“Tell me, which player? Give me names!” – Bernardo Silva denounces lazy Manchester City criticism after hitting FA Cup landmark | OneFootball

Bernardo Silva has silenced Manchester City’s critics after helping his side reach the FA Cup semi-final for a seventh consecutive season after beating Bournemouth on Sunday.

The 30-year-old has been a mainstay in Pep Guardiola’s starting XI during a difficult season that saw City fall short of a serious challenge for the Premier League title and exit the UEFA Champions League at the Round of 16 stage.

City endured a disastrous run of results between November and December which more or less killed any hopes of a genuine title run, with Real Madrid knocking out the Blues out of Europe with a 6-2 aggregate score over two legs.

An early Carabao Cup exit at the hands of Tottenham means the FA Cup is Manchester City’s sole shot at silverware this season, with Nottingham Forest next up for Guardiola’s men at Wembley in the semi-final.

This season’s struggles has seen a rise in discourse around many amongst Manchester City’s squad potentially being too old and worn around of their desire to win, having achieved unparalleled success under Guardiola since 2017.

Bernardo Silva has rubbished these suggestions and has sought to prove Manchester City’s doubters wrong, reminding their critics of how much the group have achieved together in an interview with John Cross of The Mirror after Sunday’s win over Bournemouth.

“Tell me, which player? Give me names. That’s people that don’t understand the game. I’m 30 years old, (Mateo) Kovacic is 30 years old. You’re not talking about guys that are 36,” Silva said.

“So we have six bad months or four bad months and out of nowhere we’re old, we’re not good enough? In the last eight seasons, we’ve won six Premier Leagues and for four bad months, we’re old?

“I’m asking you. You asked me the question so I answered. That’s people that don’t understand the game, never played the game and probably don’t understand a thing about football.”

City are currently sitting in fifth place in the Premier League and with nine league games left, the reigning champions are vying for a place in next season’s UEFA Champions League by securing a top four league finish.

“We’re going to prove them (critics) wrong. We have time for that. We’re a bit late for this season, just maybe in a few competitions, but we’ll be back, don’t worry,” Silva added.

“The FA Cup is the only competition that we have to make ourselves feel a little bit better, obviously still not good, even if we win the FA Cup. But yes, it can make us feel a little bit better. Wembley is a very special venue, it’s always nice to be there. We were in two finals the last two years against Manchester United, one we managed to win, last season we lost.

“We want to be there again, fighting for the title, knowing it’s not easy, because we played (Nottingham) Forest in the semi-final and they’re having a great season, but we have to put our energy into that.”