It’s been seven days since Bele Silva made another of her social media attacks, this time on the coach Mauricio Pochettino, but her actions are very much the theme in West London. After a 4-2 loss to Wolverhampton, Thiago Silva’s wife posted a tweet calling for ‘changes’ in the club, which were aimed at the Argentinian tactician. The coach talked to the player (on Silva’s initiative) and cleared the air, Bele Silva apologized on Twitter, but the Brazilian remained on the bench for the FA Cup duel with Aston Villa and the Blues played excellent and won in Birmingham 3-1.Mauricio Pochettino:”I understand [why #Chelsea fans don’t love me yet]. They were winning #UCL’s, Premier League. Why are [they] going to love me after 6-7 months? OK, we’re in a final but we’re not in a good position in the table…”🎥 @SkySportsPL pic.twitter.com/gfoI8LKd9T— Absolute Chelsea (@AbsoluteChelsea) February 12, 2024 So, ahead of the Premier League duel with Crystal Palace tonight, journalist were only focused on Thiago Silva, his omission from the starting line-up and they were determined to get the answer from Pochettino no matter what. They tried with ‘innocent’ questions, like if something has changed in Silva’s role, since he has less than six months until the end of his contract.“Why? Nothing happened. 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” said the Argentinian.Ahead of Villa game, Pochettino talked with Silva about his wifeBut the journalists kept pressing Pochettino with Silva questions, they just changed the context, asking him if the introduction of younger Badiashile and Disasi at the back benefited his style of play better and kept repeating it, until the Chelsea boss answered: “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. 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?” said Pochettino with a smile on his face.Thiago Silva’s wife aims at Pochettino’s sackingHe went on explaining that the decision who is to play comes after taking in consideration various aspect of the game and his team.“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. I don’t want to be the coach that picks the youngest team in England. We have young players. We need to build a team. You need to be more consistent like a team” explained the Argentinian.ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 24Saturday Manchester City – Everton 2-0 (0-0)/Haaland 71, 85/Luton – Sheffield United 1-3 (0-2)/Morris 52 pen – Archer 30, McAtee 36 pen, Souza 72/Liverpool – Burnley 3-1 (1-1)/Jota 31, Diaz 52, Nunez 79 – O’Shea 45/Fulham – Bournemouth 3-1 (2-0)/De Cordova-Reid 5, Muniz 36, 52 – Senesi 50/Wolverhampton – Brentford 0-2 (0-1)/Norgaard 35, Toney 77/Tottenham – Brighton 2-1 (0-1)/Sarr 61, Johnson 90+6 – Gross 16 pen/Nottingham Forest – Newcastle United 2-3 (2-2)/Elanga 26, Hudson-Odoi 45+6 – Guimaraes 10, 66, Schar 43/Sunday West Ham – Arsenal 0-6 (0-4)/Saliba 33, Saka 41 pen, 63, Gabriel 44, Trossard 45+2, Rice 66/Aston Villa – Manchester United 1-2 (0-1)/Luiz 67 – Hojlund 17, McTominay 86/Monday 23.00: (4.40) Crystal Palace (3.50) Chelsea (1.85)***odds are subject to change
