The Manchester City captain points out the reality of the situation surrounding this season’s City team | OneFootball

Before Manchester City drew 2-all with Nottingham Forest just under two weeks ago, Pep Guardiola’s side was fighting for trophies on all four fronts. Following City’s 3-1 win over Newcastle in their FA Cup fifth-round tie at St. James’ Park, City lost 3-0 to Real Madrid, giving themselves an uphill battle tomorrow night to progress to the quarter-final stage of this season’s Champions League. City followed that with a 1-1 draw with West Ham, which has made their fight for this season’s Premier League title even more difficult. The reality is, this Manchester City side is a team in transition. That has stood out all season. Bernardo Silva pointed that out today, and his assessment is right on the money when you dig deeper.

Bernardo Silva has explained that this Manchester City team remains in transition.

Speaking ahead of Manchester City’s UEFA Champions League second leg Round of 16 tie against Real Madrid, Bernardo Silva explained that this Manchester City team remains a team in transition. The City captain pointed out the amount of change that has occurred with City’s squad. Speaking on the make up of this City team, Bernardo Silva said: “I think the obvious answer is that this is a transition because not long ago if you look at the Champions League final, when we won the treble, if you look at that team and the team now, only four or five players are left.”

“In two years and a half, to only have four, five or six players left, it’s a lot of change. To have that much change in a football club is never easy. It’s not about the talent or the quality of the players, it’s about the players getting to know each other better and when they play together, what works better and getting the experience and the knowledge to deal with especially the bad moments.”

“I do believe that having so many different players in such a short time does not help because from my experience, I’ve been here nine years, three years ago when I played with Gundogan, with Kevin (De Bruyne), Rodri or Kyle (Walker), because we played together so many years, we knew exactly what each player wanted, the qualities of the other guys and the guy next to you. Right now, these young guys need time to adapt to playing with each other, playing together and I think that obviously plays a major part.”

The reality is that this City side needs time to grow which has been lost over the past week.

Pep Guardiola’s team selection has dominated discussion following Manchester City’s past two matches. That is fair enough given how extreme the Manchester City lineup was at the Bernabeu last week, and the glaring lack of creativity City had against West Ham with Haaland, Semenyo, and Marmoush starting together. Outside of that this City team remains in transition. There is a lack of maturity to their play at times, and that has cost them against Forest and West Ham in particular.

What Manchester City hasn’t learned yet is how to deal with pressure when the season ramps up, or more specifically, rise to the occasion. In years gone by, Kevin De Bruyne, Ilkay Gundogan, Bernardo Silva, Sergio Aguero, Yaya Touré, Vincent Kompany, Kyle Walker, and Rodri, just to name a few, have known what is required at the penultimate stage of a season. This City side isn’t yet at that level. It is still learning what it takes when the whips are cracking. Their overall performance also fluctuates wildly in games, and that speaks to the immaturity of this iteration of Pep Guardiola’s side, and that is the reality of the situation.

Bernardo Silva pointed out that this Manchester City team is a side still in transition. Despite the prevailing opinion that the Premier League is poor, or Arsenal are or were there for the taking, this City side isn’t yet ready to seize the opportunity on offer. That is the reality of this City side. That doesn’t mean that this season is over yet or that they aren’t capable of winning the Carabao Cup or the FA Cup or fighting for their lives against Real Madrid or over the remaining matches of the Premier League season. Bernardo’s assessment just highlights how much change has occurred at City, and perhaps next season with a few more tweaks, this Manchester City side will be a level or two above what they’re capable of, or have produced, currently.