Thiago Silva, next best defender

Thefootypie.com 25/06/2011

In the absence of Paolo Maldini, Thiago Silva became one of AC Milan’s pillars in defence their championship-winning campaign last season. Anthony Lopopolo writes.

There is a charm about AC Milan that attracts Brazilians to them, almost like a fragrance. In the better part of the last decade, many great Brazilians have draped themselves in red-and-black jerseys. Serginho and Cafu covered the flanks of Milan and engineered enterprising attacks. Kaka charged toward goal like a torpedo. Dida stopped balls and misinterpreted the trajectory of airborne flares. Ronaldinho and Pato danced after goals.
When Thiago Silva signed with Milan, he did so with the same attraction. Once thought a prospective successor to Paolo Maldini, Thiago Silva very much is the successor. Silva is the proper heir to an important throne.

Often defenders are called rocks in defence, as if no one can break through. Thiago Silva is more like a thief, tracking up and down the field and positioning himself at the perfect moment to snatch the ball. He does not just stop the ball; he impedes its progress, commanding it to stop. No question that he is a great defender, but he raised to fame like a game-show contestant: quick and suddenly. When Dunga first selected him to play for Brazil’s national team in 2008, he invested a belief in Thiago Silva that no many had, a belief that he could match and surpass the slowly eroding fitness and pace of Lucio, a belief that he could lead Brazil’s backline. Then, plugging the void left by Paolo Maldini as if he was born to do so, Thiago Silva made a name for himself in northern Italy.

Thiago Silva is a practical and smart player. Only 18 goals went by him on his watch in Serie A this season, a damn intimidating bouncer standing in Milan’s own third of the field allowing only the best of balls through. On his watch, Thiago Silva helped Milan keep 19 clean sheets in 2010-11 – a total no other player in any of Europe’s top-five leagues could match.

He does it effortlessly, too, flicking the ball away with his foot like a fly. There is the art of defending, and there are artists of defending. Thiago Silva is an artist; you can see it in his graceful and fluid runs, in his timely tackles and headers. He is no Nemanja Vidic, no Gerard Pique, no Carles Puyol or Rio Ferdinand or Lucio. He is better. He had one yellow card to his name all season. That is the kind of obedience and discipline that is too seldom seen.

Playing right beside one of the greatest defenders in his own right, Alessandro Nesta, Thiago Silva has clearly studied well. Soon Nesta will leave and Thiago Silva will be the teacher. But in two full years with Milan, he has not exactly soaked up lessons; he has put them into practice, as if planning the lesson himself. There is something extraordinary about his movement. Not his speed or his grace, but his intelligence. He knows where attackers are going and sticks with them like a groupie.

Barcelona wants him. They want him bad. But there is a charm about AC Milan for Brazilians, like a fragrance. Milan chose him before anyone else and gave him the keys to throne.