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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
Sport
Ian Doyle

'Doesn't make sense' - Man City midfielder Bernardo Silva questions Liverpool praise

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva has questioned whether Liverpool merited the praise they received after coming close to an unprecedented quadruple last season.

The Reds lifted the League Cup and FA Cup and were in the hunt for all four major trophies until the last week of the campaign when they missed out on the Premier League title by a point from City and were then beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid in the Champions League final.

Liverpool's efforts were recognised by having six players named in the PFA Team of the Year and Jurgen Klopp being named the LMA Manager of the Year.

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But Silva, who was also in the Team of the Year along with two other team-mates, believes it is strange City were not better represented.

"I'm not complaining here, but I feel like other clubs get a lot more credit than Man City for doing less," he said. "For example, when I was at Benfica - a huge club in Portugal with more fans, more everything - you do something nice, and they make it look like it's great. Here at Man City, you do something great and they make it look like it's just good.

"I'm not complaining, but playing in the Premier League and winning four titles in five years and checking the Premier League team of the year every year and knowing that we're never the team that has the most players.

"We don't have the best manager, we don't have the best players, but we still win four Premier Leagues in five years? It just doesn't make sense. It probably shows that Man City players don't get as much credit as they should. Of course, we don't get the credit that we deserve."

City had the most players in the PFA Team of the Year when they won the title in 2018, 2019 and 2021, while Guardiola was named LMA Manager of the Year in 2018 and 2021 with Chris Wilder of Sheffield United claiming the honour in 2019.

Silva, who infamously refused to join in City's guard of honour to commemorate new champions Liverpool in 2020, expects more than just the Reds to be challenging Guardiola's men for the title this season.

"It's unpredictable, honestly," he said to ESPN. "Of course, looking at what has happened over the past four or five seasons, you always look at City and Liverpool and you think that they're going to be the two favourites, but look at the team Chelsea is building. Tottenham is getting much better, Arsenal is getting better, Man United have got a new manager and some new signings - I think personally, they are going to be better as well. It's getting more and more competitive every year.

"Of course, City and Liverpool have been on top for the last few years so you're going to expect a bit more from them but you never know in the Premier League. There are six teams that can fight for everything."

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