Thiago Silva has criticised Chelsea’s management after the Champions League elimination against Real Madrid. The Brazilian defender calls on owner Todd Boehly to stop haphazardly signing players.
Thiago Silva criticises Chelsea purchasing policy: “This has to stop”
In the aftermath of the lost quarter-final against Real Madrid, club icon Didier Drogba and former English international Michael Owen were already critical of Boehly, who have already signed € 600 million in new players since the takeover and sacked two managers with Thomas Tuchel and Graham Potter. That with Thiago Silva, a Chelsea player has now also openly expressed his doubts about the American owner’s actions in an interview with beIN Sports, is being picked up en masse in the English media.
The 38-year-old Brazilian could not prevent Chelsea’s fourth consecutive defeat as captain on Tuesday evening, making interim manager Frank Lampard the first manager in the club’s 118-year history to start so poorly at The Blues. But according to Thiago Silva, the current sporting crisis cannot be blamed. On the manager: “The first step has been taken, although it is not the right one. We can’t blame the managers if we don’t take responsibility.”
Silva: “The manager can only field eleven players”
Thiago Silva acknowledged that Chelsea are going through a difficult period “with a lot of indecision”. “After the takeover, many new players have arrived. We had to enlarge the dressing room because the selection no longer fit in it,” the Chelsea reserve captain said to a common point of criticism. “It is positive that there are great players in the selection, but on the other hand, there is always someone who is dissatisfied because not everyone can play. The manager can only field eleven players.”
And that is not much if the selection consists of about thirty highly paid professionals who all claim playing time. “Some players don’t even make the match selection, that’s difficult. We signed eight players in January. We have to stop that and come up with a strategy, otherwise we might make the same mistakes next season,” continued the critical Thiago Silva, who won the Champions League in his first season at Chelsea in 2021.
According to Thiago Silva, the fact that two managers have already died with Tuchel and Potter. And that Lampard will probably be relieved again as an interim pope after this season is not the solution. He added, “There is too much talk about replacing managers. We as players must also take responsibility, we have already had three managers this season. Four with Bruno (Saltor), but we are not succeeding in winning. We have to look at what is going wrong and try to change that.”
Frustrating
For Thiago Silva himself, his wonderful career threatens to end on a minor note. In addition to the Champions League and the Club World Cup at Chelsea alone, the 113-time international won eight national titles with his two previous clubs (one with AC Milan, seven with Paris Saint-Germain), but is now back in the middle bracket of the Premier League. “For me personally it is a difficult and frustrating season. This was perhaps my last game in the Champions League. It’s a sad day,” Silva said.
