David Silva - 2016/17 performances

[Zin 'messiah' Zimmer]

'Moot'...

"****" (:

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Who have we had in the last few years who actually will grab a game by the scruff of the neck and turn it around for us?

1) Yaya
2)...
3)...

Aguero's not really the type to turn around a game singlehandedly, nor is KDB. They might capitalise on some forward momentum, but when we are not functioning or behind both seem to end up feeding on scraps.

Sterling IMO has the never-say-die attitude for it but hasn't done it yet.

Nasri did it a few times but he's gone now.

Absolutely spot on. Although I'd be tempted to add Tevez to that list. He might not have done it as spectacularly as Yaya but he consistently scrapped like a honey badger regardless of whether or not we were playing well as a team.

I'm not sure where this expectation of Silva "grabbing games by the scruff of the neck" comes from. We were incredibly lucky to have Yaya in his prime but that expectation shouldn't be shifted onto a player who has never played that way and never will. The only equivalent in Premier League history who I can think of is Lampard during his peak at Chelsea. Off the top of my head, that's two players in 20+ years. David is a completely different player with a different skill set which doesn't happen to make headlines as often and yet he's consistently ranked as one of the best players in the league by fans of all clubs as well opposition managers.

No he's not the one to score a derby winner in the cup, shrug off five challenges on a run starting in his own half and ending with the ball in the net and I certainly don't expect him to score more than twenty goals a season... so what? It's not what he was bought for and its not what we play him for. He's a terrific catalyst for our team and as such it only makes sense that his performances are sub par when the team around him are also disappointing. This shit always pops up when we go through a bad patch.

 

[stonerblue]

"****" (:

hahahaha.

 

[Shaelumstash]

Absolutely spot on. Although I'd be tempted to add Tevez to that list. He might not have done it as spectacularly as Yaya but he consistently scrapped like a honey badger regardless of whether or not we were playing well as a team.

I'm not sure where this expectation of Silva "grabbing games by the scruff of the neck" comes from. We were incredibly lucky to have Yaya in his prime but that expectation shouldn't be shifted onto a player who has never played that way and never will. The only equivalent in Premier League history who I can think of is Lampard during his peak at Chelsea. Off the top of my head, that's two players in 20+ years. David is a completely different player with a different skill set which doesn't happen to make headlines as often and yet he's consistently ranked as one of the best players in the league by fans of all clubs as well opposition managers.

No he's not the one to score a derby winner in the cup, shrug off five challenges on a run starting in his own half and ending with the ball in the net and I certainly don't expect him to score more than twenty goals a season... so what? It's not what he was bought for and its not what we play him for. He's a terrific catalyst for our team and as such it only makes sense that his performances are sub par when the team around him are also disappointing. This shit always pops up when we go through a bad patch.

Great post.

It's a weird one, Yaya's biggest fans only seem to mention the Newcastle game and the cup finals where he was brilliant. They don't mention his performance at Old Trafford when we got battered 4, which was one of the worst individual performances I've ever seen from a professional footballer.

Yaya's highs were incredibly high, but his lows were also incredibly low. Sadly, there has been a lot more lows recently.

Whereas Silva has maintained an incredibly high standard throughout his City career. Even last season when he was injured and off form, he was still our top assist maker in the league. Even more assists than "Player of the season" DeBruyne.

Yaya did show up in a lot of big games and was intrumental in us winning some of them. He will rightly go down as one of our greatest ever players. But for me, David Silva is the best I've ever seen play for the club based on his whole career, not just 3 or 4 big games.

 

[worsleyweb]

Cant believe some of the stuff written on here. He has been incredible for us.

 

[BillyShears]

so what? It's not what he was bought for and its not what we play him for. He's a terrific catalyst for our team and as such it only makes sense that his performances are sub par when the team around him are also disappointing. This shit always pops up when we go through a bad patch.

Bit contradictory that. If he's the catalyst for our team, it makes sense that HIS performances lift his teammates, not the other way round. I think his yoyo form has been a problem in almost every season we've not won a trophy and as others have said, his impact upon big games over the last five years hasn't been what is should be from a player of his natural talent.

Lovely footballer, an artist almost. But he isn't made from the stuff that guys like Iniesta are made of which is why our ceiling over the last five years as a team has been similar to David's personal ceiling.

 

[Shirley]

He's a magician not a leader and when he doesn't play we miss him.
Not been on top form recently but I will never write him off, he is just too good.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

Bit contradictory that. If he's the catalyst for our team, it makes sense that HIS performances lift his teammates, not the other way round

Not at all. The point is that he's a team player whereas Yaya is a pure individualist. The expectation shouldn't be the same.

Overemphasis on "big games" is something I've always found odd as we don't play Barcelona every week. I'd much rather have a player who performs well for the majority of the season rather than one of those who just turns up for the big games. That being said, both are handy to have in the squad.

 

[BillyShears]

Not at all. The point is that he's a team player whereas Yaya is a pure individualist. The expectation shouldn't be the same.

Overemphasis on "big games" is something I've always found odd as we don't play Barcelona every week. I'd much rather have a player who performs well for the majority of the season rather than one of those who just turns up for the big games. That being said, both are handy to have in the squad.

With respect I don't agree with the initial premise. Yaya was a more dominant, more influential, more important player for City. He was also just as important a "team" player as Silva. In fact i find it hard to understand how anyone who's watched City regularly over the last five years would come to the conclusion that Toure is an individualist. He's an individualist only in the sense that he could take games by the scruff of the neck and win them on his own.

Also I'm not overemphasising anything and I think that your strawman is wide of the mark. I'd rather our "top" players are capable of playing in the "top" games and making a difference whether it be Yaya, Silva, or KDB. You win no medals for simply turning up.

 

[Tugay One Cup]

With respect I don't agree with the initial premise. Yaya was a more dominant, more influential, more important player for City. He was also just as important a "team" player as Silva. In fact i find it hard to understand how anyone who's watched City regularly over the last five years would come to the conclusion that Toure is an individualist. He's an individualist only in the sense that he could take games by the scruff of the neck and win them on his own.

Also I'm not overemphasising anything and I think that your strawman is wide of the mark. I'd rather our "top" players are capable of playing in the "top" games and making a difference whether it be Yaya, Silva, or KDB. You win no medals for simply turning up.

Strawman arguments are by definition wide of the mark. My intention wasn't to put words in your mouth, it was more a point about using a handful of games per season as a basis for measuring a player's output as is often the case on here when looking for criticisms of Silva and players like him. But, I agree with your last point as that would be the perfect scenario.

You might find it hard to understand but I guess we just disagree on the first part. Yaya is and always be an individualist on and off the field in my eyes.