Chelsea stalwart accused of ‘crossing the line’ and ‘sulking’ in training; Pochettino given big dilemma
Chelsea trio Thiago Silva, Ben Chilwell and Enzo Fernandez
Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has been accused of ‘crossing the line’ when disputing Mauricio Pochettino’s tactical decisions this season.
The 39-year-old has arguably been one of the Blues’ best players since arriving in 2020 but his recent actions could be giving Pochettino a problem.
Silva has played every minute of Chelsea’s Premier League season so far, helping his side to two clean sheets in the process.
A very experienced player at the highest level, the Brazil international has won a staggering 30 major trophies during stints with AC Milan, Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea.
Silva certainly hasn’t shied away from criticism he has received on social media recently, either.
After their lacklustre home loss to Nottingham Forest, one Chelsea supporter wrote to Silva on Instagram and claimed that he was being “shoehorned” into the team. He then responded with: “If you look closely at the game, we are playing with a line of 4 my friend!”
The defender then added fuel to the fire on Tuesday. He tagged the Champions League account on X (formerly known as Twitter) and sent them a crying emoji, with Chelsea not in the competition this year.
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Thiago Silva accused of ‘sulking’ in training
According to The Telegraph, the problems with Silva go beyond the defender’s antics on social media.
The report claims that Silva isn’t afriad to oppose Pochettino in the changing room, and impose his own tactical views on the rest of the team.
As one of Chelsea’s most influential and experienced players, despite interestingly not wearing the captain’s armband this season, he has set high standards in training. The Telegraph write, however, that he can ‘cross the line into sulking’ when he feels that his teammates are not performing at the correct level.
Silva singed a one year contract extension last season, keeping him at Chelsea until June 2024, despite the struggles the Blues faced under Thomas Tuchel, Graham Potter and then Frank Lampard last season.
Chelsea’s defence has generally sat quite deep this season as a result of Silva’s lack of pace. This raises the question whether the London club’s form could improve if they take him out of the team.
Pochettino has plenty of options to choose from. Levi Colwill and Axel Disasi could form a centre-back duo, for example. Trevoh Chalobah could also return to the starting line-up, although he is being linked with a move to Tottenham and Nottingham Forest.
Benoit Badiashile is working his way back from a long-term injury and should be available for selection in the near future, giving the Chelsea boss a selection dilemma and difficult call to make regarding Silva.
With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if Silva starts Chelsea’s next game against Aston Villa on Sunday.
