Bernardo Silva Believes Manchester City Players Are Overlooked for Individual Awards Despite Premier League Success
Bernardo Silva was one of the 30 players shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or after winning the domestic treble with Manchester City and Nations League with Portugal. However, the midfielder believes that his City team-mates such as Sergio Aguero, Kevin de Bruyne have been unlucky to have never won the Premier League ‘Player of the Year’ award.
Manchester City have been one of the best sides of this decade in the Premier League if not the best. The side from Manchester have won the domestic league in England four times in the last ten years with two highest totals ever. But the Citizens have had a Player of the Year, meanwhile, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur have had seven combined awards overall despite never winning the league. Due to this, Bernardo Silva feels that players from City are overlooked during these awards. Coronavirus Pandemic: Manchester City's Etihad Stadium to Be Used by NHS.
Bernardo Silva was one of the 30 players shortlisted for the Ballon d’Or after winning the domestic treble with Manchester City and Nations League with Portugal. However, the midfielder believes that his City team-mates have been unlucky to have never won the Premier League ‘Player of the Year’ award. Eight Premier Clubs Team Up to Prevent Manchester City From Playing in Champions League Next Season.
While hosting a Q&A event on Instagram, Silva said ‘Three seasons ago, we won the league, Liverpool were 30 points behind and Kevin De Bruyne had an unbelievable season. Mo Salah scores a lot of goals - he's a great player, I admire him a lot, I'm not saying otherwise - but they gave the award to Salah and not De Bruyne,’
‘The season after, it's very tight. Raheem Sterling was on the run with Van Dijk. It was very tight but they gave it to Van Dijk. This [campaign], again, De Bruyne is having another unbelievable season. We're behind... But because Liverpool are champions, probably one of them will win the award again.’ Bernardo Silva added.
The Portuguese playmaker also highlighted that Sergio Aguero and David Silva have never won the award despite being two of the best in the league over the years. ‘David Silva, Kun Aguero never won the PFA Player of the Year. I think the individual awards are very relative and it's important, but it's not that important. People should stop thinking about that too much in my opinion.’ Silva said.
Speaking of the Premier League, the competition is currently suspended for an indefinite period of time and will only resume when it is declared safe. Liverpool hold a 25-point lead of Manchester City are sure to win their first league title in 30 years, if the tournament restarts.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 14, 2020 10:07 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).