Before the end of 2011, David Silva looked to have the Player of the Year trinket in his immaculately tailored pocket. An outstanding opening to the season inspired City to some mesmerising attacking football, as the impish Silva stood head and shoulders above the Premier League’s midfield talent.
Yaya Toure’s departure for the African Cup of Nations, coupled with growing concerns on Silva’s fitness, saw the Spaniard in decline in 2012. Despite this slump, Silva ended last term as the league’s most creative player and, from a Fantasy perspective, did enough to justify his pre-season price tag to earn a place in our team of the 2011/12 campaign.
The Statistics
Two goals in City’s opening pair of fixtures confirmed what we thought – that, at 9.5, David Silva offered exceptional value in a side that was likely to challenge for the title.
It appeared, from the initial matches, that Silva had grown in stature from his first season in England – certainly when it came to goal threat. Five strikes in the opening 16 Gameweeks already bettered last season’s paltry tally of four with matches to spare. From that point on, however, the goals were to dry up. Silva notched just once more in the league – an effort in the 4-0 home win over West Brom in Gameweek 33 was his one solitary strike in 20 league appearances from January onwards.
Fortunately, Silva’s creativity was to provide ample compensation. A staggering 17 assists were to arrive over the campaign, more than any other player. Scattered over the season, Silva did suffer a lean spell from Gameweeks 23-32 which saw him register just a single assist in eight appearances.
That spell coincided with concerns over an ongoing ankle injury which dented confidence and saw his Fantasy Premier League (FPL) ownership plummet. His price duly fell back down to 9.6, having reached the heights of 10.6 by Gameweek 27.
Silva’s FPL bonus returns were perhaps disappointing, given his contribution to the City cause. Twenty-one points just edged out last season’s tally, an indication of how the EA PPI has perhaps impacted on Silva’s Fantasy potential. While his heavy involvement and completed passes will have won him favour under the old FPL bonus system, EA’s statistics based method appears to prefer the contributions of pure goalscorers: Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko soaked up a lot of City’s bonus points (30 and 18 respectively).
The Prospects
Silva could well be a rare commodity: a player acknowledged for a fine 2011/12 season, who could actually grow in Fantasy potential for the next campaign. While the likes of Clint Dempsey, Gareth Bale and Gylfi Sigurdsson – if he stays in the Premier League – are surely destined for significant price rises, Silva’s value could well remain stable at around the 9.5 mark. That will certainly work in his favour.
Starts seem assured if he can go into next term with a restful pre-season, extinguishing fears of that ankle problem. A Euro 2012 campaign with Spain will, of course, have its demands if Silva can cement his place in the star-studded starting XI. Regardless, City will surely hand him an extended break following the tournament.
Silva’s potential will depend greatly on him making further progress in front of goal. Last season’s opening spell hinted that the Spaniard had the ability to return 10+ strikes over the season and, if he can reach those heights, there’s little doubt that the assists will accompany the returns to lift Silva further into the midfield heavy-hitter bracket.
Caution is clearly the policy of choice. Roberto Mancini will be reinforcing his richly talented squad and the potential arrival of Eden Hazard will, above all other possible acquisitions, change the attacking dynamic in the City lineup. Silva will unquestionably be a key component in the charge on silverware next term; whether that role will translate to a further rise in his Fantasy potential remains to be seen.
