The wife of Chelsea defender Thiago Silva has liked a tweet which calls Graham Potter a “deadbeat” manager who “doesn’t know what he is doing”.
Potter is under huge pressure at Chelsea following their embarrassing 1-0 defeat by managerless Southampton on Saturday. Saints are bottom of the Premier League and had just one win from their previous 11 league games, but still came away from Stamford Bridge with three points thanks to James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick.
Chelsea have lost nine of their last 15 games in all competitions and sit 10th in the Premier League, 11 points adrift of the top four. Potter has won just nine of his 25 matches in charge since succeeding Thomas Tuchel in September and was booed by the Blues fans on Saturday.
Nevertheless, Todd Boehly and co-owner Behdad Eghbali remain determined to keep the faith with the former Brighton manager. That stance does not appear to be one that Belle Silva would agree with.
Belle, the wife of veteran defender Thiago Silva, is well-known among Chelsea fans for being forthright with her views on the team – and she hasn’t held back from criticising Potter. After tweeting about Carnival in her native Brazil, Belle received a reply on a very different topic from a user called PassmasterEnzo5, which she proceeded to like.
It read: “can u ask [Thiago] silva to coach our club himself because we have a deadbeat tacticless [sic] coach who doesn't know what he is doing ,he doesn't even understand this is Chelsea football club he thinks he is still at Brighton.”
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It is not the first time that Belle’s social media activity has raised eyebrows. After Chelsea lost 2-1 to rivals Fulham in January, she wrote, “If there was a @tsilva3 in attack and one in midfield, with what we already have in defense…”
After a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Manchester City in the FA Cup, she wrote: “I just think that going back or looking for solutions when you take a hasty and totally wrong attitude is not wrong. #goblues.”
Potter admitted that his side’s performance was not good enough against Southampton, but said that his side remain a work in progress with so many players yet to settle in following a hugely busy January transfer window.
"After a 1-0 defeat at home, any criticism you get is understandable," he said on Saturday. "We've had a tough period and are integrating young players into the Premier League. When results don't go your way, it's tough.
"I'm not arrogant enough to say that their opinion isn't worth articulating. My job is to help the team and work through a team period. The truth is we took as step back with our performance in the first half. Our response in the second half was good, but it wasn't enough."
