Bernardo Silva Offers Scathing Assessment of Man City Season | OneFootball

Bernardo Silva appeared to call out some of his teammates when explaining Manchester City’s poor 2024–25 season, suggesting that times like these are when the “real ones” step up.

The Cityzens entered the campaign having won the Premier League title four years on the spin, but it became clear by the end of the calendar year that they would not be retaining their crown. Pep Guardiola struggled to mitigate Rodri’s absence in the middle of the park after the Ballon d’Or winner tore his ACL in September, but their issues transcended the Spaniard’s injury.

City spent big in January in search of salvation, and there has been a marked improvement this calendar year. However, a rare season without a major trophy in the club’s modern history beckons after they were beaten by Crystal Palace in Saturday’s FA Cup final.

The contest was talked up pre-match as potentially being the last hurrah for several members of City’s old guard who’ve played leading roles in the club’s success under Guardiola. Kevin De Bruyne is moving on following the expiry of his contract in June, while Bernardo has been linked with a Benfica reunion.

The Portuguese midfielder, who made his 47th appearance of the season in the final, spoke scathingly after City’s 1–0 defeat at Wembley, suggesting that “something has to change” at the Etihad.

“You learn a lot of new things, in the bad moments you learn new things,” Bernardo told assembled reporters. “Who you can go to war with, first of all. Because it’s in the bad moments that you see who the real ones are.

“And a lot of things that were good for us—not to take things for granted, for our fans, for the club. Don’t lower our standards.

“It’s a tough season for us. It’s a really, really bad season for us. Something has to change next year,” he added.

The 30-year-old refused to dig into the specifics of what has to change at City, suggesting it’s for “the big bosses to decide.” Nevertheless, he spoke like a man who doesn’t intend to leave the club anytime soon having previously been open to a departure.

After spending close to £200 million ($267.1 million) in January, the Cityzens are poised for another large outlay this summer, particularly in midfield. Florian Wirtz, Morgan Gibbs-White and Tijjani Reijnders have all been linked with moves to the Etihad.

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