Bernardo Silva on Manchester City rivals and ‘hatred’. Plus: France’s scary World Cup squad

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Hi! He’s been one of the Premier League’s most gifted playmakers, and it turns out Bernardo Silva has opinions as wide as his passing range. He’ll be missed.

Coming up:

🗣️ Bernardo interview

🇫🇷 Can anyone stop France?

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 EPL’s English coach shortage

👦 City’s youth dominance

Golden Silva: Man City star on being a bad loser and Arsenal learning to ‘man up’

At their very best, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have moved the ball with a mesmeric, sometimes robotic, precision as their unique style transformed them into a Premier League-winning machine.

But despite the system being the star, part of City’s wider appeal has been Guardiola’s signing of players who can also produce moments of undiluted brilliance.

Perhaps this season it’s been Rayan Cherki or Jeremy Doku, but the master of invention, the veteran of inspiration at the Etihad, is Bernardo Silva. The Portugal midfielder is preparing to draw a close to his trophy-laden spell in Manchester at the end of this season, and has sat down for a rare interview with The Athletic’s Oliver Kay to reflect.

There’s plenty to enjoy, including thoughts on his own technique and how he sees the game, but Bernardo is especially gripping on the nature of rivalry — City’s clashes with Liverpool and, more recently, Arsenal; with the current title race still in play.

He’s also, at 31, prepared to say what he thinks (it helps that he’ll be leaving soon) and has not been shy (hello, Gunners) as he discusses his memorable spell through a series of photographs and what comes next.

🗣️ On Arsenal: “They’ve been growing and … well, it’s a team that has been together for, what, five years now, so it’s only natural that they would man up a little bit and start challenging for titles, so, yeah, let’s see what happens.”

🗣️ On the title race: “No, I’m not in love (with Arsenal). I do believe our main rivals (in his time at City) were Liverpool by far. I also believe — and I know this is very subjective — that if we were not in a transitional season and if we didn’t make so many mistakes, we would have won this league.”

🗣️ On City’s 2017-18 side who won the title with 100 points:

“In future, I think people will look back and think that this (City) generation was … if not the best, then one of the best in the history of English football…”

🗣️ On the rivalry with Klopp’s Liverpool:

“They made us better. We made them better for sure. When you’re living this kind of rivalry, you can’t like each other. They have to hate us. We have to hate them. That’s totally normal.”

🗣️ On Guardiola’s genius:

“Even when we have a very successful season, he’s always finding new ways so that teams can’t adapt to us. In terms of offensive concepts, I would say he’s by far the best manager I’ve seen. I don’t think there is anyone better.”

‘Easier’ to play in EPL than France

Bernardo addresses the allegations that Manchester City breached Premier League financial regulations more than 100 times between 2009 and 2018. He hopes there’s a swift resolution on that front (don’t we all, Bernie?) but also suspects rivals have used the unproven breaches to undermine City’s achievements.

And while you would think that in a highly physical league, the 5ft 8in playmaker might struggle, he has a contrarian view, saying he found it “easier” since joining from Monaco of France’s Ligue 1 in 2017 because of the technical way City play.

In fact, the only time he buttons up is when it comes to his next destination. Barcelona? Silva isn’t giving any hints, but he does have a message for his agent if he wants to talk shop in the meantime.

• Bernardo isn’t the only one leaving City at the end of the campaign, and no this isn’t a casual world exclusive concerning the gaffer. But Guardiola is losing a long-term colleague. Fitness coach Lorenzo Buenaventura, who has worked with Guardiola for 15 years, is set to say goodbye at the end of the season. Goalkeeper coach Xabi Mancisidor is also off.

News round-up

• Freedom of expression and football fandom go hand in hand. Even the most powerful club owners can’t stop chants and grumbles of dissent on the terraces. But they can censor flags criticising them. Ask Real Madrid president Florentino Perez.
• If you read Adam Crafton’s insightful interview with him, you’ll know Carlo Ancelotti is loving life as Brazil’s manager. He has now signed a contract extension until 2030.
• You wouldn’t think Shakira, Madonna, or boyband BTS would get out of bed to play a free gig. But they are, in the sense that they’re not getting a fee for performing at the first-ever World Cup final half-time show. To be fair, the billions of eyeballs watching them do so probably amount to dollar signs somewhere down the line.
• Donald Trump’s administration is appearing to make life a little easier, and cheaper, for fans hoping to travel to the U.S. for next month’s tournament. But will waiving tourist bonds make much difference?
• Early next week will be a key phase in the fast-moving and engrossing spygate scandal, casting a shadow over the ongoing EFL Championship play-offs. Finalists Southampton could potentially be kicked out and lose their chance for promotion to the Premier League.
• Lamine Yamal waved a Palestinian flag during Barcelona’s recent title-winning parade. It has led to some very spiky diplomatic exchanges between indignant Israeli politicians and their Spanish counterparts.
• Shall we sort a GoFundMe for Sir Jim Ratcliffe? Reports have emerged that his estimated wealth has dropped by £2billion. Actually, he should be OK — the Manchester United co-owner still commands a £15.19bn overall fortune.

Show of strength: France’s frightening World Cup squad, and Kiwis’ Braintree player 

Kylian Mbappe leads a dangerous France squad (Xavier Laine/Getty Images)

OK, so by virtue of the fact it’s a group of every nation’s very best players, you might expect a major footballing superpower like France to have a star-studded World Cup squad.

But they really have got one to make rivals quake this time. On Thursday, manager Didier Deschamps named a roster bursting with frightening talent.

In the forward positions alone, he has Kylian Mbappe, Ousmane Dembele, Michael Olise, Desire Doue, Maghnes Akliouche, Bradley Barcola, Rayan Cherki, Jean-Philippe Mateta and Marcus Thuram.

There are a few interesting calls too: Palace’s Mateta was by no means a certainty, and elsewhere, Real Madrid’s experienced midfielder Eduardo Camavinga has missed out.

I guess the question is: who’s beating that?

Maybe not — and this is with throwing no shade at my Kiwi friends — New Zealand. It’s not that Chris Wood, who has made their squad, won’t score goals — he could smash headers in a phone box.

But they’ve also included 36-year-old Tommy Smith, of English fifth-tier side Braintree Town. Both are set to make history as the first New Zealand players to appear at two World Cups.

Anyone smell a fairytale story?

EPL’s national shortage: Why are there only two English managers with permanent jobs?

It’s been 34 years since an Englishman last guided a team to the English top-flight title.

While the other top European leagues have plenty of native sons managing their best clubs, an English manager has never won the Premier League.

Why not? And why does it matter? The Athletic’s Daniel Taylor has spoken to Howard Wilkinson, who did it last when his Leeds United side won the old First Division in 1991-92.

The 82-year-old believes there are some about who are capable of doing it, but the Premier League’s global reach means clubs simply aren’t bothered by the nationality of their manager/head coach.

There is hope though. Frank Lampard has gone again at Coventry City and Michael Carrick has taken to life at Manchester United nicely.

Around TAFC

• When is a stripe just too big? It depends on what you think of Manchester United’s newly unveiled 2026-27 home shirt. Adidas says it has modelled the design on the United’s FA Cup-winning kit from 1976-77, but in a modern twist, it has supersized the company’s iconic three stripes down the sleeve. Carl Anka gives his view.

• It’s Friday, and it’s now officially NOT too early to talk about World Cup fever. So if you’re shaking your hips Shakira style, and day-dreaming about the World Cup final on July 19, you can find out more about its impressive venue. As part of The Athletic’s guide to the 16 stadiums that will host the tournament, we’ve gone into fine detail on New Jersey’s MetLife, or as it will be called in a not-at-all-wordy shift for the duration of the tournament, the New York New Jersey Stadium. Find out more.

• The Premier League’s various edge-of-your-seat races — the title, Europe, and relegation — resume this weekend. Find out what our crack prediction unit (Oli Kay, an algorithm, a guest subscriber on rotation, and a six-year-old boy) think is going to happen as Arsenal, West Ham and Spurs all head into action.

• Thursday’s most clicked: Is the magic back for Phil Foden?

📬 Love TAFC? Check out The Athletic’s other newsletters, including Full-Time, for women’s soccer.

Catch a match

(Selected games)

Friday – Premier League: Aston Villa vs Liverpool, 3pm/8pm — NBC, Peacock Premium/Sky Sports.

Saturday – FA Cup final: Chelsea vs Manchester City, 10am/3pm — ESPN, Fubo/BBC, TNT Sports; Scottish Premiership: Celtic vs Heart of Midlothian, 7.30am/12.30pm — Paramount+/Sky Sports; German Bundesliga (both 9.30am/2.30pm): Borussia Monchengladbach vs Hoffenheim; Eintracht Frankfurt vs Stuttgart — both ESPN (U.S. only); MLS: New York Red Bulls vs New York City, 7.30pm/12.30am; San Jose Earthquakes vs FC Dallas, 10.30pm/3.30am — Apple TV in both regions.

Sunday – Premier League: Manchester United vs Nottingham Forest, 7.30am/12.30pm; Leeds United vs Brighton and Hove Albion, 10am/3pm; Newcastle United vs West Ham United, 12.30pm/5.30pm — all USA Network/Sky Sports; La Liga: Sevilla vs Real Madrid, 1pm/6pm; Barcelona vs Real Betis, 3.15pm/8.15pm — both ESPN/Premier Sports; Serie A: Roma vs Lazio, 6am/11am — Paramount+, DAZN/DAZN; Ligue 1: Paris FC vs Paris Saint-Germain, 3pm/8pm — beIN Sports, Fanatiz, Fubo/Ligue1+; MLS: Inter Miami vs Portland Timbers, 6pm/11pm — Apple TV in both regions.

And finally…

While it might be the end of an era for Bernardo in a few weeks, the future still looks bright for City.

Their academy has long been the envy of the football world, and it is showing no signs of slowing the production line that has produced stars such as Phil Foden and Nico O’Reilly.

Bernardo has much to say about rivalry in his interview, and City got one over on Manchester United on Thursday, beating them 2-1 to win the FA Youth Cup, with respective first-team managers Pep Guardiola and Michael Carrick watching on.

Former England and Liverpool striker Emile Heskey’s son Reigan scored the late winner, with a lovely dummy and shot (above), as his dad cheered him on.

It was a good night for gifted offspring, as Floyd Samba — son of former Blackburn Rovers defender Chris — got City’s first goal. Other top performers and names to watch out for were Ryan McAidoo for City and United’s highly promising 15-year-old forward JJ Gabriel and his team-mate Jim Thwaites.

But it was not a good night for United Under-18s coach Darren Fletcher, who called out the FA for allowing City to put on a ‘parade’ when presented with the trophy.

Bernardo is right, some rivalries go very deep.