Thiago Silva’s Premier League debut could have gone better.The Brazilian was handed the captain’s armband for Chelsea’s game against West Brom but was responsibility for the Baggies’ second goal after committing an awful mistake.After just 25 minutes, Silva made an error that Frank Lampard couldn’t ignore in his post-match press conference.“Thiago one is a mistake,” Lampard told Sky Sports. “He’s been there long enough to know one, we’ll certainly give him that one in his first game.”
Rival fans let rip at Silva
Lampard might be ready to let him off, but rival fans aren’t.
As is always the case when a high-profile star makes a mistake, rival supporters couldn’t wait to let rip.
Theory might explain Silva's struggles
There have been suggestions that Silva might not flourish in the Premier League.
He was a world-class player in his prime but adapting to a new league at the age of 36 isn’t easy.
Lampard will expect to see an improvement from the former Paris Saint-Germain defender in the coming weeks but Silva’s ability might be capped until the Chelsea boss changes his tactics.
Silva started on the left side of defence and the experts at Get French Football News believe that contributed to his poor debut.
They also claim that Chelsea’s high defensive line didn’t help the centre-back, who benefited from Marquinhos dropping deep at PSG.
“He spent virtually all of last season as the right-sided central defender alongside Presnel Kimpembe - today he plays on the left side - that tweak, although minor, has major impact on how a player utilises his feet in play construction,” GFFN wrote on Twitter.
“Also, the higher the defensive line, the more that Thiago Silva is going to struggle in general - at PSG he is used to Marquinhos coming very deep to get the ball. These two major differences make this poor Premier League debut totally logical.”
GFFN’s theory has been disputed by some football fans who believe Silva is destined to flop in the Premier League.
The level of competition that the Brazil international will come up against in England is tougher than it was in France.
But it’s impossible to say that a slip clearly shows that Silva isn’t cut out for the Premier League.
We need to see more of the centre-back to determine whether Chelsea have made a mistake or not.