David Silva - 2016/17 performances

[Vienna_70]

I thought that was me losing the plot a bit. Ill take the cotton bud out in a minute.
De Browner
De Brannye
De Branner

Think they may have been sat near some European Commentators and wanted to sound intouch with their continental side? Almost as embarrasing as me being in Ibiza trying to order Duos Cerveza por favor from the all inclusive beer when they understood my English much better

Only three?

We thought there were a few more than that!

 

[Vienna_70]

His critics say he only plays 6 yard passes ... but it is always the right 6 yard pass to the right player at exactly the right time.

The beautiful delayed pass to Nolito that set up our first on Sunday was a bit further than six yards.

As was the one to Edin in Trafford on 23/10/11!

 

[jimharri]

The beautiful delayed pass to Nolito that set up our first on Sunday was a bit further than six yards.

As was the one to Edin in Trafford on 23/10/11!

Don't be so silly. Anyone can see the pass at the Meccano set was a fluke; he shinned it, FFS!

 

[Yarisken]

 

[kaz7]

He is so humble and polite,i love him so much i could squeeze him lol

 

[Larry Stranger]

Article from Squawka

Post-match

How silky Silva proved he can be Lopetegui’s main man for Spain
By Muhammad Butt

Posted on September 1, 2016

For the longest time, David Silva was the odd-one-out in Spain’s greatest ever side. He was an ever-present through all three of their historic cup wins. But unlike Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Cesc Fabregas, he was never a protagonist.

He was there, sure and occasionally managed to score (including the first in the Euro 2012 final), but was never fundamental and often looked out of place.
But now, at the age of 30, he has found himself in a more important position. Especially so today as Iniesta’s injury means that he was the senior attacking player in the squad and he absolutely lived up to the responsibility.

With Pep Guardiola coaching him at club level, the former Valencia playmaker has been looking like he’s at the peak of his powers once more, playing with a keen tactical intelligence.
Guardiola has moved him from the wings into a central role, ostensibly a “central midfielder” but in actuality he has more attacking freedom thanks to the structure of Guardiola’s 4-3-3.

He’s also been moved from the right side to the left, encouraging Silva to be less predictable in his movements as he now has more angles than simply the “cut in on right-foot and shoot or pass” trick available to him. And he has embraced that role, starring alongside De Bruyne in City’s central zone.
However unlike De Bruyne, his opponent today, Silva has carried that form in to the national side. He was dominant today. Scoring the opening goal of the game, sweeping home a deflected pass from Diego Costa after a lovely team-move that he began.

He then added a second via the penalty spot and continued to run the show until Lopetegui showed mercy on the Belgians and removed him with 15 minutes to go.

Silva was given a standing ovation for his omnipresent display. He was so good from his position of left-wing that he ended up roaming and killing Belgium whenever he had the ball.

But in particular he formed a delightful double act with Koke on the left-flank. Despite both players being only moderately quick, they would routinely form passing combinations with a third player (Costa and Alba were the most common ones). That interplay would nearly always bamboozle Belgium and see a man run free.

If Spain had more pace coming from their right-flank then they would have managed to probably do more damage than they did. Vitolo played well and did play a part in both goals, but he’s not lightning quick and that can blunt the Spanish attack.
Were Spain to deploy Lucas Vázquez, Mikel Oyarzabal or Iñaki Williams on the right of their front three; they would have a player less refined and obviously lacking in the kind of experience Vitolo has (the way he suckered Jordan Lukaku in to win the penalty for Spain’s second goal was delightfully savvy play), but they would also have a direct young winger bursting with pace and confidence.

This would be a better compliment to the artful link-play on the left-flank and provide a better outlet for Silva’s creative powers. After all, as well as Vitolo played today Spain won’t have the fortune to play a left-back as naive as Lukaku.

But going forward they will be able to feature a more confident and controlled David Silva, a playmaker that is now more capable of dominating for Spain as a protagonist.

And when they add the living legend that is Andrés Iniesta to this superb midfield unit that already has featured a masterclass from Sergio Busquets and Silva after just one game under Lopetegui, the Spanish will head to Russia in 2018 looking to regain the crown they surrendered so meekly in 2014.

 

[rnblade]

Pep obviously has the magician in his plans to play the new way. Encouraging and exciting. Dave & Kev DB will be tearing defences to shreds this season !

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

I hope it's not for a good few years yet, but when the time comes for him to leave, I hope the East Stand is re-named the David Silva stand.

Quite simply our best player in our best ever team. He was there for the first trophy of the modern era, the first league title, and hopefully has a few more medals to his name by the time he leaves.

He is the player I will be telling my grandkids about, not only because of his talent, but because of his humility and professionism. So many similarities to King Colin in that way, it would be a fitting tribute.

There must be a lot of red faces from last season who wrote him off way too early. Form is temporary, class is permanent.

Agree with every single word, mate.

 

[Walking on the blue moon]

Article from Squawka

Post-match

How silky Silva proved he can be Lopetegui’s main man for Spain
By Muhammad Butt

Posted on September 1, 2016

For the longest time, David Silva was the odd-one-out in Spain’s greatest ever side. He was an ever-present through all three of their historic cup wins. But unlike Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Cesc Fabregas, he was never a protagonist.

Nice article except the bold part. Cesc Fabregas? Protagonist of Spain? He grabs headlines, sure, but except for a period in 2010, he has not been above Silva in pecking order, not even during his Arsenal heydays.

Back to the topic. I've just finished watching the friendly and wow, what a performance. Silva was pure magic. Watching him glide through the defence was akin to feeling a cool breeze on the cheek, or reading favourite poems, or listening to Mozart. And what's better is knowing that this is not his best performance, that he can still improve on this showing. Undoubtedly man of the match, even without the two goals.

Not much of importance can be learnt from a friendly, but how Spain controlled the midfield can be one. Koke, Thiago and especially Busquets were amazing. Look at how they were not afraid to keep and pass the ball in tight places. And how they formed triangles with the front three. How they re-positioned themselves when their teammates moved from theirs. Belgium's pressing was all right tbh, at least before the first goal, but how Spain managed to pass the ball out of danger into the box was mesmerising. They have no chance at all, even at their best, against the Spain on Thursday.

Now imagine our midfield do that in a few months', or even a few weeks' time. That would be an absolute nightmare for the other teams, particularly considering we already boast rich attacking options.

 

[Deleted member 77198]

Article from Squawka

Post-match

How silky Silva proved he can be Lopetegui’s main man for Spain
By Muhammad Butt

Posted on September 1, 2016

For the longest time, David Silva was the odd-one-out in Spain’s greatest ever side. He was an ever-present through all three of their historic cup wins. But unlike Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Iker Casillas and Cesc Fabregas, he was never a protagonist.

He was there, sure and occasionally managed to score (including the first in the Euro 2012 final), but was never fundamental and often looked out of place.
But now, at the age of 30, he has found himself in a more important position. Especially so today as Iniesta’s injury means that he was the senior attacking player in the squad and he absolutely lived up to the responsibility.

With Pep Guardiola coaching him at club level, the former Valencia playmaker has been looking like he’s at the peak of his powers once more, playing with a keen tactical intelligence.
Guardiola has moved him from the wings into a central role, ostensibly a “central midfielder” but in actuality he has more attacking freedom thanks to the structure of Guardiola’s 4-3-3.

He’s also been moved from the right side to the left, encouraging Silva to be less predictable in his movements as he now has more angles than simply the “cut in on right-foot and shoot or pass” trick available to him. And he has embraced that role, starring alongside De Bruyne in City’s central zone.
However unlike De Bruyne, his opponent today, Silva has carried that form in to the national side. He was dominant today. Scoring the opening goal of the game, sweeping home a deflected pass from Diego Costa after a lovely team-move that he began.

He then added a second via the penalty spot and continued to run the show until Lopetegui showed mercy on the Belgians and removed him with 15 minutes to go.

Silva was given a standing ovation for his omnipresent display. He was so good from his position of left-wing that he ended up roaming and killing Belgium whenever he had the ball.

But in particular he formed a delightful double act with Koke on the left-flank. Despite both players being only moderately quick, they would routinely form passing combinations with a third player (Costa and Alba were the most common ones). That interplay would nearly always bamboozle Belgium and see a man run free.

If Spain had more pace coming from their right-flank then they would have managed to probably do more damage than they did. Vitolo played well and did play a part in both goals, but he’s not lightning quick and that can blunt the Spanish attack.
Were Spain to deploy Lucas Vázquez, Mikel Oyarzabal or Iñaki Williams on the right of their front three; they would have a player less refined and obviously lacking in the kind of experience Vitolo has (the way he suckered Jordan Lukaku in to win the penalty for Spain’s second goal was delightfully savvy play), but they would also have a direct young winger bursting with pace and confidence.

This would be a better compliment to the artful link-play on the left-flank and provide a better outlet for Silva’s creative powers. After all, as well as Vitolo played today Spain won’t have the fortune to play a left-back as naive as Lukaku.

But going forward they will be able to feature a more confident and controlled David Silva, a playmaker that is now more capable of dominating for Spain as a protagonist.

And when they add the living legend that is Andrés Iniesta to this superb midfield unit that already has featured a masterclass from Sergio Busquets and Silva after just one game under Lopetegui, the Spanish will head to Russia in 2018 looking to regain the crown they surrendered so meekly in 2014.

That's a nice story but the first paragraph is simply false as in the 2010 World Cup he only played in the first game, was taken off after an hour and then wasn't see again until the 85th minute of the semi final and didn't even play a minute of the final.


I do love David Silva though. He often has a dip in form every season he plays but when he's in his best form he's untouchable as the best player to watch in this league. Everything is so simple and easy for him, he just glides over the pitch passing wherever he wants.