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#2 David Silva
David Silva joined Manchester City from Valencia in 2010 and since then has been consistently excellent for City. He has played 250 games in the league and scored 49 goals. He was already a star before Pep Guardiola joined, but under his Spanish coach, Silva has managed to better himself. A big part of City’s recent domination in the league is the pairing of De Bryne and Silva in the middle of the park.
Silva’s link up play in the midfield is fabulous, but he is also gifted with special ball skills, which see him easily wriggle past opposition and affect the game. He is a play-maker of the highest qualities and with a proper team around him now, has been at the base of the free flowing football that City have made their own.
Recently, Silva's role has been modified by Guardiola to play him as a number 8 and Silva has stuck to the task like a man possessed. He has embraced his role and has been influencing the game like never before now, allowing Pep to play two play-makers, De Bryne and Silva in his team together. This ability to adapt, as displayed by Silva, is the hallmark of a great player.
Silva has featured in just one game this season, playing only 64 minutes, but he has already found the net, courtesy a beautiful free-kick that can be watched and re-watched again. In those 64 minutes, Silva touched the ball 64 times, and completed 53 passes.
He had two shots and also registered one interception. In absence of De Bryne, Silva will have a bigger role to play this season, but even when the Belgian returns, Silva will still be Guardiola’s main man, silently working his magic and keeping his team ticking.
