David Silva

David Josué Jiménez Silva ( born 8 January 1986) is a Spanish professionalfootballer who plays for English club Manchester City and the Spanish national team. Silva plays mainly as anattacking midfielder but can also play as a winger or second striker. He is predominantly a left-footed player.
A Spanish international since the age of 20, he was an integral member of the squads that won three consecutive international tournaments — UEFA Euro 2008, 2010 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2012.
Silva spent six years of his professional career with Valencia CF, appearing in more than 150 games and winning one Copa del Rey in 2008, before moving in the summer of 2010 to Manchester City. His passing ability and possession-retaining qualities have earned him the nicknames "Merlin" and "El Mago" from his team-mates and fans. Since joining City, Silva has appeared in over 150 games in three seasons, winning the FA Cup, Football League Cup and two Premier League titles.

Club career
Manchester City

2011–12
Silva began the 2011–12 season in fine form, scoring the third goal in City's 4–0 thrashing of Swansea City and was votedman of the match. He also scored the following week against Bolton Wanderers, and was again named man of the match. Silva then set up two of Sergio Agüero's three goals in City's second home game against Wigan Athletic. After a series of magnificent displays from Silva, City boss Roberto Mancini compared him to fellow Spain internationals Xavi and Andrés Iniestaand said that Silva is "one of the best players in the world". On 1 October, Silva was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month for his outstanding performances, making it the first time ever that two Manchester City players have won the award in back to back months with Edin Džeko winning it the month before.



In the first Manchester Derby of the season at Old Trafford, Manchester City won 6–1, with Silva proving, yet again, to be instrumental in the Manchester City attack, scoring the fifth goal, setting up Edin Džeko's second with a chested volley pass through the United defense, and participating in the first two goals with excellent passing to James Milner to assist Mario Balotelli. On 25 October 2011, in an interview with a Spanish radio station, Silva revealed that he turned down FC Barcelonaand Real Madrid so he could sign for City and that he wants to stay at the club for years. He commented, "Madrid and Barcelona are great teams, but I'm happy here and I would like to stay here for many years." Former City and Englanddefender Earl Barrett said he is almost impossible to stop due to his ability to create space and Andy Cole, who mostly played for Manchester United, has stated that Silva "is a joy to watch." Silva scored a goal in City's 3–2 away win against Queens Park Rangers on 5 November and also scored in City's 1–0 home win against Arsenal on 18 December. He also contributed by scoring the fourth goal in City's 4–0 home win against West Brom on 11 April.

In addition to winning his first Premier League medal with Manchester City, he also finished the season as top of the assists table with 17 assists to his name and was one of four City players who made it in the PFA's Premier League Team of the Year.

2012–13


On 17 September 2012, Silva signed a new five-year deal at City, committing himself to the Etihad Stadium until 2017. He injured himself playing for Spain, which meant he had to miss four games for Manchester City. On 11 November, he provided the crucial assist, a lofted through-ball, to striker Edin Džeko, who converted in the 88th minute to steal a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. His first league goal of the season came in a 5–0 thrashing of Aston Villa at home in the very next league match, on 17 November. On 19 January 2013, Silva scored a brace against Fulham at home in a 2–0 win. On 9 March, he scored the fifth and final goal in Manchester City's win (5–0) against Barnsley at the City of Manchester Stadium in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup, sealing progression to the semi-finals. He finished the season with four goals and ten assists in 32 league appearances for a City squad that finished runners-up to city rivals Manchester United for the Premier League title.

2013–14


On 19 August 2013, Silva scored Manchester City's opening goal of the 2013–14 Premier League season in a 4–0 win againstNewcastle United at the City of Manchester Stadium. On 10 December 2013, he scored his first Champions League goal of the season in a 3–2 win at champions FC Bayern Munich. He was named Manchester City's player of the month for March 2014, after scoring in away matches against Hull City andArsenal.

2014–15
On 12 August 2014, David Silva has signed a five-year contract withManchester City. Silva played in 2014 FA Community Shield, a match City lost 3–0 to Arsenal.

Like the previous season season, On 17 August 2014, Silva scored Manchester City's opening goal of the 2014–15 Premier League season in a 2–0 away win against Newcastle United. Silva then scored against West Bromwich Albion on Boxing Day.

On 21 February 2015, Silva scored a brace against Newcastle United in a 5–0 win. Silva won the Etihad Player of the Month award for his performances in February.

On 4 March 2015, Silva scored in 1–0 win against Leicester City to take him to 10 league goals in a season for the first time in his career. Jamie Redknapplabelled him a 'maestro' for his performances for City. While his team-mate Edin Džeko called him "the best player in the Premier League."

International career
Silva first represented Spain in the 2003 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland, scoring three goals. In 2006, he became an under-21 international and scored four goals during the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship; this was enough to earn him joint-fourth place in the goal ranking, alongside Italian striker Graziano Pellè.

Silva made his senior international debut in the 1–0 friendly home defeat to Romania on 15 November 2006, and continued to receive call-ups to the side after good contributions in his first games. On 22 August 2007, he scored his first two goals for Spain, netting twice in a 3–2 friendly win versus Greece, and was then called up to the squad of 23 for UEFA Euro 2008.

In the semi-finals game versus Russia, Silva scored the third goal for Spain after a quick counter-attack in which Cesc Fàbregas delivered a low cross, and he sent the ball into Igor Akinfeev's goal with his left foot. In the final, he was involved in an incident with Germany's Lukas Podolski. After he pulled Podolski to the ground, the German approached Silva, which resulted in an angry exchange of words and a coming together of heads that the referee decided not to punish. Shortly afterward, Spanish coach Luis Aragonés substituted Silva for Santi Cazorla in an attempt to calm the tensions.

After appearing regularly during 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification – Spain won all ten fixtures – Silva was also picked for the squad for the finals in South Africa. His participation was, however, a small one, as the national team won the tournament: he started in the first match, a 0–1 group stage defeat against Switzerland, then played the last four minutes of the 1–0 win against Germany in the semi-finals.

On 11 August 2010, during an international friendly with Mexico, Silva scored two minutes into second-half injury time, ending the game with a 1–1 draw. In a Euro 2012 qualifier against Liechtenstein on 3 September 2010, Silva scored after 62 minutes, in a 4–0 away win. The following month, in the same competition, he scored through a rare header, as the national team downed Lithuania in Salamanca (3–1).

In a friendly against Colombia on 9 February 2011, he came off the bench to score the game's only goal with just four minutes remaining, helping Spain to a hard-fought 1–0 win. He scored twice and provided one assist in Spain's 3–1 victory againstScotland in their final match of the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The win saw the Spaniards enter the tournament with a perfect qualifying record by winning all their group games. He scored the first goal in Spain's 2–2 comeback against Costa Rica, a friendly match where he came on as a substitute in the second half with Spain trailing 2–0. He once again scored in a friendly against Venezuela to make the score 2–0 in a match that ended in a 5–0 win. Heading into Euro 2012, he scored in their pre-tournament friendly against China by finishing off a short give and go from Andres Iniesta in the 84th minute.

Silva was a starter in all six matches of Spain's Euro 2012 campaign. In the 14th minute of the Euro 2012 Final, he headed home a Cesc Fàbregas cross, giving Spain a 1–0 lead. The match ended 4–0 and concluded the tournament in which Silva scored two goals and made three assists, the best efficiency (goals and assists) of any player at the Euros. He was subsequently named in UEFA's Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament for his performances. Silva was named in Vicente del Bosque's 23-man squad list for Spain's contestation of the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, held in Brazil. On 20 June 2013, Silva scored two goals in Spain's 10–0 demolition of Tahiti.

Style of play


Possessing a left foot that has been described as a 'wand' to unlock defences with his superb touch and technical ability which allows the diminutive Spaniard to squeeze into the tightest of spaces to pick a killer pass, he is among the finest playmakers in the world. With great composure on the ball and obtaining an innate sense of when to play the ball (often dangerous through balls) Silva is a master at retaining possession and creating space for himself and team-mates to open up a defence. A superb dribbler, Silva's combination of astute, penetrative passing, elusive dribbling and generally clinical finishing makes him a dangerous option as a number 10, winger or second striker.

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/