Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino couldn’t help but show his spiky side when quizzed on Thiago Silva, with the Blues manager insisting his decision to drop the 39-year-old Brazilian was purely based on his team’s balance. As for the sequence of events, Silva had coincidentally been dropped after his wife, Belle, called for the Argentine’s sacking on social media.
Pochettino had used instead the younger, quicker centre-back pairing of Benoit Badiashile and Axel Disasi in their FA Cup fourth-round replay at Aston Villa and the visitors secured a win with this unexpected combination.
Prior to facing their match against Crystal Palace in the Premier League, Pochettino was asked if Silva’s role will change ahead of his contract expiring at the end of the season, which subsequently sparked an exchange in which the Argentinian reacted by jokingly offering his seat to the journalist so that the latter could play manager in his place instead.
“Why? Nothing happened,’ Pochettino said. “All the players are in the same position as him. We take a decision based on the performance. It is not different for him. I can only play with 11. If you want to change the rules, you can.”
Asked if the youth and speed of Badiashile and Disasi made a difference against Villa, Pochettino said: “That is your opinion. It is not a question because it is an affirmation. You are saying that I changed for two younger players that are faster than him.”
Asked again if their selection benefited his brand of football, Pochettino said: “That is your opinion. That is not a question. If you believe that, why are you asking me?
“Why you are not sitting here? You can take my place? You can take the decision and you can pick the starting 11. No? You want to come here?
“I always take my decision trying to provide good balance to the team. I don’t see the passport or the age of the player. Always it is about the quality, how we can get the best balance of the team.
“But from the beginning we were playing with him, without him, with Levi (Colwill), with Benoit when he was available. Benoit was not available for a long time.
“He was injured and now we need to assess him. (Trevoh) Chalobah was injured. (Wesley) Fofana was injured. Reece James was injured. Ben Chilwell, injured. Always we try to get the best balance for the formation and to pick the players that can perform and win games.”
Chelsea had a youthful look to their team without Silva, who turns 40 in September.
“I don’t want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England,’ Pochettino added. “We have young players. We need to build a team. You need to be more consistent like a team.”