Manchester City have put down a marker as they look to win the title for the fifth time in six years. Two goals from summer signing Erling Haaland helped Manchester City to a 2-0 win at West Ham on the opening day of the season. It's clear that City are the team to beat in England and that they want to win Europe's top club competition for the first time in the club's history. With three weeks to go before the transfer deadline, there is a chance that Bernardo Silva could leave City for Barcelona. - ESPN+ viewers guide: LaLiga, Bundesliga, MLS, FA Cup, more
- Stream ESPN FC Daily on ESPN+ (U.S. only)
- Don't have ESPN? Get instant access
In a wide-ranging interview with ESPN at the launch of the adidas X speedportal boot he'll wear this season, the Portugal captain talks about his future, last season's disappointment, and why he thinks City players don't get enough credit.
The interview has been lightly edited.
Did you have a good start to the new season at West Ham?
The Silvas feel better and better every day. When you return from holidays, you don't feel as good as you did in the middle of the season, but the team is getting better and we know we have a tough season ahead of us.
If Bernardo Silva left the club before the deadline, it would be hard to replace him, according to Rob.
After the summer break, do you feel refreshed?
It was a great break. When you're in the middle of the season, you need a few days to recuperate, so these holidays were nice for me, but now it's back to work. It felt good to finally have some good holidays where I could travel and be with my friends, because the breaks are usually shorter than this summer. It was pleasant.
You've won a lot at Man City. How do you keep your hunger up?
In the last five years, we have won four titles, but we want to be remembered as one of the best teams of all time. If we can win five in six years, it's even better. Over the past few years, we've had some new signings and we're still hungry for more.
Do you think the team has accomplished enough to be considered one of the best in the league's history?
You always want more when you have players that are hungry for more titles. You don't want to lose when you're competitive and you want to achieve as much as possible, so you just want to give it your all every year.
How big of a role does he play in that?
You cannot have a day off. Over the past five seasons, the level has been so high because of that standard. If you have a manager that demands so much from you, you're not going to play. Everyone knows that if you want to play, you have to give your all on the field.
How do you deal with your manager's demands?
I will not deny that sometimes it's very tiring and stress inducing. Football is at the highest level. You're going to get this if you want to play for a club like Man City that fights for all the titles. The squad is great and you know if you don't give your best, you won't get the job done.
There have been changes to the squad this summer with the addition of Erling Haaland. Is there a renewed energy at the club?
You don't know what will happen when you have new signings. The new players seem to have a hard-working mentality, and they are nice guys. It is a new thing. Things are going to be different for everyone because the team is different. We'll see. We will try to keep the level.
Do you think there will be another battle with the Reds this year?
It's not predictable. If you look at what has happened over the past four or five seasons, you think that City andLiverpool are going to be the two favorites, but look at the team that Chelsea is building I think Man United will be better because they have a new manager and some new signings. Every year it gets more competitive.
In the last few years, City andLiverpool have been on top, so you're going to expect a bit more from them, but you never know in the premier league. Six teams are capable of fighting for everything.
.jpg)
There's a beautiful game here. You can watch tournaments and teams.
Sign up for ESPN+
There is a Tuesday in August. 9.
• Carabao Cup: Bradford City vs. Hull City (2:40 p.m.)
• Carabao Cup: Charlton Athletic vs. QPR (2:40 p.m.)
• MLS All-Star Week: Skills Challenge (8 p.m.)
There is a Wednesday in August. It was 10.
• FFA Cup: Bentleigh Greens SC vs. Sydney FC (5:25 a.m.)
• Carabao Cup: Sheffield Wednesday vs. Sunderland (2:40 p.m.)
• Special Olympics Unified All-Star Game (4:25 p.m.)
• Miami FC vs. FC Tulsa (7 p.m.)
• MLS All-Star Game (8:30 p.m.)
• San Diego Loyal vs. Monterey Bay (10 p.m.)
Do you think the premier league is the toughest league you have ever experienced?
It's not a new thing that the premier league is so competitive. Six different teams have won the league in the last two decades. If you have a few weeks off, you aren't going to win the league. We know that teams are spending a lot of money, so we need to keep our standards high.
Man City will have another chance to win the European Championship. The club is approaching the challenge in a different way.
Over the last few years, the levels of disappointment in that competition have been high. We have never won that competition, but we have won everything else, so it's a big goal for the club. If you drop your concentration levels for a few minutes, you're gone, so we're going to try again, we know that it's a tough competition, and you need to be on high alert.
It happened against Spurs a few years ago and it happened against Madrid last year. We have to work on that.
When City lost to Real Madrid in the semifinals, you mentioned the disappointment? Is that behind you now?
It's never completely over for you. The game I played against Spurs was insane. At the end of the season, it felt like something wasn't right because of that game, even though we won the league, the FA Cup, and the Community Shield that season.
The same thing happened last year. Knowing that we were better than Madrid in both games, and that we were still going out, even though we were better than them? It was difficult. There are moments. You have the game against Villa on the last day of the league. The opposite is true. We won the league in five minutes after the game was over.
The high emotions are what you want to experience in football. You can either be up here or down there. You will remember these.
When you came back from 2-0 down to win the title, what was it like?
It wasn't normal. It was insane. We felt the disappointment on the bench and on the pitch, it was huge. It felt like we were going to turn it around after we scored the first goal and luckily, we did it.
Sometimes in football, we have crazy moments where you're controlling the game and you're out of the competition, and then a game that we were playing really bad and maybe we didn't deserve to win, in 10 minutes we turn it around and win. This is how football is.
The latest highlights and debates are brought to you by Dan Thomas. You can stream on the US version of the network.
One of the keys to turning around against Villa was keeping Jack Grealish on the bench.
Jack and I are good friends and we joke around a lot. We had a few drinks because we were celebrating and we were having fun.
You seem to have built up a friendship with Jack during his time at City.
He's a decent person. At Man City, the dressing room is very good. I've had bad dressing rooms in the past and this feels good, to work with nice guys, to work with people who are nice to each other, and to push their teammates to do as well as possible. When you have nice people around, it's easy to go to work.
You are now 27 years old. Are you a leader in the dressing room?
I know a lot of the guys and they're my friends. If you've been at the club for six months, the impact you have on the dressing room will be the same. I have been there for a long time and it feels good.
A lot of foreign players have said how difficult it was to play in England during the coronaviruses epidemic. Do you feel better now that the restrictions have been removed?
I'm not as bad. I think it's much better. When we had a day off, I used to go to Portugal and visit friends and family, but for nearly two years, we couldn't do that because we couldn't afford it. It was difficult for me and Ines, but now it is back to normal.
This summer and last summer, there has been a lot of speculation about your future.
I've said before that I'm happy here, but I don't know what will happen. We're going to see. The relationship I have with the club is very honest. They know what I want. I will always respect this club and give my all if I stay. We will see what happens if it is football.
The two Gabriel Jesus were granted moves to this summer, toArsenal andChelsea. If you decide to leave the club, would you get the same response?
They don't want players who are unhappy at the club. If you're not happy, you can leave. It's a relationship with the club that is very respectful, even though they are in business and want the right amount of money for letting us leave. They have always told me the truth.
I will always respect my relationship with Man City, with the fans, with the staff, with my teammates, so whatever happens will be done in a respectful way.
Do you feel like you're finally getting credit for your work over the last few seasons?
Definitely from Man City fans. They show a lot of respect for what I do. It is hard from outside. I'm not complaining, but I think other clubs get more credit than Man City for doing less. When I was at Benfica, a big club in Portugal with a lot of fans, they made it look great by doing something nice. You do something great here at Man City and they make it look good.
I'm not complaining, but I'm aware that we're never the team that has the most players, so I check the team of the year every year. We don't have the best manager, we don't have the best players, but we still win four league titles in five years. It doesn't seem right. Man City players don't get a lot of credit.
I don't think it matters for me. We won four times in the last five years and I am happy with the titles we have. We don't get the credit that we are due.
With the World Cup in the middle of the season, what are you expecting this season?
We have the World Cup in the middle of the season, which will make it very difficult. It's sort of strange. There will be one before and one after the premier league. We're not going to win anything in these months, but we can lose it all, so we have to fight for it in the last six months of the season.
Portugal have a good team. Can you win the world cup?
We will attempt it. You have Germany, Argentina, Brazil, France, Spain, and Holland. We know we have good players, but we are one of the favorites. The World Cup is more unpredictable than the premier league, where there are two or three teams competing. You can't tell who is going to do better.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
