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Chelsea star Thiago Silva needs to shine in the Champions League to show his critics in Brazil and play in the World Cup

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ON TUESDAY Chelsea begin the defence of their Champions League title in the knock out phase with a first leg at home to Lille.

Thiago Silva is a valued and uncontroversial member of the team.

Chelsea star Thiago Silva has starred for the BluesCredit: EPA

The same is not entirely true when the subject is the Brazil side preparing for this year’s World Cup.

And the penalty he committed against Brazilian side Palmeiras in the final of the Club World Cup has added fuel to the fire.

One of Brazil’s leading TV commentators, Andre Henning, was outraged that – once again – Silva gave away a needless penalty for hand ball, and went to social media to register his protests.

Henning is not a fan of Silva, his disenchantment mainly based in the 2014 World Cup, where the centre back was undeniably a disastrous captain.

One of the strongest images of the tournament comes from when Brazil’s second round match against Chile went to a penalty shoot out.

Instead of playing a captain’s role, Thiago Silva sat on a football on his own, crying his eyes out. It was clearly too much for him – leading Andre Henning to doubt the player’s mental strength.

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But there is another, more technical issue of relevance to Brazil’s World Cup build up.

At Chelsea, Silva has been consistently excellent – operating in the middle of a back three.

Coach Thomas Tuchel knows him well. The pair worked together at Paris Saint Germain. Tuchel is aware that Thiago is now 37 and, inevitably, not as quick as he used to be.

So the amount of space that he has to cover has been reduced. To the left of him, the speed of Anthony Rudiger is a vital part of the Chelsea back line.

The club are understandably concerned at the prospect of losing Rudiger – hence their interest in Eder Militao, Real Madrid’s Brazilian centre back whose game is based on recovery speed.

But Brazil do not defend with a back three. They play two centre backs. One of them is Marquinhos, the immaculate PSG defender who was – surely unwisely – dropped from the team in favour of Thiago Silva on the eve of the last World Cup.

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS

Brazil paid a price for leaving out their quickest defender when they came up against Belgium in the quarter final.

This time, then, there is no doubt about it. It is a case of Marquinhos plus one. An outside candidate to fill the role is Gabriel Magalhaes, who has emerged as a defensive leader with Arsenal and who also has the benefit of being left footed.

But the battle seems to be between Silva and Eder Militao.

There is no point in asking Andre Henning who he favours – and some in Brazil agree with him. But not everyone, and, probably, not coach Tite. 

And so Silva needs to shine in the knock out stages of the Champions League – not just to help Chelsea retain their title, but also to boost his chances of rounding off his international career with one last crack at the World Cup in Qatar.

Manager Thomas Tuchel understands how to get the best out of SilvaCredit: Getty
In Brazil Silva has his critics and has been questioned for a World Cup spotCredit: AFP

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk

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