In the age of knee-jerk reactions, it is fair to say that even in Pep Guardiola’s early tenure at the Manchester City helm he already seems one result away from being lauded as a footballing deity or know-nothing dud.
The 10-game winning run to mark his arrival was soon forgotten as results ranged from fair to middling. Defeats to top-four rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Chelsea and Liverpool – as well as a 4-2 reverse to last season’s champions Leicester City – accentuated the notion that the Catalan had underestimated the task at hand.
His curt responses to journalists’ questions post match, which border on bad manners, have hardly endeared him to many observers, either.
Guardiola is undoubtedly a victim of his past success. Trophy-laden spells in charge of Barcelona and Bayern Munich almost seemed to entitle him to immediate success at City.
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The reality has been somewhat humbling. While his debut season may still end with silverware – City are in the knockout stages of the Uefa Champions League, the fourth round of the FA Cup and currently fourth in the Premier League, albeit seven points behind leaders Chelsea – Guardiola knows that winning the domestic championship at the Etihad Stadium will be infinitely harder than doing so at Camp Nou and the Allianz Arena.
The shortfalls in City’s squad are obvious. Better left-back options than Gael Clichy and Aleksandar Kolarov can be found at all of City’s rivals, while goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, a supposed upgrade on Joe Hart because of his ability to launch attacks from the back with the ball at his feet, has proved a liability with both lower and upper limbs so far.
While Guardiola’s squad may pale in these areas against their rivals, their firepower farther up the pitch is a match for any of them.
City’s era of success since the unprecedented investment of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, in 2008 has been mostly defined by the goals of Sergio Aguero – winning a championship with the last kick of the season (2012) will always take some beating – and the box-to-box domination of Yaya Toure.
But another player has been just as influential. The catalyst for much of City’s creativity courses through the veins of David Silva. He is the sort of player who unlocks the stingiest of defences, a schemer who plays between the lines of midfield and attack and does those not-so-easy-to-do things like create space when there seemingly is none and thread inch-perfect passes through the eye of a needle.
Rarely does Silva leave the pitch looking like he has so much as broken sweat, suggesting a lack of work rate.
But the look is deceptive.
Like most footballing mavericks, Silva does plenty of work, just in a smaller area of the pitch, the most damaging part: the final third.
The Spaniard has only won one player of the month award, in September 2011.
But his influence and importance to the team, under three different managers – Roberto Mancini, Manuel Pellegrini and Guardiola – cannot be overstated.
According to statbunker.com, in 204 Premier League appearances David Silva has provided 63 assists, eighth on the all-time list and fourth among active players: Wayne Rooney (104), Cesc Fabregas (101) and James Milner (76).
With Silva’s accuracy and guile, and finishers of the calibre of Aguero to supply ammunition to, that stat will only increase.
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