Some Chelsea players reportedly believe Thiago Silva has been ‘disrespected’ by Mauricio Pochettino over the Blues captaincy. Despite his vast experience, the Brazilian defender has not been named as one of Pochettino’s three captains by the head coach, supposedly prompting members of the squad to grow ‘perplexed’ over the situation.
Reece James was handed the club captaincy in the summer after the long-serving Cesar Azpilicueta departed for Atletico Madrid. Ben Chilwell and Conor Gallagher are the nominated vice-captains.
A group of Chelsea’s squad are reported to be ‘perplexed’ that Silva has not been handed the armband. The 39-year-old has previously captained Paris Saint-Germain and the Brazilian national team.
Silva might therefore have been viewed as the natural successor to Azpilicueta. The veteran has previously worn the armband under previous managers at Stamford Bridge in an interim capacity when previous skipper Azpilicueta was absent.
According to the Guardian, members of the squad are ‘perplexed’ over the situation and supposedly believe Pochettino has ‘disrespected’ Silva. It has reportedly become a ‘growing’ topic in the dressing room.
Right-back James has been ruled out until well into the new year after suffering another devastating hamstring injury. Chilwell has had his issues with injuries, too, while third-choice captain Gallagher had his discipline called into question after he was sent off for picking up two avoidable yellow cards in the 3-2 victory over Brighton.
Silva had been ever-present in Chelsea’s Premier League team before dropping to the bench for the 2-0 defeat by Everton last weekend. But Pochettino refuses to name him as captain and previously said he wants to consider the future of the club when picking his leaders.
“I explain the truth like always. For me, it was nominating Reece, I think is the perfect captain of course and then an English player with experience is Chilly,” the Argentine said when he named James as captain in August.
“And then I think Thiago is because of experience. Today is his birthday, 39, and I think he is an experienced player that doesn’t need the armband and then I think it’s important to build something for the future. Not only the present but the future.
“He is there and the captain is not only to put the armband on your arm. If we need to communicate with the referee and everything I think Conor can perfectly do the job and for me I prefer Conor than Enzo because I think Conor can speak normal English.
“I think Enzo is still not ready to be a captain. It is not only because of character or personality or profile. It’s about your ability to communicate with the people and if you don’t manage still the language properly you cannot be captain, no? I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong but it’s my opinion.”
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