Mauricio Pochettino says he wanted to rest Chelsea star Thiago Silva in the 3-1 win against Aston Villa
Mauricio Pochettino explained the return of Thiago Silva to the starting lineup in a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace and claimed he wanted to rest the Brazilian in Chelsea FC’s 3-1 victory against Aston Villa in the FA Cup.
It was a surprise when the Blues unveiled their starting lineup to face The Lions and Silva wasn’t there. The Brazilian had until that point featured in almost every game this season. Many assumed it could have been related to his wife’s comments on the Argentine manager.
Thiago Silva’s wife, Belle, asked for the sacking of the Argentine manager on X when the Blues suffered a 4-2 defeat to the Wolves. The Brazilian’s wife later apologised for her action.
Many assumed this could have been the reason for Silva being benched, but after their 3-1 win over Palace, the Argentine manager explained when asked about Silva’s inclusion, as he said, quoted by Fabrizio Romano:
“It was not a hard decision to bring Thiago Silva back into the side. Thiago plays a lot for me. The other day, we made changes and took some rest. The right decision is to play with Thiago and Axel.”.
Pochettino was right in his decision. It doesn’t matter how big the player is; he has all the control to make such choices, and it paid off when the Blues convincingly won the match 3-1 against the Villains. And his inclusion in the Palace game has served as a reminder that no such things will be tolerated under him.
Silva is an important player for us, and he is mature enough to understand the situation instead of voicing himself. As a manager, you will have to make such decisions. On top of that, we don’t know if the Brazilian will remain next season when his contract expires in the sammer.
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Pochettino will need to find the best centre-back pairing next season, and it’s time he decides to use more young players at the back and give them game time to help them settle in the league and prepare them for the following campaign.