RTTK Bernardo Silva Review

With RTTK Team 2 entering packs this week it was the addition of yet another SBC that caught the eye in the form of the Portuguese workhorse, Bernardo Silva.  In a weird way, I actually think it was the emergence of RTTK Nabil Fekir that made me the most excited to try this card.  For me, Fekir has been an unbelievable addition, and from what I have read the feeling is similar across the community.  It was my hope that Bernardo Silva could bottle some of the Real Betis man’s magic and produce similar performances across the Weekend League grind.  While the two have quite a few statistics in common, it was Bernardo Silva’s weak foot that worried me the most coming into the review... and unfortunately, those fears were realized throughout the weekend as we fell short of Rank I by a single match.  However, it wasn’t all bad as Bernardo Silva grew on me more and more throughout the weekend as he tried to nail down a spot for the upcoming weeks.  The choice to apply the HUNTER chemistry style to this card was an easy one… almost as easy as the decision to deploy the City midfielder as the middle CAM of my 4-2-3-1 formation.  Bernardo Silva was the touch of class all weekend long in the following squad:    

Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 8/10
Pace Rating: 8.5/10
Dribbling Rating: 9.5/10
Shooting Rating: 8/10
Passing Rating: 9.5/10
Physical Rating: 6/10
Defending Rating: N/A

With 8 goals and 9 assists across 15 matches, I was rather impressed with the overall returns Silva produced from a CAM position.  Of course, Silva was nowhere close to the masterclass we witnessed from Freddie Ljungberg only a week ago… but there were spells where Silva was borderline unplayable and caused many opponents a real headache.

Main Statistic - Dribbling

Dribbling Rating: 9.5/10
Pace Rating: 8/10
Skills: ★★★★
Height: 173cm | 5’8

One of the major differences between Ljungberg and Silva in the CAM position came down to pace.  While both can twist and turn on the ball with ease it was the explosiveness out of the dribble that really caused havoc with Ljungberg… unfortunately the 94 ACCELERATION & 88 SPRINT SPEED was not enough to create the same situation with Bernardo. Yet, as I previously stated, this card really started to grow on me throughout the weekend and one of the key areas was in the dribbling category… I just had to learn how to use him.  If you like powerful midfielders (which I do) who can use their pace to create gaps and exploit openings… then this is simply not the card for you.  However, once I started to slow things down with Silva it was apparent just how responsive and clean his 95 AGILITY & 93 BALANCE feel when in possession.  The 91 BALL CONTROL is touch tight while the 93 DRIBBLING allows for some unbelievably responsive cuts, chops and changes of direction.  

Main Attribute - 3 ★ Weak Foot

Weak Foot: ★★★
Shooting Rating: 8/10

Normally this would be a positive part of the review, but I wanted to highlight both how laughably poor Bernardo is on his right foot and how utterly fantastic he is on the left.  With 91 FINISHING, 85 SHOT POWER & 80 LONG SHOTS I was not expecting anything crazy from the shooting department.  Yet, I was pleasantly surprised with how clinical Silva felt and performed on his favorite left foot.  The finesse shots found the corners while the laces were driven with real venom into the top bins.  If this card could shoot on the right hand side he was destined for a very high rating… but alas, he can’t.  Simply put, this card is always going to struggle for a place in my squad due to his one-footedness and just about condemns him to a life on the bench, which I will dive into more in the closing words.  

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 3.5/5

With the price of fodder in the bin, you can complete Silva for next to nothing… 110k for an 88 rated card that will have a fantastic shot at a +2 90 rated upgrade is just silly.  For the price alone it is almost worth completing, but in the end, it is still better to keep the fodder if this card isn’t going to feature in your squads. 

I think the 9 assists is a good indicator of just how good the passing is with this card and was really the only area Silva outperformed Ljungberg during the review.  I didn’t think that the 89 SHORT PASSING would be bad by any means… but I was also not expecting the pinpoint accuracy and impeccable weight of pass that I witnessed either.  Silva found ways to thread passes into tight spaces and created havoc in the attacking third time and time again.  All of this is fantastic for Silva because without the intricate passing and link up play there wouldn’t be much else to use him for.  With 56 STRENGTH there is literally no case where Silva wins 50/50 battles and was a key issue for me early on.  I would receive the ball in space… go to accelerate… get minimal movement… get bodied off the ball… and curse Silva’s name.  Once I started to slow down, recognize oncoming challenges and use the dribbling to maneuver to safety it certainly started to run a lot smoother for me in matches and across the remaining fixtures.  While it often felt like I was running scared… with 96 STAMINA, the good news is you can do it all match long.

Closing Words

So cheap to complete… with decent returns this weekend in my squad… yet this card still gets a no on completion from me, and here is why.  This card can only function as a middle CAM.  After my early issues with the lack of pace, I moved Silva out to both the LAM and RAM to see if I could utilize his lethal finesse shots and brilliant passing more to my advantage. Unfortunately, these moves only amplified the lacking pace and aggression with this card and caused more issues overall for the squad.  Therein lies my biggest issue with completing this card… the lack of options to play Bernardo Silva elsewhere on the pitch.  This is all compounded by the fact that Silva can only use one foot, which is a massive liability for a central player where both feet come into play so often.  For all of those reasons it gets a “save your fodder” vote of unconfidence from me and the aforementioned spot in my squad will certainly go to a different option come next weekend.  Hoping you are safe and well.  Cheers for reading.
 

Game Stats:
 

Game Highlights: