Pundit Danny Murphy has said that David Silva improved his game out of possession after Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City.
The former City star had to prematurely retire from professional football after sustaining a knee injury whilst training with Real Sociedad.
Now though, the Spaniard’s name recently cropped up while one pundit was discussing how important it is for players to work hard off the ball nowadays.
Murphy says Silva raised his game under Guardiola
Speaking on talkSPORT, Murphy had this to say about the impact Guardiola had on Silva during their time together at the club.
He said: “Man City have wonderfully gifted footballers who work harder than anybody else. I always go back to David Silva.
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“David Silva’s levels and his numbers when Pep first came in went through the roof in distance covered, high intensity, winning the ball back.
“This is David Silva, one of the best players we’ve ever seen in our league.”
During his 10-year spell at the Etihad Stadium, the 37-year-old made 436 appearances across all competitions, scoring 77 goals and delivering 140 assists in the process.
Looking back to the 2017/18 Premier League season, the midfielder ended the campaign with a combined total of 50 tackles and interceptions, leaving only two other City midfielders with more.
Then at the end of the 2018/19 Premier League campaign, Silva racked up a combined total of 52 tackles and interceptions, once again only leaving two midfielders with more.
This shows that while he was no stranger to delivering goal contributions, the World Cup winner also did his bit off the ball in trying to win it back for his side.
While the midfielder was mostly known for his impressive technical ability on the ball and the way he passed it around the pitch, it’s nice to see him getting recognition from Murphy for his efforts out of possession once Guardiola took charge of City.