20 | Bernardo Silva - 2021/22 Performances

[kaz7]

I think Bernardo is a great squad player, but I just cannot see how anyone can think he is even close to be the best player in PL. If someone would have come with 50m he would be gone. Any team in the world would take at least: Dias, Foden, KDB, Grealish for 50m. So every club in the world is blind?

If you ask here if Bernardo had a great last season, most would say he was one of the best for the team, but I just checked stats.
Mahrez, Jesus, KDB, Foden and Grealish all have: more goals, more assists, more dribbles per match, more key passes per match than Bernardo. KDB basically has 4 times more key passes per game!! Gundogan also beats Bernardo in all stats except for dribbling. Even Rodri has the same amount of goals and key passes per game as Bernardo last season. How can you be the best PL player with stats like that when you are an offensive player?

And it's not like Bernardo has the tempo to dominate like Xavi or he breaks defenses like Iniesta or Modric.

He is a great squad player who brings cohesion, great pressing and energy, but to say he is the best PL player or even the best PL of the season so far? Is everyone other than City fans blind?

Lol

 

[kaz7]

I love him so much, he is quite the character

 

[Otamendi's Beard]

His ability to manipulate the ball, while at speed, while outfoxing an opponent pressing him, is unrivalled.

His energy and spirit is also vital in the big games. He's not captain material but it's a very valuable leadership trait.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

I think Bernardo is a great squad player, but I just cannot see how anyone can think he is even close to be the best player in PL. If someone would have come with 50m he would be gone. Any team in the world would take at least: Dias, Foden, KDB, Grealish for 50m. So every club in the world is blind?

If you ask here if Bernardo had a great last season, most would say he was one of the best for the team, but I just checked stats.
Mahrez, Jesus, KDB, Foden and Grealish all have: more goals, more assists, more dribbles per match, more key passes per match than Bernardo. KDB basically has 4 times more key passes per game!! Gundogan also beats Bernardo in all stats except for dribbling. Even Rodri has the same amount of goals and key passes per game as Bernardo last season. How can you be the best PL player with stats like that when you are an offensive player?

And it's not like Bernardo has the tempo to dominate like Xavi or he breaks defenses like Iniesta or Modric.

He is a great squad player who brings cohesion, great pressing and energy, but to say he is the best PL player or even the best PL of the season so far? Is everyone other than City fans blind?

I think your basic premise here is wrong. Bernardo isn't an attacking player anymore, not primarily anyway. He spent large parts of yesterday's game alongside Rodri in the heart of midfield. He played like a more skillful N'golo Kanté yesterday, and that's really the kind of player he should be compared to in his current guise. And N'golo Kanté has won several individual awards and been shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or.

I'm also generally a fan of stats as it's good to get some objective data points to augment what is a very subjective sport when it comes to player assessment. However, there are certain actions, and by extension player roles, that are not captured by publicly available data sources like whoscored.com

Things like blocking passing lanes, pressing a counterattacking player into turning back, harrying someone into giving the ball away with a wayward pass, etc.

Defensive players are usually hugely underrated on whoscored.com for this reason. Sure you can see how many clearances someone made, but you can't see how many crosses didn't come into the box in the first place because someone closed the opponent down and made them pass the ball backwards instead. There's no metric for that

Then there's qualitative data that requires context. We can see number of passes, pass completion, key passes etc., but what we can't see skimming over the numbers is things like releasing a pass under pressure that takes two pressing opponents out of the game

Bernardo excels at these intangibles. People rightly talk about his work rate and his desire, but he also has incredible poise and intelligence to go with it

 

[ninjamonkey]

Calling his dog John Stones gets him player of the year award already in my book. Amazing.

 

[Brightwell Bros.]

Would be hilarious if we shift to a type of 4-2-3-1, with Bernie in that defensive 2 linking up the defence and the attack, and win the league with it given how United are trying and failing terribly with that formation.

 

[hihosilva]

Fantastic performance yesterday, up there with his best. His work rate is just incredible which is even more remarkable considering i hear he smokes 20 a day.

 

[city warrior]

I think your basic premise here is wrong. Bernardo isn't an attacking player anymore, not primarily anyway. He spent large parts of yesterday's game alongside Rodri in the heart of midfield. He played like a more skillful N'golo Kanté yesterday, and that's really the kind of player he should be compared to in his current guise. And N'golo Kanté has won several individual awards and been shortlisted for the Ballon d'Or.

I'm also generally a fan of stats as it's good to get some objective data points to augment what is a very subjective sport when it comes to player assessment. However, there are certain actions, and by extension player roles, that are not captured by publicly available data sources like whoscored.com

Things like blocking passing lanes, pressing a counterattacking player into turning back, harrying someone into giving the ball away with a wayward pass, etc.

Defensive players are usually hugely underrated on whoscored.com for this reason. Sure you can see how many clearances someone made, but you can't see how many crosses didn't come into the box in the first place because someone closed the opponent down and made them pass the ball backwards instead. There's no metric for that

Then there's qualitative data that requires context. We can see number of passes, pass completion, key passes etc., but what we can't see skimming over the numbers is things like releasing a pass under pressure that takes two pressing opponents out of the game

Bernardo excels at these intangibles. People rightly talk about his work rate and his desire, but he also has incredible poise and intelligence to go with it

I agree, I love Bernardo, but last season he was not as defensive as this one, and still most people were saying he was one of the best.

I agree that he has been one of the best this season and that his position has changed, but I just cannot see how he is even close to being the best PL player and that was my answer directed to.

The best measure (still imperfect) is to watch matches and see what other clubs and managers think about our squad. I don’t see how any manager in the world would choose Bernardo ahead of Dias, Foden or KDB for their team. And Pep is included here.

It’s like you have to think that every City player is one of the best in the world to be a fan. We have 3 stars, 5-7 great squad players, and some good players.

 

[city warrior]

Extend it and double his money, piss him off as much as possible

LOL

Bernard Silva is a magnificent player who would get into any of the best teams in the world.

Still upset about Rat boys miss?

And where did I say he isn’? I am saying he is far from the best PL player and that he is far from best City player. He is still a great squad player. Do I have to think that we have only KDB and Dias in every position to be a fan? Do I have to think that David Silva was better than Xavi or Iniesta? Aguero better than Ronaldo, Suarez or Lewandowski?

No, I don’t think so. And I don’t think any manager in the world would say that, and that doesn’t make me less of a fan.

 

[FromPollockToSilva]

I agree, I love Bernardo, but last season he was not as defensive as this one, and still most people were saying he was one of the best.

I agree that he has been one of the best this season and that his position has changed, but I just cannot see how he is even close to being the best PL player and that was my answer directed to.

The best measure (still imperfect) is to watch matches and see what other clubs and managers think about our squad. I don’t see how any manager in the world would choose Bernardo ahead of Dias, Foden or KDB for their team. And Pep is included here.

It’s like you have to think that every City player is one of the best in the world to be a fan. We have 3 stars, 5-7 great squad players, and some good players.

Ho offence meant but this sounds a bit like the views of a FIFA player who is trying to assign objective ratings to footballers.

What other managers think of our players is utterly irrelevant unless they coach their team identically to Pep Guardiola. It's horses for courses.

The classic example is Zinchenko. Would most teams take him as a left-back? No. Is he one of very few players who are good enough to play inverted fullback for Pep? Yes indeed.