Vincent Kompany once told Bernardo Silva that the Manchester City captaincy would be his once he dropped the clown act and the Portuguese has now taken it upon himself to become the ringmaster in improving standards within the dressing room.
Silva was renowned for being the joker of Pep Guardiola’s squad earlier in his career but Kompany saw serious leadership within the midfielder. ‘I say often you are 50 per cent clown, 50 per cent leader,’ Kompany said in 2017. ‘When he becomes 25 per cent clown, 75 per cent leader he will become the captain of this team.’
Silva has grown into that over time and has been outspoken in recent months about finding out who was ready to ‘go to war’ after City lost their way last season. Clearly there were some who the 31-year-old felt had checked out during a dismal run of results last winter. He believes that professionalism had dipped.
Since Guardiola broke his own rules to ditch a group vote and appoint Silva as his next skipper following Kyle Walker and Kevin De Bruyne’s departures, the man with the armband – back at Monaco for the first time since City signed him from the Ligue 1 side eight years ago – has not been mincing his words with team-mates.
‘I like my fun and a joke but when it’s time to work it’s time to work,’ Silva said. ‘I’m trying my best to put the team back to where it belongs.
‘My job now is to try to create that energy, [bring] that chemistry back as a group of captains – me, Ruben [Dias], Rodri, Erling [Haaland] – so people behave in the right way in training and in games, arrive on time to training, train properly, be in good condition, take care of themselves. That is our job.
Pep Guardiola broke his own rules to appoint Bernardo Silva as Man City captain in the summer
Vincent Kompany predicted Silva would captain City long before the Portuguese midfielder took the armband
‘The reality is that a lot of things have changed in the last six months. What we want is to improve day by day. These players have the potential to be there. It’s just a matter of time. I truly believe it can be this season.’
Guardiola agrees with that sentiment and clearly believes he made the right choice on a player who appears certain to depart the Etihad Stadium once his contract expires next summer. ‘He cannot do better as a captain,’ Guardiola said. ‘You know, Bernardo is one of the best players I ever trained. It has been a luxury for me.’
The City boss claimed he is ready to ‘swallow’ his words if City do not make a success of this campaign.
Yet he is plotting that with the backdrop of niggling injury problems, admitting that Rodri is not yet ready to feature in consecutive matches – despite the Spaniard starting three games in a week before complaining of soreness in his knee and missing Saturday’s victory over Burnley. That is his second setback since returning from an ACL injury.
City are also carefully managing Rayan Cherki’s comeback and, although the Frenchman returned to training after a quadricep injury, he will not be risked before the international break.
‘What happened to Rodri in the Club World Cup is different to now,’ Guardiola added. ‘Now he is not injured but the week before was so demanding with Manchester United, Napoli and especially Arsenal.
‘If you want my feeling, right now he’s not able to play three games in a week at a top, top level – top intensity, demanding opponents. My feeling right now is he is not ready because he needs time.
‘He cannot do better as a captain,’ Guardiola said of Silva this week
City currently sit seventh in the Premier League after beating Burnley at the Etihad on the weekend
‘These type of injuries are a minimum of one year. Be patient. He dictates. If he feels not good it is better to rest.’
Meanwhile, Paul Pogba is still waiting to make his Monaco debut. The ex-United midfielder joined in the summer after finishing his 18-month suspension for testing positive for banned substance DHEA. Pogba doesn’t yet deem himself match fit.
