Bernardo Silva admits Manchester City need 'almost perfect' Premier League run to win the title
Bernardo Silva believes that Manchester City are facing the toughest period in their recent history after admitting that the team’s confidence has been shaken by the sudden loss of three Premier League matches.
From starting December unbeaten at the top of the table and on course to accumulate more points even than their record-breaking 100 last season, shock defeats against Chelsea, Crystal Palace and Leicester City have seen them drop to third.
They are also now seven points behind new Premier League title favourites Liverpool ahead of a pivotal match between the two clubs next Thursday in which City hope to again have the hugely influential Fernandinho fit following his recent thigh injury.
Asked if this was the toughest time in City’s recent history, Silva said: “Yes, we cannot deny it. We were two points ahead of Liverpool and now we are seven behind.
“Seven points to Liverpool is starting to be a lot. We are not playing as well as we want at this part of the season. We have to find an explanation.
“We have lost two games that we shouldn't do if we are in a race for the title. It's mathematically possible but we have to be almost perfect from now. It’s difficult. We have to start winning games again otherwise things will get complicated.
“It’s all about character for the players now. Since I’ve been here, this team has always reacted well to bad situations. When we lost, we would win the next game but now, to lose two games in a row, is not easy. We will come back from this. We have to show heart and improve.”
City had taken the lead against Leicester on Boxing Day, but again looked fragile defensively and have now gone nine matches since their last clean sheet. Manager Pep Guardiola had the players in on Christmas Eve for additional training in an effort to remedy the dip and admitted that the losses would have impacted on confidence.
This was confirmed by Silva ahead of a match on Sunday against Southampton that has now assumed huge significance, especially as Liverpool will have had the chance on Saturday to move 10 points clear.
“I thought we started quite well against Leicester but when they scored the game changed,” said Silva. “We lost a little bit of control emotionally. We have to do better because for us to lose two games in a row is not good enough and it’s not normal.
“After losing against Chelsea and Crystal Palace, the confidence levels drop a little bit. That’s normal when you are not in a good moment and you are controlling the game. “When they scored the first goal, I sensed the lads stopped a little bit because we weren’t expecting that goal and that made the last 10 minutes of the first half not good for us.”
Injuries have been a big recent issue for Guardiola's team. Sergio Aguero returned on Boxing Day against Leicester but lacked his usual sharpness and is clearly still not fully match fit. That was understandably also the case for Kevin De Bruyne in his first match of the season, while Benjamin Mendy was badly missed at left-back. His replacement, Fabian Delph, was at fault for Leicester’s first goal and was later sent off for a dangerously high tackle and will now miss the vital two Premier League matches against both Southampton and Liverpool.
The biggest recent problem has been the absence of Fernandinho's screening presence in front of the back four but City are hoping that the Brazilian will return in the next week.
Silva is adamant that injuries cannot be used as an excuse for what is one of the most expensively assembled squads in football history. “We have no excuses - we have injuries but we don’t want to create those kind of excuses,” he said.
“We always have a good atmosphere in our dressing room. No one is happy right now. We’re upset – that’s normal. It’s not the end of the world, we have to sort out what mistakes we have made and try to improve and not make them in the next games. We need to start winning again as fast as we can, starting with Southampton.”
