Thiago Silva has hit back at Paul Scholes after the former Manchester United player suggested that Cristiano Ronaldo would’ve gotten the better of the Chelsea centre-back.
Ronaldo was surprisingly dropped for the Red devils’ visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday, which ended in a 1-1 draw as Jorginho’s penalty cancelled out Jadon Sancho’s opening goal.
But Scholes criticised Michael Carrick’s decision to start Ronaldo on the bench and felt that the Portuguese forward would’ve thrived against Thiago Silva.
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Scholes also said that United have ‘more talent’ than Chelsea but believes the difference between the two teams is down to the management.
‘I think it’s probably the first big game in his career he’s not been picked. I think he’ll be fuming, I think he’ll be furious he’s not playing in this big game,’ Scholes told Premier League Productions about Carrick’s decision to bench Ronaldo for the game against Chelsea.
‘I don’t understand it. Of all the big games, you think about Manchester City or Liverpool, I think today is probably the best one for Cristiano.
‘You’re playing against Thiago Silva, don’t get me wrong, a brilliant centre-half, [but he’s] 37 years of age. It couldn’t be any better for Cristiano, really.
‘Again, we don’t know what we’re doing. There’s no identity to the team, we don’t know how we’re going to play.
‘We talk about the difference in squads, we think there’s not much difference in the squads when you put them down on paper, but you see Chelsea the way they’re coached, the way they play, everyone knows their job, they know exactly what they’re doing.
‘I think United have probably got more talent but they are all confused. They don’t really know what shape they’re going to be playing, what position they’re playing, they’re all over the place. And that’s the big difference between the two clubs at the minute.’
But Thiago Silva has fired back at Scholes’ claims on Instagram.
In his response to a Chelsea fan account which generalised Scholes’ view of Ronaldo and Thiago Silva, the Brazilian player wrote: ‘It is always easy, especially for those who have stopped playing!’
