Chelsea defender Thiago Silva admits he's been surprised by the style of football he's faced in his first season in England.
Thiago Silva was expecting a slightly different, more direct style of football in the Premier League.
He credits the import of foreign coaches with new ideas for changing the mindset on these shores but also pinpoints the speed and physicality of the league as particularly unique.
"In my head, the majority of the teams played a long ball game, always kicking it long," he told the Chelsea website. "That's the idea I had in my head in the past but when I came here I saw that teams try to play.
"I think Pep Guardiola has brought well-played football along with him and changed this aspect in other coaches. I saw teams which, while being less prominent than Manchester City or Chelsea, were teams that liked to play good football.
"There are teams now in the top five or six of the Premier League, like West Ham and Leicester, who are teams that play proper football and like to do so. That surprised me in a good way but still, in terms of intensity, it's one of the most intense leagues in the world."
