3 reasons why Thiago Silva's long-range passing is crucial to Chelsea

Thiago Silva's influence on the Chelsea defence has already earned him plaudits from across the footballing world.

However, an underrated aspect of the centre-back's start to life at Chelsea has been his ability to ping the ball across the park. A closer look at why Silva's long-range passing tells us why it's crucial to Chelsea in possession.

Accuracy with long-rangers

• Thiago Silva has completed 92 of his 107 attempted long-range passes, for an 86% accuracy.
• In comparison, Van Dijk, one of the league's prominent long-range passers completed only 79% of his long passes last season.
• Thiago Silva is attempting 22 such passes per game on average, as compared to Van Dijk's 20.

Breaks opposition pressing

• In today's football, several teams like to press from the front in an attempt to put pressure on the opposition midfield and defence.
• However, with Thiago Silva (Zouma also has great numbers) at the back pinging long-balls over the top, there is little an opposition attacker can do to sustain the pressing.

Starts Chelsea attacks

• As long as they're accurate, long balls are logically the quickest route into the opposition's final third.
• With Silva spraying balls to our wingers and marauding full-backs, Chelsea can turn defence into attack in an instant.
• Silva's pass for James in the game against Rennes at home is the prime reason why Silva's passing is crucial.

Thiago Silva has brought leadership, defensive structure, and a sense of calm to the Chelsea side. What he has also brought is an ability to dominate games through pin-point passing.