After Bernardo Silva's performance against the Czech Republic, the audience was suddenly startled to realize that the entire Manchester City star line had an extremely forgettable first match at EURO. So why did the talents selected to create the great The Citizens machine quickly lose themselves so quickly?
When the clock ticked the last official minute of play, the referee in charge of the field also held an electronic sign announcing the extra time. At that time, Portugal was still held 1-1 by the Czech Republic. Then the late goal of young talent Francisco Conceicao helped the Portuguese narrowly escape the death penalty, but it was impossible to hide the truth - the European Selecao had a disappointing day.
And surprisingly, the person who made Portuguese fans 'sigh' the most was Bernardo Silva - the conductor and also the greatest hope of the king of EURO 2016. Then, when he received the show's depression, Silva, the audience was suddenly startled to realize that all of Manchester City's stars had an extremely forgettable first match at EURO.
So why did the talents selected to create the great The Citizens machine quickly lose themselves so quickly? Will leaving Pep Guardiola's arms be a storm?
Portugal is considered a bright candidate for the EURO 2024 championship. However, they struggled to defeat the Czech Republic in the opening match of Group F.
Although all attention is focused on how Cristiano Ronaldo plays. However, even though CR7 did not score, he still left many traces. Instead, Man City star Bernardo Silva is the most disappointing.
Silva is considered one of the best players in the world, since moving from Monaco to Man City in 2017. The Portuguese midfielder's role at the Etihad is obvious. Pep Guardiola has repeatedly confirmed the importance of Silva in every strategy that the former Barca captain applies to the team.
Bernardo Silva never stole the brightest spotlight. But the era of The Citizens could not have been so successful and dominant without this player. But like a joke of fate, every time he joins the team, the former Monaco star often fails to leave an impression. England often struggled to make the same impact on the international stage.
Fans took to social media to criticize the 29-year-old's performance. One person wrote: "First Foden, then De Bruyne and now Bernardo Silva, all Man City players are invisible when away from Pep's system."
Another fan commented: “Bernardo Silva is basically Portugal's Phil Foden, never performing well for his national team.”
That's right, not only Bernardo Silva is 'on the chopping block', but all of Manchester City's elite stars are being criticized!
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| Man City stars disappointed in the first match of EURO 2024 |
Because Portugal is in Group F, Bernardo Silva is also the one who finished the first match. And look at this photo, a dull orange color (representing the average scale) covers the whole thing. The top pillars, witnesses to a top-class Man City in Europe, only received meager points.
Leading defense expert Gvardiol only received 5.3 points, on the day he was helplessly "onioned" by young talent Yamal on the Spanish side. Even though Rodri himself won the match with Gaur, he only got 6.7 points along with an unbearable yellow card.
Kevin de Bruyne and Jeremy Doku also experienced a forgettable 90 minutes, when Belgium suffered a "more painful" defeat to Slovakia. As a result, both could not reach the score of 6.5.
And most especially, the person who caused the biggest disappointment among Man City's stars after round 1 - that must be Phil Foden. 0 goals, 0 assists, 0 shots, 0 crosses, the best star in the Premier League 23/24 was completely invisible in England's hard-fought 1-0 win over Serbia. Foden himself also received a lot of criticism after that forgettable performance.
So why is it that in front of a big tournament that every player certainly desires to conquer? But not just one, all the top-class stars, who just recently helped Man City create a record in the Premier League, have lost themselves so quickly.
To find the cause, the most important factor is the strategy. Doku is a heavy drill on the left wing, now he has to play on the right wing. In contrast, Foden mainly plays on the right wing as well as playing the role of a number 10 at the Etihad, now being placed on the left wing by coach Southgate. To be more specific, like many left-footed players in modern football, if given a choice, Foden would prefer to operate on the right.
As mentioned above, Foden loves to cut inside from the right wing to finish with his left foot, which is more favorable. The 24-year-old always tries to adapt in every situation, but playing on the left wing makes his handling a bit more difficult.
Every time he receives the ball on the left, Foden tends to turn his back to the opponent's goal to control it with his left foot, not his right, then consider solving the next pass. Also according to statistics, Foden's shots in the Premier League 2023/24 are mostly from the right wing. It shows Foden's preferences and habits, so it is understandable that he had difficulty playing at the Three Lions when playing on the left wing.
The same thing happened with Doku. It's not just that wingers can play well on both the left and right sides. Just considering the gameplay alone, it's enough to overwhelm a player, every time they have to play outside their forte.
As for Rodri, Bernardo Silva or De Bruyne, even though they play in the right position, the lack of compatible teammates like at Etihad also causes them to play below their strength.
Man City's version of De Bruyne doesn't have to suffer in pumping the ball so Haaland can score. But in the Belgian team, where the people's artist Lukaku was constantly startled, no matter how good he was, Kevin had no choice but to give up.
It is important to know that Man City's era of dominance did not come en masse. To get his hands on the C1 trophy he longed for day and night, Pep Guardiola had to go through a whole period of failure. He spent countless hours and brainpower trying to change, adhere, and create a coherent tactical plan.
That means, to achieve that dominance, Man Xanh players have to compete with each other a lot. And then when you understand your teammates too well and understand every move, that becomes a double-edged sword.
Up in the national team, the coaches will certainly change Pep's tactics. Contact with people who "have not seen each other for a long time", along with a completely different way of operating and thinking compared to the club level. At that time, the preparation time before EURO was not enough for Pep's favorite players to change. The strategy that the Bull Fighting master has imprinted too deeply into the subconscious of De Bruyne, Silva or Foden. And that is also the reason why they only received disappointing scores after their first journey at EURO 2024.