Thiago Silva dropped after wife called on Chelsea to sack Mauricio Pochettino

Mauricio Pochettino dropped a selection bombshell ahead of tonight's FA Cup replay at Aston Villa by axing Thiago Silva from his starting line-up

Posted Thursday, February 08, 2024 by Dailystar.co.uk

Thiago Silva has been dropped by Mauricio Pochettino in the wake of his wife's criticism of the Chelsea boss.

The Brazilian is on the bench for tonight's FA Cup replay at Aston Villa - days after Belle Silva appeared to call for Pochettino to be sacked on social media following the 4-2 home defeat to Wolves.

"It's time to change. If you wait any longer it will be too late," posted Belle on X (formerly Twitter). She apologised for the post earlier today (Wednesday), writing: "I'm sorry that my personal outburst as a passionate Chelsea fan has caused such an impact.

"I'm passionate about the team, I thrive on victories and I'm saddened by defeats. We all want the same thing, a winning team, come on Chelsea."

In his pre-match press conference, Pochettino said he had cleared the air with the veteran defender about his Belle's post. He said: "He came today to talk with me. I'm not going to talk about (what we said). He came and wanted to talk with me. That was private. That's it."

However, there is fresh intrigue regarding the relationship between the pair after Thiago was dropped to the bench for the fourth round replay. Pochettino looked uncomfortable when asked about Thiago's demotion by ITV reporter Gabriel Clarke.

"Why the question?" said the Blues boss." When Clarke repeated the question, Pochettino added: "I am professional. I understand the question. I want to be calm. I always pick my players based on performance and balance. That's it".

Clarke probed again: "It's about that and nothing else?" Pochettino replied: "My answer is clear, no?"

Raheem Sterling and Christopher Nkunku have also dropped out of the team, with Noni Madueke, Benoit Badiashile and Nicolas Jackson coming in.