Bernardo Silva believes Manchester City would have beaten rivals Arsenal to the Premier League title if they were not in a so-called “transitional season”.
With two games left to play, Arsenal are on the brink of their first league title in 22 years as they sit two points ahead of Manchester City.
The Gunners will take on Burnley and Crystal Palace in their final two fixtures, while City must get positive results when they come up against Bournemouth and Aston Villa.
It has been a season of ups and downs for Pep Guardiola‘s side, who remain in the title race, despite trailing to Arsenal for the majority of the campaign.
Bernando Silva, meanwhile, believes City would be on course to secure another Premier League trophy if they “didn’t make so many mistakes” in recent months.
Speaking to The Athletic in a wide-ranging interview, Silva did not hold back in his assessment of Arsenal’s title charge.
“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,” he said.
“No, I’m not in love [with Arsenal]. I do believe our main rivals 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.”
“I don’t say we would have won easily, but we would have won this league,” added the Portuguese midfielder. “So it’s quite frustrating.”
Bernardo Silva believes City would have won this season’s Premier League title if they were not in a “transitional season”. Image credit: GettyBernardo Silva gives his thoughts on West Ham’s disallowed goal against Arsenal
Last week, Arsenal edged closer to the league title after a late Leandro Trossard goal helped them secure three points at the London Stadium.
It was a controversial game, to say the least. With seconds remaining, the Gunners looked like they had conceded a 95th-minute equaliser when Callum Wilson found the back of the net following a corner.
However, referee Chris Kavanagh ruled out Wilson’s strike after VAR official Darren England recommended an on-field review.
VAR deemed there was a foul on goalkeeper David Raya in the build-up, with replays showing that Raya was having his shirt pulled by Jean-Clair Todibo as he went up to contest a corner, while Pablo leaned in to Raya’s neck with his arm.
Pablo of West Ham United fouls David Raya of Arsenal resulting in a late equalising goal for West Ham being disallowed by VAR. Image credit: Getty
Silva believes it was a foul on Raya but has explained why the situation is “quite frustrating”.
“The only problem is the consistency of the referees,” he said.
“It’s not just this. It’s everything that happens around, so in this picture you see three or four fouls taking place. It’s a foul, but it’s quite frustrating when they allow this type of contact at times during the season and then they decide not to allow it in such a game.
“It’s a shame. The Premier League is such a good product in terms of the referees letting the game flow and not whistling every challenge. All of this helps to make it the best league in the world in my opinion.
“But then on the other hand, you look at what has been happening with set-pieces in the last two seasons and it’s a bit of a shame to see teams taking one minute over throw-ins, free kicks, goal kicks, corners… I wouldn’t say that’s the way the game should be going.”