THIAGO SILVA hit back at criticism from a Chelsea fan on social media amid calls for him to be dropped following the Blues’ defeat to Nottingham Forest.
Mauricio Pochettino’s men suffered a 1-0 loss to Steve Cooper’s side at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.
It leaves his side with just four points from their opening four Premier League games.
That is despite their transfer spending under the Todd Boehly era – just over a year – exceeding £1billion.
And supporters are growing restless with members of their squad, including the likes of Silva, 38, who has been so reliable for them in recent seasons.
A Chelsea fan account said: “This won’t go down well but I think it’s time to drop Thiago Silva.. 😬.
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“Playing him is becoming a problem because we have to play a back 5 to shoehorn him in.
“Playing 4 at the back will allow us to be better going forward and I don’t think we’ll suffer much at the back.
“Nothing but respect to Thiago but I think we’d be better off without him at the minute.”
Silva, who has played 121 games for Chelsea and won the Champions League with the club two years ago, was happy to address the comments.
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He replied: “If you look closely at the game, we are playing with a line of 4 my friend!
“But there’s no problem in assuming that I’m also responsible for the defeat.
“Put the pressure on me 👍🏾 no problem yesterday!”
And other Chelsea fans seemed to disagree with the original statement, insisting Silva must remain in the team.
One said: “You’ve got to be joking, he’s our best player by a country mile. He’s 38 – soon to be 39 – performing at the highest level possible. It’s a phenomenon what he is doing at that age.
“It’s ridiculous just how good he is. It’s unique. Not even the great Messi and Ronaldo are doing that. You look at the leagues they’re competing in – one is 38, the other 36. While Silva is competing in the best league in the world.
“Even at his age he is instrumental for us going forward with our young squad. There is no better player to learn from. He will massively improve the likes of Colwill.”
Another added: “Are you kidding me? It’s Thiago and Colwill who deserves to be in the back, if there’s anyone who’s to leave it’s Disasi.
“Why bench Chalobah for Disasi? Please keep his name (Thiago) off of your mouth.”
While a third responded: “You must be crazy actually, just because he got nutmegged doesn’t mean it was his fault why we lost the game.
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“Thiago Is a solid veteran, a leader on the pitch. One of the first names on the team sheet!”
Chelsea’s first game after the international break comes away at Bournemouth, before they host Aston Villa.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
