Thiago Silva Hits Back At Paul Scholes After He Claimed Cristiano Ronaldo Would Find It Easy To Play Against Him

Chelsea defender Thiago Silva did not hold back when responding to comments made by Paul Scholes ahead of last weekend's Premier League clash against Manchester United.

The Brazilian centre-back, who has impressed under Thomas Tuchel during his debut season for the Blues, must have expected to face off against Cristiano Ronaldo in the build-up to Sunday's game at Stamford Bridge.

But to the surprise of many, United's caretaker manager Michael Carrick benched the five-time Ballon d'Or winner; a decision that didn't go down well with Portugal's record goalscorer after the full-time whistle.

Somebody who was surprised by Carrick's decision to leave Ronaldo out of United's starting line-up was Paul Scholes, who was on punditry duty for Premier League productions.

And according to reports, the former Manchester United midfielder suggested it would have been easy for the 36-year-old forward to play against Silva; a statement that was posted on Chelsea fan page chelseapulse.

An hour later, the Brazilian defender responded to the claim. "It is always easy," Silva wrote on Instagram. "Especially for those who have stopped playing."

This isn't the first time Scholes has criticised Chelsea's defensive qualities. In an episode of The Overlap last month, the 47-year-old claimed Thomas Tuchel's side have the weakest defence of the Premier League's top four.

After saying he wasn't convinced by the team's goalscoring ability, Scholes added: "I also don't think you're great defensively."

Scholes continued: "I think [Antonio] Rudiger's been really good but, other than that, you've got Thiago Silva who's 36 or 37, Andreas Christensen's a young player... I think in the middle of the pitch you're alright. Jorginho and Kante are really good players.

"I'm just not sure that you'll score enough goals and that you're defensively good enough."

Since Scholes made those comments, Chelsea have impressed at the back. In fact, they have the best defensive record in the Premier League after 13 games played, conceding just five league goals all season.

Topics: Paul Scholes, Chelsea, Manchester United, Thiago Silva, Premier League

Jack Kenmare

Jack Kenmare is a writer at SPORTbible. He's interviewed some of the biggest names in sport, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Pele, Carles Puyol and Tim Henman. He dabbles in all things sport but football is his biggest passion. He was once hit in the head by a wayward strike from Nicky Butt and lived to tell the tale.

@jackkenmare_