Willian

[Sheva. 5,373]

1 goal and 1 assist by January. Inexcusable, he's lucky there's Oscar to sometimes distract from his ineffectiveness.

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,919]

1 goal and 1 assist by January. Inexcusable, he's lucky there's Oscar to sometimes distract from his ineffectiveness.

Those stats are horrific, and beyond that, his attacking instincts/decision making are horrific. Not good enough to start here, and I am questioning whether or not he is even good enough to be here.

and I say this as a Willian fan.

[LAM09 6,750]

He needs to be benched from now on. If he's playing and we still concede 5 goals, he's bringing nothing to the team.

[Vybz Kartel 1,613]

His stealing a living at Chelsea, how is 1 assist and 1 goal acceptable from a number 10 after 20 games??

[iseah100 5,612]

His stealing a living at Chelsea, how is 1 assist and 1 goal acceptable from a number 10 after 20 games??

Who cost 30m

[kellzfresh 7,229]

1 goal and 1 assist by January. Inexcusable, he's lucky there's Oscar to sometimes distract from his ineffectiveness.

1goal, 1assist in 16 games??? Jésus!!

[Sheva. 5,373]

1goal, 1assist in 16 games??? Jésus!!

Apparently both came in the same game.

So he has 0 goals and 0 assists in the other 15 games, afuckingmazing.

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Apparently both came in the same game.

So he has 0 goals and 0 assists in the other 15 games, afuckingmazing.

The guy is a fraud. I know his pressing is a huge contribution to our game play but no starter in any top 3 team of any country has such stats. Terrible

[Jase 43,479]

Apparently both came in the same game.

So he has 0 goals and 0 assists in the other 15 games, afuckingmazing.

You are right. Both of Willian's league goal and assist came in the same against Aston Villa, back in September! And he's actually made 19 appearances in the league for us this season. So, he practically has 0 goals and 0 assists in the other 18 matches. In fact, in 24 appearances in all competitions, Willian has 2 goals and 2 assists only and each pair came in one game - vs Aston Villa and the Schalke in the Champions League.

[Oscar 441]

Thought willian played decent, not as horrible as people are making it seem...

[yuvala 2,167]

He's not "horrible", but he's just not really adding that much..

This is not the level of players we want to have as one of the best teams around.

[DH1988 1,273]

No Willian, no balance in the team in the way Jose wants to play that frees our creative players, even Ivanovic down the right side, evident when he doesn't play - whole team was not at the races yesterday.

Couldn't care if he went all season with 0 goals 0 assists as long as I see him charging down people in the 88th minute like I have done almost every time I've seen him when he hasn't been subbed.

Need those worker bees.

[Tomo 21,733]

No Willian, no balance in the team in the way Jose wants to play that frees our creative players, even Ivanovic down the right side, evident when he doesn't play - whole team was not at the races yesterday.

Couldn't care if he went all season with 0 goals 0 assists as long as I see him charging down people in the 88th minute like I have done almost every time I've seen him when he hasn't been subbed.

Need those worker bees.

Finally, someone who gets it.

[bababoom 4,478]

Reus and Sanchez both work tirelessly off the ball as well but the big difference is they offer 100x more than Willian in the final third... IMO he's a vital squad player and does reminds me of someone like Ji Sung Park, a player who can play in the big tactical 'chess' games but is not really a regular.

Having ineffective attackers in the final third will cost us in the CL, look at Real, Barcelona and Bayern.. goals everywhere. If Hazard and Costa both have a poor game who's going to score? it wont be Oscar or Willian, thats for sure.

[Elran 58]

Are you serious? It's acceptable that your right winger, one of the 3 most attacking players in the team, has no contribution at all in attack? Not only no assists and goals (apart from one in the Aston Villa game at home), but he is just hardly involved in any dangerous attack at all. That's maybe acceptable if you are one of the back 5 but not as RW, however even JT proved more valuable in attack then Willian. Also in an attacking position you have defensive responsibilities and it is great Willian puts in a great effort in those, but it is nonsense that without Willian we have no balance in our squad.

Btw I agree that Willian is in general good in tracking back, but the 2nd Spurs goal was scored by their left back with Willian nowhere near him.

[DH1988 1,273]

Are you serious? It's acceptable that your right winger, one of the 3 most attacking players in the team, has no contribution at all in attack? Not only no assists and goals (apart from one in the Aston Villa game at home), but he is just hardly involved in any dangerous attack at all. That's maybe acceptable if you are one of the back 5 but not as RW, however even JT proved more valuable in attack then Willian. Also in an attacking position you have defensive responsibilities and it is great Willian puts in a great effort in those, but it is nonsense that without Willian we have no balance in our squad.

Btw I agree that Willian is in general good in tracking back, but the 2nd Spurs goal was scored by their left back with Willian nowhere near him.

Oh the left back, got you, Nothing to do with the errors leading up to the goal? Blaming Matic too for being pulled wide by eriksen leaving space all game, or him being rolled by Kane perhaps? No because he was obviously asked to pick him up, we then let's blame the other CM right? Team.

Share the blame, as a team we rely on work rate, pressing and tactical/situational awareness, something we lacked as a team yesterday.

Willian is asked to run like a mad man for 90 minutes, closing, pressing, linking play. Is he perfect!? No, has he improved on last year? Yes, just like others have, patience.

We essentially play a back three with iva as a right winger when Willian plays for the aerial diagonal ball from the ball or deep central midfield, why? Because Willians work rate.

Sorry just tiresome reading the same dribble after a loss it's like pinning the blame on a few when it was a collective dire performance including the manager. It happens.. No need for Omg Omg Omg reus NOW NOW NOW BUY A RW, BUY A CB.

The over reaction and spoilt attitudes are real. My rudeness is not aimed at you, more a general frustration toward the same posts/blame game so I apologise if it comes across that way.

[lionsden 4,689]

Which is my point - after that it comes down to personal preference. Obviously the numbers favour Oscar but personally I prefer Willian.

I understand where you are coming from and we share the same sentiment. Willian is more technically gifted and keeps possession much better. In fact after hazard, no other player comes close to him as far as managing posession in tight spaces but at the same time, football is a result based business and a club of our size and ambition requires productive players in the final third in order to compete with the big boys. All of our AM bar hazard and fabregas are essentially offensive passengers.

[Elran 58]

My remark of the 2nd Spurs goal was an answer to Oscar, because I disagree with him saying that Willian had a decent game yesterday. But DH1988 you're only reading the Willian thread? Cahill and Iva are slaughtered after yesterday and Matic is criticised as well. And to say it here again: Willian wasn't the worst player yesterday indeed.

I'm not criticising Willian for yesterday, but for his 20 matches this season. And I don't think we will agree, because we expect different things from Willian as a right winger. For me he is in a position where he has to contribute in attack and that's just not the case. You name Willian's strong points and I agree with them, but again it's just not what I expect from our right winger. And as I said I don't think the balance in our squad will be gone with a right winger who is more dangerous, but with less work rate. And yes Willian will probably improve with Azpi behind him instead of Iva, but I doubt he will become a scoring/assisting player and we lack one of those types imo.