David - Our Goliath.

Not since the days of Ali Benarbia, has there been such a concurring sense of expectation stemming from one man’s creative ability. The mercurial, yet maturing wizard came to City in the latter stages of his career and enlightened the City faithful with his range of passing, touch and his sublime vision. Since the day ‘Ali’ said his farewells to the game, there has been an unyielding desire for the club to fill his little, yet colossal boots. The hopes of the club and prayers of the fans seem to have been answered this summer with the acquisition of twenty-five year old David Silva, a man who casts a similar shadow to his predecessor.

 The physical stature of our twenty-five million pound Spaniard is not the only comparison that can be drawn.

Initially, Silva took a while to settle into English football, his slight build was scrutinised with few suspecting he may be a little lightweight for the Premier league. But Silva has been in impressive form in the last three months and shown exactly why Roberto Mancini brought him to Manchester. The lack of physical strength in his slight frame is contradicted by his speed of thought, his first touch is consistent and his vision nothing short of remarkable. The way Silva glides across the pitch with such grace makes playing football look easy, his natural awareness epitomized perfectly by his contribution to Carlos Tevez’ goal against Chelsea this season where his subtle then sharp movement totally nullified John Terry’s presence, a mental demolition of one of the best defenders in the world.

Showing more of the attitude, intelligence and perhaps most importantly; the ambition that initially brought him to the club, it didn’t take long for Silva to inevitably find his feet. He has now settled in the team and made one of the three forward positions his own. Playing behind Carlos Tevez and predictably Edin Dzeko, Silva has emerged as the player to carry the creative burden, dropping deep into the space behind the midfield and combining his refined attributes to unpick the locks of many premier league defences.  The fluency of the team is so much more apparent when David Silva plays, effortlessly interchanging positions with any of the flexible front 3 and even at times with the more positionally rigid Gareth Barry. No matter where on the pitch, the space seems to be where Silva is. Of course any player with any degree of intelligence can find space but it is the touch, control and creative productivity that makes our number twenty-one stand out from the rest.

The system Mancini adopts perfectly accommodates the more expressive players and the natural and typically Spanish ‘free role’ that Silva relishes. The first half of the season has seen Silva operate in a wider role although his long term impact could well be delivered from a more central position, higher up the pitch with little defensive responsibility. Silva has so far scored only one league goal, albeit a beautiful individually crafted goal at a crucial time away at Blackpool but the Spaniard certainly has more to offer on that front. With ten goals in forty-four international appearances it is evident that he can provide a goal-scoring touch from midfield. Forty-four caps seems somewhat underwhelming for a player of such calibre, although breaking into an international midfield containing Fabregas, Iniesta, and Xavi is no easy task.

Silva has already broke a club record having been here only half a season and already winning the clubs official player of the month award three times in a row, an achievement which exemplifies the respect and admiration he has at the club and is a representation of his elevation to a real fans favourite. The importance of Silva to Mancini’s plans has become evident since his return from injury, on several occasions he has been withdrawn after the point in which the game was considered to be won – the familiar ‘wrapping him up in cotton wool’ technique that we have seen also relevant to Torres and Fabregas.

After consistent showings of potential and the occasional flash of brilliance in the first half of the season, Silva’s influence on the second half of the season could be much more considerable than anyone anticipated. As we push towards the long awaited silverware that is so desperately desired there is every reason to be confident that the small shoulders of David will be more than sufficient to take on the goliath task.

As featured in issue 2 of Topical City Magazine - http://topicalcity.co.uk/2011/02/issue-2-february/