Bernando Silva says Manchester City have “nothing to prove” despite them currently being amid a defensive crisis.
The defending Premier League champions presently have just one centre-back available to manager Pep Guardiola, that being Nicolás Otamendi, with Aymeric Laporte and John Stones sidelined through injury.
City’s defensive crisis: Five key things to know…
- Nicolás Otamendi is the only Man City centre-back currently available to Pep Guardiola.
- Aymeric Laporte and John Stones are sidelined through injury.
- It meant Fernandinho partnered Otamendi in their 3-0 Champions League win at Shakhtar Donetsk.
- Guardiola is expected to continue with that pairing in their Premier League game at Watford.
- Bernardo Silva feels City have “nothing to prove” after what they have recently achieved.
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This current predicament forced Guardiola to once again deploy Fernandinho, a defensive midfielder by trade, alongside the aforementioned Otamendi in their recent 3-0 Champions League win at Shakhtar Donetsk and chances are he’ll remain there when Watford visit.
City’s win came days after suffering their first defeat of the season against Norwich City at Carrow Road, the 3-2 loss was compounded by defensive errors, most notably Otamendi being caught out for the Canaries third scored by Teemu Pukki.
Silva, who is playing in his third season at the Etihad, feels there’s no reason to panic as Guardiola’s men have proven their worth in the past two championship-winning seasons and he’s expecting them to bounce back at the Hornets’ expense.
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“People can criticise and say what they want,” he said. “We don’t need to prove anything to anyone after what we’ve done the last two seasons.
“We’re relaxed. Of course, we’re not happy because we want to do better and we know losing against Norwich isn’t ideal, but all teams have good and bad moments. It’s impossible to stay three seasons, only with good moments.
“Sometimes, you will have bad moments and it’s the way you react to those bad moments that show how good a team you are and that’s what we’ll try to do. Every time we’ve had bad moments in the past, we’ve always reacted well and that’s what we’ll try to do again.”