David Silva uses space to get better with age

David Silva has mastered the use of space to still be a key part of Manchester City’s success aged 33.

David Silva had a choice. He was the wrong side of 30 and his legs weren’t as quick as they used to be.

His influence in the Manchester City team also wasn’t as strong as it once had been. Not after Pep Guardiola had recruited Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva to help reduce City’s reliance on the pint-sized Spanish playmaker.

They joined Kevin De Bruyne and Guardiola’s favorite from the academy, Phil Foden, to make Silva just another player in the Citizens’ star-studded midfield.

Silva’s choice was simple: adapt or die. He was no longer going to be the twisting-and-turning wizard who acted as the undisputed creative heartbeat of title-winning teams for Roberto Mancini and Manuel Pellegrini.

Instead, Silva had to find a way to become a worthy accompanying act for Guardiola’s star men. His answer lay in how he could use space in more subtle and intelligent ways.

The process began at the start of the 2017-18 campaign when Guardiola dropped De Bruyne a little deeper. This tactical tweak afforded Silva more freedom to roam the final third and avoid the congested logjam in the middle, saving his aging frame and dwindling energy from being unnecessarily sapped.

De Bruyne making way hasn’t been the only significant step in Silva enjoying a superb swan song to his City career. The emergence of Raheem Sterling has also played its part.

His pace, runs and goal threat from the left flank have helped create a comfortable buffer zone for Silva. He now exists in the sweet spot of the inside left channel, far enough away from the scrap in the middle and just wide enough to avoid close attention between the midfield and forward lines.

Silva gave a masterclass in how to use the comfort this space allows during Sunday’s 3-1 win away to Bournemouth. It was the 33-year-old’s 400th appearance for City in what will be his final season for the club.

City have won four Premier League titles since Silva arrived from Valencia in 2010. You wouldn’t bet against them making it five based on the way the timeless maestro ran the show against the Cherries.

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Guardiola sent City out in a 4-3-3 shape with a progressive midfield anchored by Gundogan and with De Bruyne and Silva just ahead. The latter kept himself above the fray by making the right movements at the right time.

Silva’s formula for success proved to be an easy one. He simply drifted one way or the other depending on where Sterling went.

The pattern was set early when Sterling was hugging the left touch-line. As he went wide, Silva also took a step closer toward the touch-line.

With the prolific Sterling drawing the attentions of two defenders, while Sergio Aguero occupied the center-backs, Silva was free. He nudged a deft and uncontested pass to meet Sterling’s overlapping run, with the latter teeing up Bernardo Silva, who should have capped the slick move with a goal.

The same principle worked the other way for City’s second goal. This time, Sterling drifted off the flank and into the inside left channel.

As he did, Silva moved further infield to take up a central position just off Aguero. With Sterling again drawing a crowd, while the rest of the defense remained occupied with Aguero, Silva had an island to himself as he turned and released Sterling to score.

Using space the right way also helped Silva play a key part in his side’s third. Aguero had drifted wide to meet a throw-in, leaving Silva to move inside.

He was again ahead of De Buryne and ran beyond the front to work a scruffy one-two with Aguero that ended with the Argentinian completing his brace.

Before the game, Guardiola had said he thought Silva might “suffer” when he the slight schemer first moved to England, per Blake Welton of Sky Sports.

Guardiola was proved wrong because there’s nobody better than Silva at making the most of the spaces.

Silva had been the best player on the pitch at Bournemouth but barely had a grass stain on his shirt. He had kept himself free from contact and tight marking by responding thoughtfully to the movements of his team-mates.

Keeping a fluid picture of the attacking third in his mind, Silva was able to consistently identify the areas set to yield the most time and space to pick his passes.

It’s a knack borne from the player’s own intuition, as well as City’s clever construction around their most influential midfielder. With Sterling outside of him, Aguero in front and De Bruyne behind, Silva is ensconced within a core of danger men teams will naturally be drawn to.

All that’s left is for Silva’s own astute understanding of space, as well as his still-effective skills, to punish those who ignore him.