Tony Cascarino can’t believe Frank Lampard overlooked Chelsea duo Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly in the recent defeat against Manchester United.
Chelsea suffered a 16th Premier League defeat of the season on Thursday night, losing 4-1 away to Manchester United during their trip to Old Trafford.
The Blues were uninspiring as an attacking unit, while the defence certainly endured an off-night. In particular, Chelsea’s centre-halves Wesley Fofana and Trevoh Chalobah suffered against United on the counter-attack.
It’ll be interesting to see the line-up for Sunday’s final day at home to Newcastle United.
TalkSPORT pundit Cascarino has criticised Chelsea’s caretaker manager for overlooking the experience of Thiago Silva and Kalidou Koulibaly this week.
“Why would you take Thiago Silva and Koulibaly to Old Trafford and put them on the bench?” Cascarino said on talkSPORT.
“Frank’s duty as the manager of the football club, even in this short period of time, is to pick Chelsea’s best XI. Just go and try to get results.”
Silva is clearly the best defender at the club so we were a little puzzled by his midweek omissions. It’s worth pointing out the 38-year-old veteran doesn’t play every single match, though.
As for 31-year-old centre-back Koulibaly, his form has been very inconsistent during his debut season at Stamford Bridge. But he’s a very experienced individual with a lot of experience on the biggest stage.
We are intrigued to see how big a role the aforementioned duo play in the 2023/24 season. There’s plenty of talented young centre-halves on Chelsea’s books, but experience can so often be the way to go in defence.