Thiago Silva

[blu35_army 551]

OhThiagoSilva.....welcome to the bridge. please lead our defensive line to be better,,i don't care about 36 years old. as long as you playing good,,age is only number....

[Superblue 6,370]

A few weeks back I wasn't sure about this due to his age and he'd had a couple of injuries in recent times. However watching him in PSG's Champions League run since, I've no doubts and in the short term this could be the key signing of the lot.

He's still world class and whilst he might not be as quick as he once was, he still has more than enough pace to contend in the Premier League (what is it with Brazilian defenders, they seem to go on forever!).

Not the tallest or most physical of defenders but his anticipation, positional awareness and determination leave him very rarely exposed in any situations.

And a genuine ball player at the back.

I mentioned on a previous post that a large group of our first team squad will have grown up in their teens or younger watching Thiago Silva as one of the elite centre backs of his generation. It'll be huge for the squad to share a dressing room and train with him.

The experience will be critical too with the loss of Pedro and Willian and Lampard gets a player of such high respect and experience that he'll pretty much be an on field coach for the defence too, much like Desailly and Gullit were when they came to Chelsea. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he settles and all things work out if he remains the second season too and Lampard then tries to transition him into his coaching group if that's the route he'd like to take.

[Superblue 6,370]

"I'm here to challenge for honours"

Serial winner, standards will be raised in that back line because he'll make sure they are.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

No disrespect to Azpilicueta he is a big influence at the club, but he is no captain material if you ask me, Thiago Silva should be given the armband the second he steps a foot at Cobham and he should definitely be the loudest on the pitch, genuine WC defender hopefully his presence will have a similar impact to Van Dijk's arrival at Liverpool. Granted they have better defenders, but still T. Silva's presence alone should be of massive importance.

[Jype 6,398]

Really excited by this signing.

JT had one of the best seasons of his career at 35 and played every single minute of the PL season in 14/15 so let's hope Silva can still have a big impact too. 

At his age he might not be able to play two games a week anymore but he's still a big improvement and most importantly he's an in-game leader that team have been crying out for since JT left. Expecting big things from him, even if relying on him is not a long-term plan. 

With Silva in the squad for the next season or two the club can start planning for a longer term replacement but the CB area should not be an immediate problem anymore.

Really smart contract management by the club too. A one year deal with club option of a second year minimizes risks but if he's still as good as we're hoping him to be the option will surely be used. If not, he will just play a squad role this season and be released next year. At least he can't be worse than what we saw this year.

[ulsterchelsea 3,221]

Would be good to see fiko play with him and learn. Don't think that'll happen tho. Anyway, delighted with this signing

[Jase 43,479]

24 minutes ago, petre.ispirescu said:

No disrespect to Azpilicueta he is a big influence at the club, but he is no captain material if you ask me, Thiago Silva should be given the armband the second he steps a foot at Cobham and he should definitely be the loudest on the pitch, genuine WC defender hopefully his presence will have a similar impact to Van Dijk's arrival at Liverpool. Granted they have better defenders, but still T. Silva's presence alone should be of massive importance.

Ironic that you said "no disrespect to Azpilicueta" and then proceeded to disrespect him by saying he should be replaced as captain by our latest new shiny toy...

The need for Silva to take the armband is silly and overrated anyway. We had the likes of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech etc all in the past and they didn't even need the armband to lead the team. 

[1chelsea 864]

Welcoming a better Brazilian and a captain with wealth of experience, I bet am listening to Tupac right now " all eye on me" fk!!! all eye on Chelsea Fc


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[Iggy Doonican 4,186]

Already the best defender at the club and a free transfer.

[DDA 9,690]

Thiago Silva shirt in the basket... let's go!

[Fernando 6,458]

Welcome to the club. 

It is what we needed short term, thus giving us the options of getting a top CB next season. 

In a team of many youths to have 2 or 3 experiences guys goes a long way. 

[BlueLyon 9,359]

2 hours ago, Jype said:

Really excited by this signing.

JT had one of the best seasons of his career at 35 and played every single minute of the PL season in 14/15 so let's hope Silva can still have a big impact too. 

At his age he might not be able to play two games a week anymore but he's still a big improvement and most importantly he's an in-game leader that team have been crying out for since JT left. Expecting big things from him, even if relying on him is not a long-term plan. 

With Silva in the squad for the next season or two the club can start planning for a longer term replacement but the CB area should not be an immediate problem anymore.

Really smart contract management by the club too. A one year deal with club option of a second year minimizes risks but if he's still as good as we're hoping him to be the option will surely be used. If not, he will just play a squad role this season and be released next year. At least he can't be worse than what we saw this year.

brillant transfer, reminds me of old days when we were signing the likes of Deco, Ballack, Maka, Beletti,...who apparently were too old, but still put a big mark here.

The only part I worry is his decline. Like you said, Terry at 35 was a beast, year later simply not good enough anymore tbh.

Thiago knows the challenge and hopefuly he is ready to go for a season or two more at top level.

Also him agreeing only for 1 year makes me wonder if he agreed to that because he knows he might not be able to keep up with the league for longer.

 

[kellzfresh 7,229]

6 hours ago, shrenshah said:

Loving the hate from all rival fans

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk
 

Thats how you know Chelsea is back 

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

5 hours ago, Jason said:

Ironic that you said "no disrespect to Azpilicueta" and then proceeded to disrespect him by saying he should be replaced as captain by our latest new shiny toy...

The need for Silva to take the armband is silly and overrated anyway. We had the likes of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech etc all in the past and they didn't even need the armband to lead the team. 

It is not any shiny toy, it is a world class defender with tons of experience that just happened to have played a CL final a week ago. You listed four players that have been strong characters and true leaders in the dressing room and four captains on the pitch, now there is no player with big balls in this squad, at least this is how I see it. It is why I am happy with this transfer, we don't get the prime Thiago Silva, as a matter of fact he's passed it already, but he will bring leadership into a young squad that frankly lacks big characters.

[Jase 43,479]

30 minutes ago, petre.ispirescu said:

It is not any shiny toy, it is a world class defender with tons of experience that just happened to have played a CL final a week ago. You listed four players that have been strong characters and true leaders in the dressing room and four captains on the pitch, now there is no player with big balls in this squad, at least this is how I see it. It is why I am happy with this transfer, we don't get the prime Thiago Silva, as a matter of fact he's passed it already, but he will bring leadership into a young squad that frankly lacks big characters.

No one is really disputing that but giving him the captaincy immediately is kinda ridiculous, especially he has limited English and not fully familiar with the entire dressing room plus still new in the country. Moreover, when you are the captain of a club, you have more responsibility off the field than just on it. 

The point about those 4 players mentioned is that players don't necessarily need the armband to lead.

You mentioned Van Dijk earlier and his impact at Liverpool, he's not even the captain. He's the 2nd vice captain/3rd captain. Can see Thiago being made a vice captain but not the captain. 

[Jase 43,479]

2 hours ago, BlueLyon said:

The only part I worry is his decline. Like you said, Terry at 35 was a beast, year later simply not good enough anymore tbh.

Thiago knows the challenge and hopefuly he is ready to go for a season or two more at top level.

We would certainly have to defend a little deeper and make sure he doesn't get exposed as much as we tend to with our defenders this past season. 

[11Drogba 2,000]

This transfer reminded me Maldini's interview:

“At times we forget the age of these players, as we have a lot of youngsters. We pushed hard to bring in two more experienced players like Ibra and Simon Kjaer so we could help them to grow. If I didn’t have Franco Baresi and Mauro Tassotti by my side when I was starting out, I wouldn’t have done what I did in my career, because I didn’t feel confident."

https://www.football-italia.net/155770/maldini-milan-cant-win-kids

[Simon1991 225]

Not point in even discussing the capitaincy, it was just cheap media BS. 

No worries, it will be Azpi next season..