Chelsea kicked off 2021/22 looking to challenge Liverpool and Manchester City for the Premier League title.
The Blues had an excellent second half of 2020/21 under Thomas Tuchel, having one of the tightest defences in the Premier League and, of course, winning the Champions League.
As a result, once Romelu Lukaku was signed, that did look to be the final piece of the Chelsea puzzle.
However, in part due to long-term injuries to both of their main wing-backs, Chelsea’s season would fall flat on its face.
The west Londoners finished 3rd in the Premier League and did not win a single trophy.
Now, Thiago Silva has offered an explanation for the Blues’ subpar campaign, suggesting that it was the fine margins, e.g. the penalty shootouts vs Liverpool, that prevented them from having a good campaign:
“In general, it was a good season – not excellent,” Silva said to the club’s official website. “We were in the top three and over the course of the campaign we had a couple of cup successes and we lost a couple of cup finals. It’s not what we wanted, but it was okay
“It’s the small details. When you look at it, if we had won those two penalty shootouts, it would have been an excellent season instead of a good season because you always remember those who win. Liverpool won the two penalty shootouts and it was an excellent season for them.
“If it had been the other way, it would not have been quite so good for them and it would have been a great season for us because we would have been celebrating winning four competitions instead of two. But it’s what people remember – and those small margins are what make the difference that win you competitions.”
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