Carpenter’s Corner #3 – The Thiago Silva Paradox – When do you trade in a Rolls Royce?

O Monstro, my Monstro, what can you say about Thiago Silva that hasn’t already been said many times, many ways?

The perennial centre-back has taken on an ethereal quality in the winter years of his career. In a world where most defenders retire from elite competition in their mid-thirties, Thiago Silva has seemingly defied time itself, winning the one with the big ears at age thirty-seven.

He is currently Chelsea’s oldest ever outfield player and our very own Benjamin Button is still going strong at almost forty years of age.

Silva’s longevity is a testament to his mentality, but also his intelligence, recognising and understanding the needs of his aging body to maximise his time at the top.

Silva reportedly works with up to a seven-strong people per day, including a nutritionist, physiotherapist and a doctor among others.

But father time eventually comes for us all. Despite Silva being blessed with both the body and brain to extend his longevity in the sport as much as possible, his time at Chelsea may soon be coming to an end.

There have been glimpses to show that even O Monstro may be mortal after all (much in the same way a dragon loses a scale once in a millennium).

With rumours circulating in the past week that Chelsea may decide not to extend Silva’s current deal, what comes next for Silva? Is retirement on the cards? How about coaching? Or playing until he’s fifty? Let’s look at his options.

Consider this a love letter to the man that time forgot.

As written above, rumours are circulating that Silva will not be extended at the end of the season. If his playing days at Chelsea are to come to an end, there are several possibilities available to him.

Of course, there is the nuclear option. To simply pack it in and retire from football altogether.

Perhaps a career in punditry in Portugal, Brazil, France, Italy or even England could be on the cards.

Silva speaks many languages from his illustrious playing career and would be able to provide such valuable insight on the teams he played for and the players he played with.

However, this is unrealistic for Silva himself, whilst he’d be an excellent pundit Silva has said on numerous occasions that he believes he can keep playing to age forty at minimum.

Retiring would arguably be Silva doing a disservice to himself and wouldn’t line up with the belief he has in his own abilities to carry on.

In that case, Silva may choose to simply pack his bags and find more playing time elsewhere, whether that be in the Premier League, or elsewhere.

Silva has flirted with returning to Fluminense in Brazil almost every season he’s been contracted at Chelsea (this is normal when every season is expected to be your last for a club).

Returning to his home country and his roots for one last dance would be a romantic and humble twilight to an illustrious career filled with accolades.

However, this is only taking Silva himself into account. Silva has a family in London, his children are in the Chelsea academy (with his 15-year-old son Isago making waves in the youth setup) and he has to consider their futures alongside his own.

Rumours suggest that Silva’s kids like London and don’t want to move back to Brazil.

Silva is a family man first and that’s very clear from his interviews and how he talks about them, he’s very likely to take them into consideration.

Silva’s kids being in the academy may be the driving force behind him not wanting to leave, however if the club force his hand, nothing can be done.

Chelsea letting over twenty years of experience simply walk out the door to potentially another Premier League club would be an unmitigated disaster.

Chelsea already suffer from a lack of experience, Silva has more than most of their young squad combined. It would be incredibly harsh and borderline foolish for Chelsea to allow that to happen.

The current ownership may recognise Silva as the true last bastion and representation of the old regime alongside Emma Hayes also leaving this summer.

With their focus on young players at the core of their strategy, is anyone surprised they haven’t offered the centre-back pushing forty a new deal?

Recent discussions around bringing in more experience in the next two transfer windows may signal Silva’s exit, as it would eliminate the core reason of why he still has a role to play in the squad.

It’s like a new car dealership only dealing in the very latest Ferraris, Lamborghini’s and Peugeots (here’s looking at you, Malang Sarr) with the classic Rolls Royce parked in the garage being summarily scrapped for parts because it doesn’t fit the vibe.

Of course, the fancy new French model has just been rolled off the assembly line (Badiashile) but there’s no long-term guarantee of its quality or reliability.

The classic Rolls has been driving for 20 years, and while it has fewer horsepower now, it’s still comfortable, valuable and may still have more to show the newer models.

Silva simply ending up staying at Chelsea is another option of course. This would require the owners to change their plans (if rumours are to be believed and their minds are made up, that is) which they don’t tend to do often.

This also has negatives and a knock-on effect. You keep the classic Rolls Royce, but that undoubtedly comes at the expense of the newer models, who need time on the open road.

Keeping Silva is a squad building decision, for every minute he plays; at least one of Colwill, Badiashile and Fofana (when fit) miss out and it’s important to recognise that.

Chelsea’s young squad needs game time more than ever in order to fast track the development of such an inexperienced backline, but it’s a catch twenty-two, as taking Silva out of the backline makes it even more inexperienced (and thus, what I have dubbed the Silva paradox is born).

Even if he played a bit-part role, eventually the young centre-backs Chelsea do have will need to learn to play without him.

Badiashile and Colwill have the potential to lock down a decade long partnership and them establishing that partnership and playing together is vital for the future of Chelsea.

Whether the fans like it or not, Silva blocks that process because of how good and experienced he is.

In an ownership that has consistently sacrificed the present for the future, it’s hard to see them changing their minds on this.

The question is, when do you rip the plaster off? When do you let the Classic Rolls go?

The correct answer is you don’t.

Silva will not be able to continue his football playing career forever, nobody knows this more than O Monstro himself.

However, there is a solution that could satisfy all parties. Thiago Silva should retire, or semi-retire as a player and join Mauricio Pochettino’s coaching staff.

This is the ideal scenario. Thiago Silva continues to be in a job providing for his family without even moving clubs, his routine wouldn’t change all that drastically (especially if he only semi-retired) and his children could continue to play in the Chelsea academy as they start to think about their own professional careers.

Silva would still be able to contribute in part as well on the pitch if he semi-retired, which would allow him to keep playing until he is forty like he has always said, while allowing the younger centre-backs to flourish and grow.

On top of this, him and his family get to stay in London long-term. Knowing Silva, he will be still be managing when he’s ninety.

It provides a stability for his family, which is important to Silva and he gets to stay in a city he loves, at a club he loves.

Silva said in an interview recently that it was “love at first sight” when he joined Chelsea and many fans would agree. There is a special subset of players who come to Chelsea and simply instantly understand the club, the culture, the history and they slot right in like they’ve been at the club for a decade.

Silva is one such player. He is part of the furniture at Chelsea and has played more games for us than he did for Milan. He simply is proper Chels and you can’t let that go.

This benefits the owners as well. Silva stays on retainer, which is a massive win with the fanbase and the slow phasing of him into the coaching staff would suggest both strategic decision-making and a long-term plan for the culture of the club and squad building going forward.

It also keeps his experience in the dressing room which is absolutely critical for Chelsea’s future as the “project” continues.

Silva brings a winning mentality and intensity to his professional career and I doubt it would be any different in coaching based on his monstrous work-ethic.

Again, if you are the ownership, you simply cannot let that go.

It also provides a path for Silva into coaching, much in the Mikel Arteta mould of a former player working under an established coach to get his bearings.

Silva has always wanted to get into coaching, it’s why he’d be wasted as a pundit despite how good he’d be at it.

A sharp tactical mind having worked under the best coaches in world football and a serial winner with an elite mentality and passion for the game. He was born to coach. As an assistant manager, or even a standalone defensive coach, Chelsea could do a lot worse than O Monstro teaching the next generation of centre-backs the dark arts of defending.

This is also a not unlikely scenario. Silva has a good relationship with Pochettino and as mentioned, him staying in London is preferential for his family.

This is the way for everyone to get what they want and for the club to prosper going forward, it’s how you break the Silva Paradox.

The classic Rolls becomes a showpiece for the newer models and gets to stay at the dealership.

The squad continues to develop under the tutelage of one of the best defenders of all time and the owners look like geniuses for finding an innovative solution to a difficult squad building problem, while strengthening the club as a whole.

Thiago Silva isn’t the past, he’s the future.