‘He is going to be fantastic for us’: Frank Lampard backs Thiago Silva to overcome disastrous Premier League debut to become the leader of Chelsea’s defence, despite mistake for West Brom’s second goal in 3-3 draw
- Frank Lampard believed Thiago Silva is going to be ‘fantastic’ for Chelsea
- The Brazilian struggled on his Premier League debut against West Brom
- Silva allowed the ball to slip under his foot, allowing the hosts to make it 2-0
- Chelsea rallied to earn a point and Lampard has backed the Brazilian to recover
Thiago SILVA had a Chelsea debut to forget as he committed one of the worst mistakes of his glittering career as in a match Chelsea were lucky to escape with a draw.
The hugely decorated Brazil defender wore the captain’s armband on his Premier League bow for Frank Lampard’s side.
But he took his eye off the ball to allow it slip under his foot and gift Callum Robinson his second on the night as newly promoted West Brom raced into a three goal half-time lead.
Frank Lampard backed Thiago Silva after the defender struggled on his Premier League debut
Silva made a big mistake to allow Callum Robinson (R) to put West Brom 2-0 in front
The former Milan and PSG star had been substituted by the time Tammy Abraham scored Chelsea’s injury-time winner.
But manager Lampard did not blame his star recruit, who turned 36 last week.
‘He is going to be fantastic for us,’ Lampard insisted. ‘He has been incredible in his career and I am sure he will be open about his mistake, but there is no blame on him.
‘We are team that has to react around that. It is nothing on him. He will admit his mistake, but that was the only one. That’s his first Premier League game done and in the bank.
‘He will show a lot more as he gets fitter and the whole squad gets fitter.
‘I am not blaming the players but just stating facts we made mistakes to give ourselves a mountain to climb.’
Chelsea are the first Premier League team since West Ham in 2011 to avoid defeat after trailing by three at half-time. That was also a 3-3- draw against West Brom at The Hawthorns.
Silva joined on a free transfer from PSG and Lampard think he’ll be ‘fantastic’ for the Blues
Lampard added: ‘It leaves me with mixed emotions because to come back like that and keep believing shows a great attitude but we should never have conceded three goals from three first half shots.
‘We have to be humble enough to accept our mistakes and know we have to get better.’
Lampard was delighted younger players such as goalscorer Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, who came off the bench to get Chelsea’s second, and last minute saviour Abraham had responded to the challenge of playing alongside Silva and big money signings Kai Havertz and Timo Werner.
He added: ‘People asked how younger players would react to our new signings and you can see how positive they have been. Callum has given himself a great platform to build on and Tammy got his reward at the end of a difficult game against a tough back five.’
West Brom manager Slaven Bilic, an old friend of Lampard from his West Ham playing days, also had mixed emotions.
Lampard watches on as his side staged an impressive second-half recovery to snatch a point
He felt Chelsea’s third goal should have been disallowed for a Havertz handball but was also delighted with the overall performance.
The Croatian coach said: ‘I’m proud because was a great game and we played the way we wanted to – at our maximum.
‘That is the way I asked them to play. Plan A can’t be to out class a side like Chelsea. We had to out run them, be extra focussed, be determined, have the right awareness, not give them anything and force them to make mistakes and then punish them.
‘And that is exactly what we did in the first 45 mins. I knew the second half would be hard and we did what we wanted, but it just was not enough.
‘We could have had a fourth with a better finish and we limited them as planned but the third goal was very hard to accept because of the hand ball. The lads are very disappointed on the dressing room.’