Pep Guardiola has revealed that Manchester City have a player who makes him feel “safe” when he is playing.
Guardiola’s claim can be attributed to several of his players, who bring a calming presence on the pitch in their own way.
For instance, Rodri provides Manchester City a sense of security, both in possession and defensively that cannot be replicated when he is out of the team.
As a result, Phil Foden perhaps rightly hailed him as City’s “most important player.”
However, Ruben Dias provides a sense of calmness to this Sky Blues side as well, albeit in a much different way than Rodri does.
The Portuguese centre-back seems to be the leader of Manchester City’s backline and as a result, his authority makes his defence look a lot more assured when he is in the team.
Guardiola says Man City player makes him “feel safe” when he plays
Similarly, John Stones is another defender who brings a sense of composure to the team that is missing when he is unavailable.
The ease with which Stones distributes the ball and makes challenges always makes City look like the team in control.
A sense of panic is rarely evident when the Englishman starts.
In an attacking sense, perhaps Kevin De Bruyne’s presence is one that could also be associated with helping Manchester City exude a sense of quiet confidence.
It is only natural that the City players and Guardiola feel a foot taller when De Bruyne is fit and firing.
Having the Belgian in the team makes the treble-winners a far more formidable side than when he is not in the side.
However, after Manchester City beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup semi-final, Pep Guardiola was referring to Bernardo Silva.
Initially, Guardiola mentioned how Bernardo redeemed himself with the winner against Chelsea and how he contemplated bringing him off before his strike.
“Always gives a second chance, life and in football, you are there, it will always give you a second chance. And he did it. I was thinking to change him and put Oscar [Bobb] in the left, in the right”, he said [via BeanymanSports]
“But after [his] goal, Bernardo [Silva], he was so intelligent, to keep the ball and defensively and in the final third, he’s so intuitive and in that moment, I could not change him because I know after 20, 25 minutes, he was so tired.”
Guardiola continued to laud the £43 million man, saying, “But Bernardo is so intelligent, has a special thing to give us and having Bernardo on the pitch, I feel more safe. I feel more comfortable for many, many reasons but I’m so happy because he deserves it, were not easy days for him of course but yeah, today, gave us the goal to reach the final again.”
Pep Guardiola is right about Bernardo Silva bringing this quality
In our view, Pep Guardiola is correct as first things first, Bernardo Silva almost guarantees that he will rarely ever lose the ball, helping Manchester City maximise their level of control against whichever team they face.
Secondly, the 28-year-old is seemingly calculated about when to take risks, whether it be in midfield or as a winger; a quality that is key for any player in a possession-based team where conceding turnovers is a cardinal sin.
The treble-winner has the intelligence to govern how he plays in possession, which makes him the perfect player to help manage any type of game.
While out of possession, as was against Chelsea, the Portuguese attacker showed he is unafraid to get stuck in and fly into challenges to stop the opposition from going on attack.
Unsurprisingly, Pep Guardiola feels secure when Bernardo Silva is on the pitch and as he mentioned, the latter helped see the game out smartly against the Blues on Saturday once again.