Thomas Tuchel confirmed Thiago Silva’s unavailability for the upcoming game against the league’s new boys Brentford on Saturday.
The veteran central defender will be set for a late departue from the Brazil national team fold following their recent 4-1 win over Uruguay in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers which sidelines him from Chelsea’s upcoming game this weekend.
Tuchel confirmed the same in his pre-match press conferrence ahead of Saturday’s game in the capital city with the Chelsea boss not shying away from voicing concerns over the format of this latest international break leading to a squad selection crisis for clubs.
‘He will be back in the afternoon, hopefully safe from this match in Brazil.’
‘We had our talk today about Brentford, we had our tactical training and he missed all that. He played 90 minutes, he has 12 hours of travelling so that maybe gives the answer about his availability.’
‘Of course I’m not happy but I knew it before so there’s nothing new.’
‘I got used to a lot of stuff in the international breaks and this is how it is nowadays.
‘Are we coaches happy about it and the amount of games our players play for their countries? No, we are not. Does anybody ask us? No, also not and does it change anything? Also not so I don’t get down because of this.’
Further adding to Chelsea’s concerns on the injury front was confirmation from the boss that Antonio Rudiger will also be on the sidelines for the weekend fixture after missing Germany’s second game during the break.
Long-term absentee Christian Pulisic was also deemed unavailable for the Brentford clash with the American international having made only one outing so far this new season.
‘Toni Rudiger is injured.’
‘He came back injured from his national team so is also not available. Christian Pulisic is still injured and not available.’
