Bernardo Silva’s Real Madrid role faces fresh uncertainty under Mourinho

Bernardo Silva has featured for just eight minutes for Real Madrid and seven minutes for Portugal since 12 September, raising further questions over his role under manager Jose Mourinho.

Across the seven matches played by Real Madrid and Portugal since that date, the midfielder’s involvement has been minimal and, on some occasions, non-existent. Spanish newspaper Sport reported that his disappearance from the teams’ plans has become both surprising and difficult to explain.

Silva began the season as an important part of Mourinho’s plans. The manager had intended to use him in a flexible role, with responsibility for adding greater speed and fluidity to Real Madrid’s passing.

His involvement appeared significant because his ability to influence the game and move into space seemed capable of addressing some of the major shortcomings Real Madrid had experienced over several seasons. Early indications suggested the Portugal international would have a central role throughout the campaign and could prove one of the club’s most important summer signings.

However, only two months into the season, Silva appears to have fallen out of Mourinho’s regular calculations.

Mourinho has instead preferred a physically stronger and more mobile holding-midfield partnership of Federico Valverde and Aurelien Tchouameni. Arda Guler’s good form has also reduced Silva’s opportunities in a more advanced position, while Real Madrid have several other players capable of operating behind the striker.

Mourinho questioned Silva’s physical condition in sarcastic terms during the summer. Speaking at the beginning of August, he said: “He is a very important player for us, but poor Bernardo is another one of those who like not to do anything during the holidays. Not doing anything in his free time benefited him, so he returned in a worse physical condition and has to improve.”

Two months on from those comments, uncertainty surrounding Silva has continued to grow. His limited involvement with Portugal has added to the belief that his physical condition may be the main reason for his reduced playing time.

Even so, the situation remains unexpected for a player of Silva’s standing, particularly given his previous status as a Manchester City star.

A sharp fall in playing time

Since making his professional debut for Monaco in 2014, Silva had appeared in between 44 and 58 matches in each season and had generally started almost every game. He had been accustomed to playing more than 3,000 minutes per campaign and reached 4,000 minutes in some seasons.

So far at Real Madrid, however, he has played only 282 minutes, most of them at the start of the current season.

That decline has come while Real Madrid lack a midfielder with Silva’s vision and his constant willingness to move into space and demand the ball from team-mates.

The coming months will determine whether Real Madrid’s decision to sign Silva proves successful, but for now the reasons behind his absence remain unclear.