Bernardo Silva has found himself as a re-invented left-back for Manchester City in the last two games, drawing praise from Pep Guardiola.
Bernardo Silva admits he is finding his new position tough for Manchester City, before insisting he is up for the challenge of playing with a more defensive mentality.
After Joao Cancelo’s departure last month, Bernardo has emerged as a surprise solution to City’s left-back void, patrolling that area in the home win over Aston Villa, before playing almost exclusively as a full-back in the win at Arsenal. The midfielder played an hour there at the Emirates, before being pushed into attack, and Pep Guardiola praised his intelligence to be able to play both positions so effectively – especially after picking up a first-half yellow card.
Speaking after the game, Bernardo said the demands of playing at left-back are ‘tough’, and require a complete change in how he approaches the game. However, he maintained that he is willing to play anywhere on the pitch in order to help City win the title.
“I’m not going to lie, it’s very tough,” he admitted.
“When you play those positions you have to have a defenders’ mentality. You lose a little bit your offensive thinking and what you do with the ball. You are more focused on not making mistakes and defending well, occupying the spaces.
“It’s been challenging but it’s been nice. It’s a good challenge. I love challenges and I try to help the team as much as possible in the games we have won. Important games and we need to keep going.”
Regarding City’s win in general, Bernardo said the squad’s next goal is to continue fighting Arsenal for top spot and try to embark on a run of wins that will boost their title chances.
He said: “We must keep putting pressure on them because they still have a game in hand, they can still go three points above us. So keep going, still lots of games to be played, lots of points to be played. We’re there in the fight.
“Hopefully soon [we can go on a run] because we have struggled this season to get to that run. We have been winning three, four games and then lose one and it’s quite disappointing. Hopefully we get to the point where we get to that run and finish this season in the best possible way.
“We will fight until the end, knowing that we are going to fight against a very tough side that reminds me of us five years ago. They’re so young, they’re so good, their energy is so nice. But we are here and want to win again. We know it’s not going to be easy but we will fight.
“I think it is going to go up until the end. Hopefully in the end we are going to be on top of them which is tough. Still one game to play against them, at the Etihad which is good for us. But lots of points to be played and we are going to fight. Every game we are going to be there.”
SOURCE: manchestereveningnews.co.uk
