Ederson: It's a pleasure playing with Bernardo | OneFootball

Ederson believes Manchester City teammate Bernardo Silva’s current form puts him among the world’s best players.

The Portuguese midfielder has been in sparkling form for City across the 2021/22 campaign, epitomised by him making the shortlist for the Etihad Player of the Month award for the third time in succession.

Bernardo was at his brilliant best once again in our 2-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa on Wednesday, with his tireless display rewarded with a breath-taking goal on the counter attack before the break.

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With this in mind, Ederson couldn’t fault the 27-year-old’s contribution to our success so far this season.

“To me, Bernardo Silva is among the five best players in the world. He has an amazing talent,” the City stopper declared.

“He's short, but it's impossible to take the ball from him. When you see him play, it reminds me a bit of (Lionel) Messi. Obviously, they are different players, but they have similar skills.

“Bernardo has phenomenal talent, he's an exceptional player. He helps the team a lot, he runs a lot.

“He's shown his amazing talent over the last games. I can't say anything negative about him. I hope he can stay for many years at Manchester City because it's a pleasure seeing him play.”

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Ederson’s praise for Bernardo’s current form is shared by Pep Guardiola, who singled out the Portuguese midfielder, among others, following our midweek win at Villa Park.

However, just like Guardiola, our goalkeeper pointed out that City’s strong start to the campaign is down to a collective effort from each member of the squad, rather than the result of individual brilliance.

Indeed, Ruben Dias’ opening strike against Aston Villa made the defender our 17th different goalscorer already this season.

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“We also have to highlight teamwork because the team is more important than the individuals. It's not worth it if one player is in great shape but the rest of the team isn't,” Ederson said.

“We have players with amazing quality and the team is very well coached.

“What we do in training, we show it in the game. That shows the quality of our game which is what we train during the week.”

City face Watford in Saturday’s 17:30 kick-off as we set our sights on claiming a seventh successive victory in all competitions.

And while Ederson is confident Guardiola’s men have what it takes to claim all three points, he’s prepared for a difficult assignment at Vicarage Road.

“We are in good shape, we have won two important games against Everton and Aston Villa.

“(But) Watford isn't going to be easy, because they beat Manchester United, they put a lot of problems on Chelsea.

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“It's going to be a very difficult game. They have a lot of quality and we will need to be ready so we don't get surprised.

“We are in a good run of games, except the game against Crystal Palace at home. It's part of football, we can't win every game.

“We need to learn how to deal with winning and losing. It's part of the growth of the individuals and the team.”