Interview with Manchester City star Bernardo Silva

NicheSportMedia

Interview with Manchester City star Bernardo Silva after it was announced he had signed a new contract at the club until 2026

Transcript

00:00 Bernardo, a new contract, the City fans will be delighted with this news.

00:04 Are you happy?

00:05 Yes, I'm very happy.

00:07 And another season where we'll try to do as best as possible.

00:13 And we started well and let's keep going that way.

00:18 What are the factors that made you sign this new deal?

00:22 Well, it's been wanting to keep winning

00:28 because this team over the last...

00:32 I'm going for my seventh season at City and since I arrived,

00:37 I just remember one season where we weren't successful.

00:41 So to be here until now meant trophies, meant winning a lot.

00:49 And I like to win.

00:51 It's good to win.

00:52 It's not easy.

00:53 So to be in a winning team, it's a very good feeling

00:58 and I wanted to keep it that way.

01:01 You joined City as a 22-year-old.

01:04 You're now 29.

01:05 How do you assess the time that you've spent here?

01:09 Well, so as I was saying, seventh season, playing for Man City now.

01:16 And it's been a dream in terms of what we achieved,

01:22 in terms of the prospects of what we can still do.

01:27 Six years where we won five Premier Leagues,

01:32 one Champions League and all the Cups.

01:35 I couldn't have imagined it better, to be honest.

01:39 You've got a really good relationship with the Manchester City fans.

01:43 Has that been an aspect of the reason you've decided to stay for longer?

01:47 Obviously the way that they treat me and they help me, it's a motivation.

01:55 So since day one, the way this, not just inside the club,

02:00 but the way the fans, they showed their support and their love for me.

02:07 It's of course a big factor when you make a decision.

02:12 Whenever we talk to City players,

02:14 they always tell us that the club provide them with everything they need

02:18 to be the best that they can be.

02:20 Just kind of expand on that a little bit.

02:22 What is it that the club do to provide you with the conditions

02:25 to perform at your optimum all the time?

02:28 Well, I think the club, they created an apartment

02:32 where basically you don't have to think about anything else apart from football.

02:37 So when you arrive at the club, they'll help you find a house,

02:41 they'll help you find a car, they'll help you, whatever.

02:43 With the bills of electricity, water, whatever you need.

02:48 And especially when you're alone, it helps you a lot

02:53 because then you just focus on the important part of your work,

02:57 which is to perform.

02:59 So yeah, I think the club has been doing a great job

03:04 in helping all the players and supporting them.

03:07 So they just have to focus on their football.

03:11 Let's reflect on the treble of last season.

03:14 It's the ultimate achievement in football.

03:17 This is a very special group of players, isn't it?

03:20 Well, yes, if you look at the history and you see that in England,

03:26 it was only the second time that someone did it,

03:29 it means that it's so, so difficult.

03:32 So what we achieved last season and what we can achieve this season,

03:39 it's something unique and we're going to try and grab that opportunity again this season.

03:46 Surely now there can be no doubts that this team is one of the greatest

03:50 in the history of English football, but maybe football worldwide.

03:55 Would you agree with that?

03:57 Well, I'm just 29 years old, so I don't remember all the teams that played in England.

04:03 But from what I remember, when you see a team that wins five in six

04:09 and that now has won the Champions League,

04:12 which everyone was saying was the missing piece,

04:16 that makes us probably one of the best, for sure, if not the best.

04:22 We heard that four in a row in the Premier League was never done before.

04:26 So we want to try that because it's so tough.

04:31 People now take it for granted because we won five in six,

04:35 but it's so, so tough every year.

04:38 And if you guys remember, two of those were just for the difference of one point.

04:45 And on the last game, I remember the Aston Villa game when we were losing 2-0,

04:51 minute 65 or 70, I don't remember.

04:54 So it's not easy to win it.

04:56 And we're going to try and keep making history

05:01 and putting the name of this team as one of the best ever.

05:07 Of course, that means something for us.

05:09 The Real Madrid game at the Etihad last season in the Champions League

05:13 was probably as close to a perfect performance

05:17 I think I've ever seen a Manchester City team put in.

05:20 And obviously you scored twice that night.

05:23 Where does that night for you rank in terms of your favourite nights at the Etihad?

05:30 Definitely top three, but if not the first one.

05:33 But I think not just the Real Madrid game.

05:36 If you look at the big games at home last season,

05:41 it was the season where we felt more, let's say,

05:47 indestructible when we were playing at home,

05:50 because all the games, if you look, Man United, we won 6-3,

05:56 then Liverpool 4-1, then Arsenal 3-1, I don't remember, 4-1.

06:04 Bayern Munich quarter-final 3-0, Madrid.

06:08 So all the big games when we needed the support from the fans and they showed up.

06:16 And we answered back with a very good performance

06:20 and we felt really, really strong at home.

06:24 And that was probably one of my favourite games ever in my career, yes,

06:28 because in the semi-finals of the Champions League,

06:31 you know that you have an opportunity to play another final

06:34 and to win the trophy that this club was missing

06:38 and to perform the way that we did that night was just unbelievable.

06:43 There's world-class players in every position at City,

06:46 everybody knows that, but more than that,

06:48 the manager has created a kind of special feeling among the squad

06:53 and the football club at large, actually.

06:55 Just explain to us what it's like to be a player as part of this group.

07:01 There's a real good energy around the dressing room, isn't there?

07:04 Well, yes, and that comes with winning as well,

07:07 because when you win, everything is easier.

07:10 If you don't win, people normally in life and in football

07:16 start creating little problems even when they don't exist,

07:18 so winning helps.

07:20 But also the fact that you have the feeling in this team

07:24 that we don't depend on one or two players,

07:28 everyone is so, so important.

07:31 And you see that when big players are injured

07:35 and supposedly the most important players of the team,

07:38 when they cannot play and the team still performs.

07:42 So everyone feels useful,

07:45 everyone feels that they can help this team achieve the next step,

07:51 and that creates a good energy in the dressing room as well.

07:55 Last season was really tough mentally and physically.

07:58 Do you now feel refreshed and ready for a new season

08:01 after the break that you've had?

08:02 Well, yes, definitely.

08:05 It's not easy.

08:07 I'm not going to lie to you with this busy schedule

08:10 that we have nowadays,

08:13 because you play every three days for almost a year,

08:18 and the last years with COVID

08:21 and with the World Cup in the middle of the season

08:25 and with everything being delayed

08:26 or played in different schedules with new competitions.

08:35 We don't have much time to rest,

08:36 but we're getting used to it now.

08:38 I'm not saying that it's ideal,

08:40 but it's the same for everyone.

08:42 And we're ready for a new season, yeah.

08:46 How do we ensure that we stay at the top?

08:49 Because as Pep said last week,

08:51 everybody now is going to want to beat us.

08:53 What can we do to ensure that we stay the best?

08:58 Well, I just think focusing on ourselves.

09:00 Obviously, the other teams,

09:02 they will try and find new ways of beating us

09:07 because we've won so much in the last few years.

09:09 So they will try to improve their teams.

09:11 They will try to do their best.

09:13 And we just have to focus on ourselves.

09:15 That's the main thing.

09:17 That's the only thing that we can control.

09:19 So try to...

09:23 I always feel that more than improve

09:27 the things that you're not very good at,

09:30 I think that we have to keep doing well

09:33 the things that we did very well last season.

09:36 So maintain that level,

09:38 maintain as well the ambition,

09:42 because that's the most important thing,

09:45 because the quality is still here.

09:47 The team is almost the same.

09:50 So if the younger levels are still the same,

09:55 the chances of us winning again are high,

09:58 knowing that our rivals are better this season.

10:02 But yeah, we can do it.

10:05 You mentioned before about the four titles in a row.

10:08 No one's ever done that in the history of English football.

10:11 That would be seriously new ground broken.

10:16 Is that an extra motivation for you guys?

10:18 I know you guys are motivated to win anyway,

10:21 but that would be a really significant piece of history,

10:24 wouldn't it?

10:26 Well, yes, of course.

10:27 When you think that no one ever did it before,

10:31 if you do it, it always makes you feel a bit more special

10:38 in terms of we created something in history.

10:42 And if we do it,

10:46 it's not going to be easy for anyone else to do it again,

10:49 because this country,

10:52 the amount of teams that fight for this title every year,

10:56 it's just ridiculous.

10:57 It doesn't happen anywhere else.

11:00 And yeah, we're very motivated to achieve that.

11:06 We've signed Kovacic and Vardy all.

11:08 What are your early impressions of those guys

11:10 and what can they bring to this squad?

11:12 Well, Kovacic was a player that I knew

11:16 and that I know very well from the last years,

11:19 because he's a bit older and he's more experienced.

11:24 So I already knew that a big, big player

11:29 and someone that could help us a lot was coming.

11:33 So no surprises in terms of how good he is,

11:37 because I think that everyone knew.

11:39 In terms of Guardiola,

11:40 a young guy that personally I didn't know very well.

11:44 I watched a few games in the World Cup from Croatia.

11:46 We played against Leipzig.

11:48 So we watched some of their games

11:52 and against us he scored the goal.

11:54 But very impressive.

11:56 Good attitude, good spirit

11:59 and obviously the quality is there.

12:00 So we're going to try and help him to develop a lot

12:05 and to help this team with many, many things.

12:07 And one final question.

12:09 Our fans are always asking us how John, your dog, is.

12:12 Not yet, because we're going to have my wife.

12:15 She's there to have the baby in about two weeks.

12:20 So they're only going to come back to Manchester in October,

12:23 but he's very well. Thank you.

12:24 Good stuff.

12:25 Congratulations on your new deal, Bernardo,

12:27 and good luck with this season.

12:28 Thank you.

12:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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