A picture says more than a thousand words, or so they say. That of Thiago Silva, who looked desperate during Saturday’s 1-0 FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City, certainly was.
After 707 appearances for professional clubs, another 121 for Brazil at senior level, 33 trophies and a career spanning more than two decades, this defeat in the 708th seemed as important as any. Not even the power of someone as big as Silva could end the Wembley curse for Chelsea. Not even the will of a player who has done everything could get them through.
In his four years at the club, the 39-year-old veteran has played at the stadium six times, four of them in finals, winning just two of them. It is the record in the finals that hurt him the most. Chelsea have been defeated in their last six matches at the national stadium without scoring. His two victories were semi-finals and for a large part of them he was never allowed to lift a trophy in the royal box as stand-in captain.
Despite featuring in numerous big games for the Blues, his major prize money from 2021 will be limited to the Champions League and a number of largely second-tier Super Cups. Not a bad performance, but not what it could have been either.
Silva was unable to play in the Carabao Cup capitulation against Liverpool due to an injury in February – and because they needed a pinch of his nous – and now, with his time at Stamford Bridge expected to come to an end this summer, his chances are to appear slim again. He made no attempt on Saturday to hide his displeasure and emotion with this.
He was seen crying on the field with his shirt pulled over his face. In one particular video, Noni Madueke visibly laughs while talking to Jack Grealish in the background. Quite a contrast. A great way to show what Chelsea and Mauricio Pochettino are working with.
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The difference between an elder statesman and his younger teammates, who in some situations have a contract that lasts eight years longer than his own, is striking. His experience is crucial, his knowledge even more so. How Chelsea deal with what increasingly looks like the end of his fairytale at the club will be crucial to their further development.
His wife, Belle, almost made the decision to go public before kickoff. “It’s the last dance at Wembley,” she wrote on her Instagram Story. This time, however, no such victory parade for Silva.
In any case, Chelsea is preparing a farewell for their leader. A group behind making banners and displays for supporters, We Are The Shed, confirmed there was “something special” planned for him at the final home game of the season.
Now they will look to the future. How can a team that has continued to rely on a player of his age, in a way that is completely unprecedented at this level of English football, get rid of such a legend? The answer is not simple.
Without the injuries to Wesley Fofana (out for the entire season) and the consistent knocks of Benoit Badiashile and more recently the absence of Levi Colwill, Silva’s place in the side might not have been as regular. He has benefited from Trevoh Chalobah also being out of action for more than half the campaign. Now that the 24-year-old is back, however, it is striking how much he has played.
His first appearance of the season came as a late substitute in the 1–1 draw against Manchester City in mid-February. Rodri’s equalizer hit the goal line via his leg, but his involvement spoke volumes.
Even after such a long layoff, the academy graduate was trusted in the most intense environments. A week later he made an appearance against Liverpool in the League Cup final. Both times his introduction coincided with him conceding goals, but the pattern since then has been considerably more impressive.
Chalobah has played almost all available minutes over the past two months. Only once – when he came on in the manic 4-3 win over Manchester United, a result that turned around for the better after he came on – has he not started or finished the full match, when available.
He missed the draw against Burnley with a knock, but has otherwise been a mainstay. In the league it is a run of six games without defeat, with three wins to come. He hasn’t quite managed to stop the flow of goals (ten were scored in those games), but apart from the FA Cup semi-final he is unbeaten in the games he has started.
He was also involved in victories over Leeds and Leicester, taking Chelsea into the final in first place. He has already played double the minutes of Christopher Nkunku.
For a player who was almost sold last summer and was made available again in January, that is quite a turnaround. His versatility, being able to play at right-back or in defensive midfield when required, makes him a valuable player for the club. He wore the captain’s armband in pre-season before suffering the setback that affected his availability for much of the year.
Chalobah is also a natural in the back three, operating on the right or in the middle, on rare occasions even on the left. In that sense he is more flexible than Silva, and much faster. It is a credit to himself and the youth academy that he has managed to maintain himself so easily in recent weeks, despite the changes in the selection since his last competitive games last season.
He doesn’t have Silva’s wealth of experience behind him, nor the uncanny ability to read the play or open one with a quarterback-style pass, but he’s a perfect replacement in every way. He uses out-of-the-box quality and similarity to continue improving that too many of his new teammates are missing.
Chalobah does not complain and is willing. He is reliable and impressive. With Chelsea already having a number of very capable defensive players, he will fit into the role Silva has left even better than before. As someone is always likely to have fewer playing minutes after years of over-reliance in their late 30s, Chalobah may be the ideal cover for a player who needs to play a specific role in the team.
His wages are low (higher than some of his friends) and he is a homegrown player. Before even analyzing his value as a footballer to the team, he is in any case extremely useful. He is capable of completing more than 1,500 league minutes per season as a rotation player with at least a strong foundation for consistent performance.
Apart from his surprise defeat in the summer, he has remained durable and reliable and has almost half a season of league starts to his name in each of his last two terms. Replacing him, which Chelsea would certainly need if Silva also left, would require as much money as would likely be made through a sale, if not more.
Pure profit or not, this doesn’t seem like a strong strategy to build on. Axel Disasi is a very similar player to Chalobah and is two years older with no previous experience in England. If Chelsea aren’t looking for a major upgrade, then it makes sense to stick with the Englishman.
At first glance, Chalobah is clearly no Silva – although he has qualities that the Brazilian doesn’t have at the moment – and if he had even half the career of his current teammate it would be a huge success. But in terms of what they can offer Chelsea in the future, there is no reason to suggest Chalobah is anything more than a capable option to cover for the likely departure of Chelsea’s number four.