Thiago Silva

I honestly think this kid should be rated one of the best center backs at the moment. He's got decent height (6'1), great physical strength, have yet to see him lose a 1 vs 1 and can play anywhere from leading the top of the line to hanging back as a sweeper. He's got long range passing skills and makes runs through the center of the pitch accompanied by very decent vision. He is also a threat in the air in set plays/corners and has a decent shot when given an opportunity. His positioning is also very good and he's a pro at clearing. Basically when he's not on the pitch or isn't a part of the play (ball crossed over him etc) the Milan defense goes into panic mode (looks like shit). The kid has some intense work ethic too; he's flying every minute of the game and he's really fast while usually dealing with panic/emergency situations calmy and with class. Great player.

Best part- only 25. Worst part- Milan got him for 10million Euros.... hmmm, what we could of put that extra 15 million Euros towards....

Hm.. Let´s say he is that good. Where would we fit him?

a long way from convinced

I don't think he's that good as yet

I honestly rate him as good as Pique, being probably even better at 1 vs 1 situations. Puyol is just Puyol, he makes mistakes but makes up for them 10 fold. He's irreplacable. Where would we fit him? Take your pick. Chygrnsky, Marquez, Milito....basically everyone but Pique/Puyol. Between the three of them you'd have a winning combination no matter what. However I think Pique/Puyol and Pique/Thiago would work best; Puyol and Thiago are very similar...Puyol just does it with a more die hard fashion while Thiago is more calm with finess- typical Brasilian touch.

a long way from convinced

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Why do you say so? I'm just curious mate. They've conceded the least amount of goals while he was in the backline (definately before today...but then again today's goals weren't his fault were they? I'm pointing fingers specifically at Bonera and somewhat Nesta). Even if you watched today's game he showed a lot of his qualities; calmness/finess when in a tight situation, his speed to cut off an attacker (at very end of game), his clearing ability and he made two amazing runs into the grand area and supplied world-class passes. He also was a threat in the air on a free kick and corner.

For a player that in the past was a winger, fullback then settled as a CB he is very solid defensively and very capable of attacking/supplying passes as well. He focused more on just defending in the begining of the season b/c he was new; but now that he's settling your seeing him get way more involved. He's becoming very confident.

Silva is great. Ever since he came to Milan, corners and free kicks against Milan became very hard to score through whereas last season even with Maldini we used to face problems. He's a beast in the air, one of the best I have seen. He is also fast 1 to 1, that run he had against Valencia in the end of Manchester match was awesome. His only problem he is not much of a leader yet and needs to have an experienced defender beside him to help him out. And yes he and Pique are very much alike especially speed-wise and their runs, but while Pique is more aggressive Silva is more athletic and classy.

He will be a world class defender, he just needs experience, he showed quite a lot of inexperience against ManU, especially when throwing himself into tackles, but he has loooaads of potential.

yeah milan have a few good youngsters and they will be back in the next few years.

Thiago Silva having a good match in Amsterdam where Suarez and El Hamdaoui are testing him constantly.

I think Silva/Pique would be immense

He's a great centre back already tbh.

well, he is 26 so... i always liked him though, one of the best milan players in last season...

Andres Iniesta111 said:

I think Silva/Pique would be immense

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SIlva-Pique would be bad,both are very adventrous going forward,no way I would put them in a single team

Mido said:

SIlva-Pique would be bad,both are very adventrous going forward,no way I would put them in a single team

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I see Nesta going forward quite regularly

mido doesnt mean on free kicks or something, but in play.. Pique is like Lucio at Inter, goes forward WITH the ball from time to time, leaving space behind him... Puyol is there to cover it in barca, and Samuel is there to cover it in inter, nesto to cover for Silva at Milan, and so on...

Having two players like that in the defensive line would be suicide...