Bernardo Silva says Man City’s high standards mean leaders will keep driving on
Etihad star notes they are two points worse off in Prem than at this stage last season but believes their rivals are stronger
MANCHESTER CITY have been behind for only 12 minutes this season — but they are still not satisfied.
Despite that remarkable fact, Pep Guardiola’s team are actually behind last season’s points tally at this stage.
The Etihad side are sitting pretty at the top of the Premier League on 41 points and reeling off the stats to keep themselves on their toes.
Midfield maestro Bernardo Silva said: “Last season after 15 games we had two more points.
“This season we have drawn twice and last season we only had one draw at this stage of the season. So I don’t know if we’re doing better.
“We are doing pretty well anyway and we just want to keep going and try to forget about last season.
“I know what we did last season was really good and amazing to break all the records but this is another season.
“Now we have to try to win the Premier League again against different opponents, stronger opponents in my opinion, so it will be a tough season for us.”
Tough it may be but compared to Arsenal’s Invincibles, City have more goals, wins and points and have trailed for only 12 minutes this season — compared with Arsenal’s 2003-04 vintage being behind for 150 minutes at this stage of the campaign.
But City are dealing this season with a Liverpool challenge that looks tougher than Manchester United managed last season.
They have also seen injuries to key players Kevin De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero — yet still Pep’s troops have been unbeatable.
Last season they needed late goals to see off Huddersfield, West Ham and Southampton but this time around has been smoother, even if there was a nervous finale to Tuesday night’s 2-1 win at Watford.
In that game, Pep changed the entire back four, as well as drafting in David Silva and Riyad Mahrez.
Bernardo, 24, insists this strength in depth shows City are ready for a tough Christmas schedule.
The former Monaco and Benfica ace said: “It says the squad is very strong and that is important to us in December and January, which are very difficult months with a lot of difficult games.
“It’s good to change the players and not see the difference and still get important wins like the one against Watford.
"We’re very happy with the squad we have and with the win.
“It is a little bit different because in both of the countries where I played before — Portugal and France — we have a Christmas break.
“Here it won’t stop so it’s a bit complicated — but it’s good to play every three days.
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"We complain a little bit but it’s good because we love this game and we love to play and it’s a tradition in England so we respect it.”
Bernardo’s aim is to pull away from rivals by the time the Christmas period is over.
He added: “When you are leading the league and winning almost every game, teams try to see your weaknesses and exploit them.
“Our job is to make the least mistakes we can, keep winning and try to make this gap a bit bigger in December and January, which are important months with many games.”