Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho has criticised Bernardo Silva over his physical fitness following the midfielder's debut appearance for the Spanish club on Saturday.
Mourinho returned to the Bernabeu earlier this summer, 13 years after his first spell at Real Madrid. One of his primary targets was Manchester City legend Silva. The Portuguese midfielder was strongly linked with Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, but Real Madrid won the race for his signature. Mourinho sought his captaincy experience and influence to help improve standards and behaviour in the dressing room following a trophyless season that spawned a number of divisive arguments.
After joining up with the squad later due to his participation with Portugal in the World Cup, Silva featured for the first time in Saturday's pre-season friendly against Ferencvaros in Budapest. However, Mourinho was not pleased with what he saw from the new signing.
"Bernardo Silva?" Mourinho said. "He's a very important player for us. But the poor guy, when he goes on vacation, he likes to disconnect completely, he doesn't do any work. So he arrived for pre-season with much lower physical fitness, and he has to improve."
Despite his scathing criticism, the Portuguese manager reserved some praise for the midfielder following Real Madrid's 2-1 win in Hungary.
"But Bernardo is a wonderful player who gives us excellent build-up with the ball, whether he plays in a deeper position or in midfield (the 6 or 8 position)," Mourinho added. "During the match I saw that he lacks physical strength, so I moved him to the 10 position. He can play there too. He can play in three or four positions."
LaLiga preparation and team organization
The clash against Ferencvaros marked Real Madrid's fourth pre-season friendly. The team faces further pre-season matches against Deportivo and Schalke before kicking off their LaLiga season with a trip to Espanyol on August 22.
Mourinho expressed overall satisfaction with his team's progress while highlighting areas that require improvement before the competitive season begins.
"I liked the first half more. It doesn’t surprise me because we have been working more with those players. We had very good control of the game," Mourinho said. "In the second half, with Vini and Bernardo, who don’t have many minutes, and with Endrick changing positions, we lost some of our organisation. But it’s good. You don’t finish the game by giving away a dangerous free kick like we did. You have to know what to do. Those small mistakes that accumulate in these games are good for me."
Departure from Manchester City
Silva departed Manchester City at the end of last season after making 460 appearances for the Premier League club. The midfielder broke down in tears during his final match for City and described his nine-year spell as an "unbelievable" journey.
"It’s difficult because nine years, it’s a very long time. I would say that I leave as a Man City supporter," Silva said upon his departure. "When I arrived from Portugal, I was a fan of Benfica, but now I can say that for sure that my feelings toward this club are very, very strong. I will be supporting Man City for the rest of my life. I also have the feeling of being grateful to the club, to the people, to what the fans gave me back. It was just unbelievable."
