do as good or almost as good a job, as the bloke currently playing there.

You just could not play a season back in those days, the way City are playing now, there were just too many heavy, or alternatively dry or frozen weather, hard, pitches & violent opposition individuals, to be able to pass the ball for fun, often to players who are in a small space, surrounded by oppo players, the way City do now. And then leg it around non stop to recover it, week in, week out. Not even a slight chance. It would bobble up off the dry mud, or stick in the wet mud & Ron Harris would break your leg as you tried to control it or dig it out & the ref wouldn't see it & there would be no live TV to alert anyone to it, & 99% of the time, no (edited) TV highlights either, just some bloke writing in a paper, so if you get away with it in week 1, without getting your ankle stomped on, they will try & get you in week 2, there was nobody to stop them. And it would also be far too energy sapping, to close down & press the way we do now, on those pitches.

It's a much more technical & much more athletic, but much much easier, game, the players today are playing.
 
Both absolute legends but completely different players as many have said, so very hard to compare
It would seem more appropriate to compare Colin with KDB, and much as I loved Colin Id have to say KDB is (IMO) the best weve ever had.......as long as he can sustain his level for a few seasons.
 
I'm too young to have seen Bell play but Silva is the best I've seen in my lifetime. Better touch, control and calmness on the ball than any player we've ever had. He provides a rhythm and flow to City's play that gets the best out of everyone around him and by looking after the ball so carefully it gives a priceless sense of calm and confidence throughout the rest of the team. Look no further than when he came on against Napoli, it was a total masterclass in how to dictate a game. I'd describe him as a footballer's footballer. What I mean by that is there are a lot of great players but put many of them in a lower league team say and they might not improve it that much, one of Silva's biggest strengths however is combining with the players around him and knowing when to give them the ball exactly where, when and how they want it. He would grace any team and the other 10 would be thanking their lucky stars.

ETA: And he can and does score goals, just maybe a little bit rarer than we'd like but his finishing certainly isn't poor. His goal at Upton Park with a little drop of the shoulder to glide past 3 defenders then find the far corner is still one of my favourites of all time.



That is an absolutely wonderful goal. I had forgotten that.
A simpler goal, but completely devastating (not only was the entire opposing defence foxed, but nearly all his teammates were, too): away at QPR, November 2011. I've got the photo of him celebrating that on my season card.
 
Best is very subjective not totally so ie Aguero v Creaney but for others there will always be debate
Messi v Maradona
Silva v Bell
Pogba v Palmer
For me Silva is outstanding in his era as Bell was in his but they are two different eras and now football is of a higher standard whether Bell with modern training techniques equipment etc would have reached the same level I'm not sure but I suspect he would still have been an outstanding player.

Silva is unquestionably one of our Greats.

One of the ways football is considered a higher standard is that it is now far easier for good players. Tackling virtually outlawed, offside rules changed, pass back to the keeper banned, even the modern balls are goal friendly. Not to mention now great players are surrounded by the other superb international players the riches of the modern game have bought into the modern English game.

In The Bad Old Days on crap pitches with heavier balls and defenders who can just run through you to take the ball the kind of modern football we are so great at would be much harder to play in the old and brutally physical First Division.

It’s a different game now and one whose differences would magnify the impact of great players from the past. Bell’s scoring record from midfield is tremendous (and he wasn’t even the penalty taker). He would out Lampard Frank Lampard in the modern game. Like Lampard or Yaya in their prime a goalscoring midfielder of such proliferation would be priceless.

Silva is one of The Greats. Absolutely no doubt. Take him back to 1970 and he would still be a great player but his game would suffer from the differences whereas Bell would thrive in the modern game. I have no doubt he would have the character to adapt and still thrive despite the skilled player hostile environment. KDB also. (Nasri on the other hand ...)

This is such a great thread for an old fan and got me thinking.

The Time Lord Cup. Today’s City playing an Early Seventies City XI. Two legs, each played and referreed by the rules and standards of the time including the substitution rules which each team knows in advance.

Who would win?

My take.

Seventies City win at Maine Road in the first leg. We cannot play our normal game and the pitch is more quagmire than grass. Modern fans set the forum ablaze and rail at the referee (who was clearly A Red in league with The FA, Fifa, Sky and probably The Space Vampires to keep modern City down) for fouls and penalties not given and half a dozen players not being sent off. 3-1 to Old City.

The second leg. 21st century city win because the visitors have Doyle sent off in the third minute and play most the second half with nine men or less. Afraid to tackle and unable to adapt on the fly to the bewildering speed and precision of the modern game they lose to Modern City by five or more goals.

Pep then slips The Doctor a tasty wedge to leave King Col behind in exchange for Mangala, who thanks to his awesome ball distribution skills goes on to form a legendary defensive partnership with Dave Watson.

Modern City fans hail Bell as ‘The New Yaya’ while Southgate is heard to say ‘Jordan who?’ and makes him Captain and lynchpin of The England team.

Bell scores twenty goals in his first season, including a hat trick in the notorious 8-1 ‘Old Trafford Massacre’.

Swamp forums continue to maintain Fellaini is the better player and New Coke was vastly underrated. Given two Time Traveller slots Mourinho adds Nobby Styles and Joe Jordan to his squad and sends Martial down to B&Q to pick out a new Trophy Cabinet.

Chelsea’s attempt to bolster their right back position with club legend Ron ‘Chopper’ Harris comes to a premature end when he is arrested on the pitch for criminal assault within the first 15 minutes of his debut.

Billy Bremner and Tommy Smith are hastily added to the No Time Travel List maintained by The Home Office. Norman ‘Bites Yer Legs’ Hunter withdraws his application.
 
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