New Real Madrid center midfielder Bernardo Silva is not a player Florentino Perez was exactly pining for this summet transfer window, as the Royal White president had already rejected his transfer attempts from Manchester City back when he was in his prime. But Flo was not about to deny Jose Mourinho a player the legendary Portuguese manager viewed as essentail to his plans, agreeing to sign Silva as a mere free agent early in the window.
Although Silva had a rough game against Espanyol and was outfought and outclassed by the underdogs on the road, the slick No. 8 showed the fire that Mourinho envisioned when he signed him and some of that quality he was showing in the preseason when people were getting reminded a bit of what Luka Modric did in his veteran years for the team.
On Wednesday night as part of a massive 4-1 blowout win over Real Sociedad at the Santiago Bernabeu, Bernardo Silva showed a different, more important side to him, scrapping and playing elite defensive football for Real Madrid in their monstrous victory.
Bernardo Silva is giving Real Madrid what they were missing
Silva barely misplaced a pass and was incredible defensively, and the latter part was most important to Real Madrid here. Jose Mourinho signed Silva because he knew the treble winning veteran midfielder is willing to put in the work and fight defensively for the team to win the ball, making life easie for the rest of his teammates so that they can focus more on creating and scoring goals.
The help Bernardo Silva provided on defense was essential to Arda Guler creating five more chances for his teammatesin that false winger role, while Jude Bellingham added more goal contributions without having to only focus on defense - not that, of course, he didn't defend himself.
Silva is an unsung hero for Real Madrid and is going to be one of their most important players when he is in the starting XI for Jose Mourinho. After a bit of a rough go around in his Real Madrid debut against Espanyol, Silva settled in vs. Real Sociedad, and Real Madrid need to see more of that defensive quality and intensity, particularly in terms of winning possession and cracking up passing lanes. Silva is nothing like Casemiro as a player, but having someone willing to work and defend this effectively in the middle of the park is always a missing piece for Real Madrid.
Add us as a preferred source on Google