Thiago Silva is not just a quality football player, he is a presence, an influence, and a leader on and off the pitch.
When he departs the club this summer, his absence will be truly felt, he will be sorely missed within the club.
I’ve heard the departure was more mutual than anything else, and it was a decision that both sides felt was best and the right moment to move on, and I fully agree.
Silva, as we have seen in small moments this season, is now showing signs of his age, finally. The man is 39 and is still one of the best defenders in the world. But the signs have been creeping in this season, I think that’s been clear to see.
We’ve seen with other players like Branislav Ivanovic and Cesar Azpilicueta, that it is so important to call it a day at a club at the right time, and both of these two perhaps left it slightly too late and I hated seeing some of the harsh words and sometimes abuse that they both had to endure come the end.
Silva is leaving at the right time, but the big question for me now goes to, how do we replace him? Because he is leaving a huge hole in this young side.
We speak about the importance of quality and proven experience and how this young squad lacks it, and now we are losing our most experienced leader. Quite simply, the focus must now switch to replacing him, and this is going to be arguably a more important decision that we get 100% right than the new striker.
And Silva also shows a prime example of how smart and often vital it is to actually sign players who are at the latter end of their career, something we have so far ignored in this squad rebuild.
He joined in 2020 in his mid 30s, won the Champions League, and continued to be one of our most consistently good players up until the age of 39. This showed the importance of having quality experience and leaders in any top team.
Chelsea MUST replace him and replace him right.
I’ve not heard anything new on centre back names and I’ll update as and when, but signing a…
Source link : https://www.talkchelsea.net/opinions/opinion-importance-of-getting-replacing-thiago-silva-right/
Author : Simon Phillips
Publish date : 2024-04-30 11:53:26
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.