Despite being 37-year-old, Brazilian defender Thiago Silva continues to be world-class and has been leading the Chelsea backline with distinction and flair. BBC Journalist Garth Crooks has named Thiago Silva in his Premier League Team of the Week for Round 28.
The Brazilian centre-back was in top form during the visit to Turf Moor last weekend. Although the scoreline ended in a 0-4 victory for Chelsea, the match was closer than the score suggests. Burnley had several attempts to go into the half-time break ahead and they’d have probably found the back of the net had it not been for Silva and Edouard Mendy’s heroics.
The Brazilian was even on hand to make a crucial goal-line clearance which set the tone for a rampant performance from The Blues. Praising his work ethic, intelligence as well as awareness, Crooks said:
“Aaron Lennon had done brilliantly to get to the byline and pull the ball back for Wout Weghorst, but the Burnley centre-forward’s shot was kicked off the line by Thiago Silva.”
“The defender’s positioning on the goalline was absolutely perfect. Not only did he save Edouard Mendy, who looked like he had been caught out of position, but he enabled Chelsea to keep a clean sheet.”
When Chelsea had initially signed Silva as a free agent in the summer of 2020, the move was initially met with indifference because of his age. However, he has been a crucial cog for the club over the last year or so and played a massive role behind their Champions League-winning run.
“Whoever’s idea it was to bring Silva to the club is a genius. The man is 37 years of age and looks like he could play in the Premier League until he’s 40,”
Crooks further added.
Silva has a contract with the London-based club until next season. He has appeared in 66 matches across all competitions for Chelsea at the time of writing and has been the leader of the backline along with Antonio Rudiger. Thiago Silva has won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup as well as the FIFA Club World Cup in his short stay at the club already.
