Manchester City midfielder David Silva has announced his retirement from international football after Spains disappointing World Cup last-16 exit. He enjoyed a stellar 12-year career for Spain, winning 125 caps along the way.
However, he is undoubtedly one of the most underrated players in recent years. Largely hidden by the trio of Xavi-Iniesta-Busquet in Spain national team, he was still a full member of the Spanish squad that triumphed at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and achieved a superb double by winning the Euro in 2008 and 2012, with eleven starts during these three competitions.
Here we will take a look at David Silva career, how he has tactically matured over the last few seasons and how this decision could elongate his career.
Revealed in Valencia
Though is started his Valencia career in 2004, he really stood out in the 2009-2010 season. David Silva scores a personal best of eight league goals and overall makes his best season with Valencia CF as the club finishes the season in third place in the league and qualifies for the Champions League. On April 15, 2010, he scored a superb goal against Athletic Bilbao as his team won 2-0, before making three assists in the sixteenth final of the Europa League against Werder Bremen.
Alongside David Villa, Jordi Alba, Ever Banega, Juan Mata or Carlos Marchena, David Silva was part of this golden generation that did not play in Barcelona or Real Madrid at the time.
As we can see in the passnetwork below, he played most of the time in the “10 position” in a 4-2-3-1 scheme either as a playmaker or as a striker support. In this 2009-2010 season, he scored 8 goals and provided 7 assists in 30 games.
New positions in Manchester City and Spain national team
During Mancini and Pellegrini seasons in Manchester City 2010 up to 2016 the Spanish player was positioned a lot on the right wing which was an evolution from his time in Valencia. In the Spain national team, he also played in such a position while the midfield was “blocked” by Xavi-Iniesta-Busquet trio.
This position also fits him perfectly. While he is left footed, he can build the game by coming in the centre of the field or provide breaking crosses by putting himself on his left foot, like Eriksen or Ozil nowadays. But unlike the latter, he also scores a lot of goals for his kind of profile. He is not fast and doesn’t have a incredible stamina but he has a rare intelligence in his moves which does more than compensate these gaps. Therefore he is not always on the wing and he plays a lot behind the striker, like his time in Valencia.
When Guardiola
