There will be no standing ovation in a full stadium for David Silva after his last appearance with Manchester City.
Nor will he take a microphone – like Pablo Zalabeta – and he will not give a triumphant speech to the City’s fondness. It’s not that it’s his style, anyway.
In fact, I whisper, but there is a possibility outdoors, if the cases so require, that the guy they call “Merlin”, named after the mythical sorcerer, has already worn the club’s blue blouse in a competitive fit for the last time.
Now let’s take the time: how does Silva finish his ten-year career and who replaced the City by winning the Champions League trophy as captain?
Regardless of what happens in the coming days at Europe’s last largest club festival in Lisbon, the Spanish game creator has already carved his call into City culture as his best player.
More than that, Silva has been a driving force in the way football has been redefined in England, where subtlety, creativity and technical qualities are as valued as the virtues of strength and physicality.
“It’s tiny,” said coach Pep Guardiola, “a small player, not a box-to-box player. And my symbol of England from the outside, I thought, “Maybe it will suffer.”
“Fortunately,” Guardiola added, “I’m wrong.”
The history of the City de Silva began long before Guardiola arrived at Etihad Stadium in 2016 and made the most of his compatriot. Six years earlier, in fact, when he signed for Valencia for 24 million pounds and as the new world champion with Spain.
The Premier League was not the mastery of the small gamemaker at the time: Chelsea’s offensive midfielders were the powerful Michael Ballack and Frank Lampard, for example, and the dynamic Liverpool captain, Steven Gerrard, even though the replacement’s seeds were there.
Luka Modric was beginning to excel in a deeper role in Tottenham, Cesc Fábregas was already thriving at Arsenal, in a more box-to-box role. Deco, the intriguing Brazilian comparable in taste to Silva, had two pretty disappointing seasons at Chelsea from 2008 to 2010.
Silva’s arrival was significant, and not only because a player who may have been trouble-free in the midfield of Barcelona or Real Madrid had chosen to play his peak years with a booming player like City.
“We didn’t see with his attributes, his physique, doing what he did,” Silva’s City teammate Joleon Lescott told The Associated Press.
He someone who worked basically between the lines, chaining attacks in a silky, stylistic and controlled way. Silva contributed something very different to English football, and would soon be greatly admired not necessarily for his numbers: with 77 goals out of a total of 434 appearances at City so far he has never been a prolific goalscorer, but for his touch and management of the game. . Array and the way he dealt with the physicality of the Premier League.
For 10 years he’s been pushed. To this day, he is surprised to see the poor coverage he receives from referees in England, and had repeated ankle disorders in 2015 under the direction of then-coach Manuel Pellegrini.
But he stayed in the City and had the mentality to take on the physical challenge, building himself as the central figure of his expansion as a national and European force. In fact, Silva is the only player to have been at the club for all the trophies won under his abu Dhabi ownership, starting with the FA Cup in 2011.
“You just have to locate the area and be efficient,” Lescott said. ‘It’s a very deep thing in football, but I don’t know if I ever played with someone who had the ability to stay close to anyone at all times and not be a passenger.”
“Your tight control, hisArray … I don’t forget that David was abandoned.”
Silva has 93 assists since making his Premier League debut in August 2010, 29 more than any other player in that 10-year period. His best, no doubt, was the shot and volley of Edin Dzeko for City’s last purpose in a remarkable 6-1 win at Manchester United in 2011.
At the time, another sublime Spanish game creator, Juan Mata, in the Premier League with Chelsea. In 2012, someone else would arrive in the form of Santi Cazorla at Arsenal.
Silva proved to be a pioneer, in his humble and sober style.
“I don’t think we appreciate it,” said Lescott, from English football in general, “and I think his profile plays a role in that. At the time, the media allowed the most important personalities to take the spotlight, which happens. I don’t think he cared at all.
If the bond between Silva and City was not yet strong, he was consolidated in the 2017–18 season when he was granted compassionate permission by parts of a record crusade for Guardiola’s team, so he can return to Spain to be with his partner. after the premature birth of his son, Matthew. He offered a rare view of the personal life of a boy who rarely does interviews.
Silva missed key matches while Guardiola pointed to the mantra “family first” and told his players before a match: “You have to win for David Silva and his girlfriend. Array.. If you go there and we suffer, we suffer for it. Is it that clear? “
So how will all this end for Silva in The City, 34? Sometimes, when the pandemic has passed, he will return to the Etihad to make a sfinish off in front of the enthusiasts in a testimony. You can build a statue of Silva, or an education floor with your name as with Yaya Touré.
Before that, I had a full resume when I won the Champions League for the first time.
Silva played the last 10 minutes against Real Madrid on the 16th round trip last week and is to start the quarter-finals against Lyon on Saturday, having been ruled in the most important matches through Guardiola in the last. two years because of their declining intensity and physicality.
City enthusiasts expect at least one replacement and more observations from their game creator in the semi-finals and finals.
“I don’t think you’ll be too upset if you appreciate it, ” said Lescott, “but I’d like you to know it is.”
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More AP Football: https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
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Steve Douglas is in https://twitter.com/sdouglas80