Willian

[OhForAGreavsie 5,890]

6 hours ago, Sir Mikel OBE said:

Kalou was trashed about the same as Willian is though.

 

Theres a reason Willian plays when he is fit more often than not

Theres a reason he played for Brazil

Theres a reason he was sought after by Barcelona.

Theres a reason hes loved by all his teammates.

 

He plays a consistent role. Does he put up insane attacking stats? no, but playing next to creative players he provides a hardworking counterbalance that makes the side better.

I need more evidence before I believe the Barcelona story, though I accept I'm out on my own there. I agree with everything else you say though.

[Jase 43,479]

On 8/4/2020 at 11:35 PM, MoroccanBlue said:

Coutinho's best spell as a professional footballer came when he was trying to get Liverpool back into the Top 4. Willian, as much as we shit on him, will give Arsenal much needed experience and depth. 

Like I said, we are laughing now, but I will genuinely be concerned if Arsenal line up like this next season. 

Leno

Soares----Saliba---Gabriel--Tierney

Xhaka---Partey

Coutinho

Pepe--------------------Willian

Aubameyang 

 

 

[Jase 43,479]

Matt Law with the latest on Willian...

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/08/05/arsenal-press-willian-negotiations-despite-staff-redundancies/

Arsenal are set to press ahead with their move to sign Willian, despite announcing that 55 members of the club’s staff are to be made redundant.

Willian is believed to be close to accepting an offer of a three-year contract, with the option of a further 12 months, and leaving Chelsea after seven years at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea and head coach Frank Lampard are still waiting to be told of Willian’s decision and have not fully given up on him staying, but the Blues will not alter their offer which is understood to be for a two-year extension.

Arsenal’s proposal is a lower base salary to what is on offer from Chelsea, but it will include lucrative bonuses on appearances and success.

The fact it would be at least a year longer also means that Willian would stand to earn more in total by moving across London.

Willian missed the FA Cup final with an injury, but was spotted chatting to Arsenal players Cedric Soares, with whom he shares an agent, and Gabriel Martinelli in the Wembley stands.

It remains to be seen whether or not Willian will be fit for Chelsea’s Champions League game against Bayern Munich on Saturday night, which the Brazilian is eligible to play in.

There is also the potential question mark over whether the 31-year-old will want to face Bayern and risk suffering another injury after seeing Pedro Rodriguez damage his shoulder during his final appearance for the Blues.

Pedro required surgery on his shoulder injury and Willian may be reluctant to put himself at risk ahead of such a big decision over his future.

Arsenal’s bid to sign Willian will no doubt attract criticism at a time when they have just announced 55 redundancies due to the impact of the coronavirus.

Whether or not that delays the completion of the move or any announcement remains to be seen, but sources close to Arsenal were on Wednesday insistent the deal was still being pursued.

[Jase 43,479]

Arsenal are basically offering Willian a 4-year-deal. JFC! How desperate are they!?

[Jype 6,398]

21 minutes ago, Jason said:

Arsenal are basically offering Willian a 4-year-deal. JFC! How desperate are they!?

If it's a club option, there's zero risk for them on the fourth year. If he's good enough three years from now for them to want to activate it, he has earned it.

But if it's some appearance-related clause for an additional year, they're fucked. That way if his level goes down, they are effectively forced to do a Mesut Özil on him and freeze him out to prevent the option from being triggered while still having to pay him a big wage.

Either way, 3 years is already too much. He'll be 35 by the time the contract is done and for a winger who's quite heavily reliant on pace and high work rate I can't see him age that well going closer to his mid 30s. 

[Pizy 18,360]

I really don't care what Arse do or who they sign. They won't get anywhere near challenging for the title and in my opinion they won't be near the top 4 either. They're soft and will be typical Arse next season. Brilliant one match, shocking the next. A couple of good months followed by an inevitable collapse.

Theyll be one long term injury to Auba away from being a midtable side.

As for Willian, it'll be sad to see him going there at first but I'll get over it quickly. Can't blame the club for not offering him 4 years (holy shit!) and can't blame Willian from taking it. He seemed like one of the Chelsea players who loved talking shit to Spuds & Arse fans most so it sucks that he's joining one of them.

[Jase 43,479]

26 minutes ago, Jype said:

If it's a club option, there's zero risk for them on the fourth year. If he's good enough three years from now for them to want to activate it, he has earned it.

But if it's some appearance-related clause for an additional year, they're fucked. That way if his level goes down, they are effectively forced to do a Mesut Özil on him and freeze him out to prevent the option from being triggered while still having to pay him a big wage.

Either way, 3 years is already too much. He'll be 35 by the time the contract is done and for a winger who's quite heavily reliant on pace and high work rate I can't see him age that well going closer to his mid 30s. 

Yes but are they really that desperate to offer another year as option on top of what is already a silly long term deal for a 32-year-old? 

[Jype 6,398]

7 minutes ago, Jason said:

Yes but are they really that desperate to offer another year as option on top of what is already a silly long term deal for a 32-year-old? 

It's not desperate if it's a club option. There's literally no risk for them that way, if anything it's better for them because if he's a big success and keeps his level going near the end of the contract they could just activate it and keep him for another year or if they're planning to sell him in two years they might even be able to get a small fee with the contract length being effectively two years due to the option (even without actually activating it).

But like I said if it's some performance related option or if Willian himself has any say in whether to activate it or not, Arsenal have been totally duped.

[Jase 43,479]

9 minutes ago, Jype said:

It's not desperate if it's a club option. There's literally no risk for them that way, if anything it's better for them because if he's a big success and keeps his level going near the end of the contract they could just activate it and keep him for another year or if they're planning to sell him two years from now they might be able to get a fee with the contract length being effectively two years due to the option (even without actually activating it).

But like I said if it's some performance related option or if Willian himself has any say in whether to activate it or not, Arsenal have been totally duped.

I know, I know but unless Arsenal have a crystal ball to look into the future and know he will still be good 2-3 years from now, giving the 3+1 deal is dumb. If Willian goes downhill from here, they are gonna have problems selling him because no other sane club in Europe will want to buy him and can afford his wages, unless Willian decides to take a pay cut. Based on what you said there, the additional year could then present a problem in the remaining length of the contract. It's almost as if Arsenal are not taking the signal that we aren't offering him more than 2 years.

[Rapkun 668]

19 minutes ago, Jason said:

I know, I know but unless Arsenal have a crystal ball to look into the future and know he will still be good 2-3 years from now, giving the 3+1 deal is dumb. If Willian goes downhill from here, they are gonna have problems selling him because no other sane club in Europe will want to buy him and can afford his wages, unless Willian decides to take a pay cut. Based on what you said there, the additional year could then present a problem in the remaining length of the contract. It's almost as if Arsenal are not taking the signal that we aren't offering him more than 2 years.

I wouldn't be surprised to see Willian in a good shape in 3 years time. Great athlete and seem very disciplined. Family man, healthy food, good sleep etc.. Players like him can play at a very good level until they're 35. Obviously nothing is guaranteed but if I had to give a 31 yo player a 3 year contract he would be on my list. It's a decent signing for Arsenal IMO. He's a short term option but they would be able to bring in someone else in a different position. Or knowing Arsenal it's possible this is the only way they could've signed anyone at all. Free or on loan.

[Pulisicismydaddy 91]

Reminder this was one of Willian's assists this season.

https://streamable.com/n43jvr

Get rid please.

[DanP2311 65]

Celebrate Willian’s career for Chelsea. He was a great player and a joy to watch. But everyone is free to enter into the contracts they choose to enter into (or not). Chelsea has better options at both wings now, so it makes sense for Willian to move on if he insists on a longer contract. If Arse are willing to offer him 4 years, we should just thank our lucky stars that we are not in that position.

[blu35_army 551]

4 hours ago, Jason said:

I know, I know but unless Arsenal have a crystal ball to look into the future and know he will still be good 2-3 years from now, giving the 3+1 deal is dumb. If Willian goes downhill from here, they are gonna have problems selling him because no other sane club in Europe will want to buy him and can afford his wages, unless Willian decides to take a pay cut. Based on what you said there, the additional year could then present a problem in the remaining length of the contract. It's almost as if Arsenal are not taking the signal that we aren't offering him more than 2 years.

China league will always open the door for Old player from europe....with the more wages offcourse....lol

[Jase 43,479]

7 hours ago, Rapkun said:

I wouldn't be surprised to see Willian in a good shape in 3 years time. Great athlete and seem very disciplined. Family man, healthy food, good sleep etc.. Players like him can play at a very good level until they're 35. Obviously nothing is guaranteed but if I had to give a 31 yo player a 3 year contract he would be on my list. It's a decent signing for Arsenal IMO. He's a short term option but they would be able to bring in someone else in a different position. Or knowing Arsenal it's possible this is the only way they could've signed anyone at all. Free or on loan.

The problem with Willian is his main strengths, as Jype pointed out above, are his pace and workrate. Are those physical attributes still gonna be there in 2-3 years? Unlikely. He might still be decent but unlikely able to play at the highest level anymore. Plus, it is not like he has the creativity, vision or technical ability a la David Silva, for example, to compensate for that.

[Jase 43,479]

3 hours ago, blu35_army said:

China league will always open the door for Old player from europe....with the more wages offcourse....lol

Not gonna happen. The Chinese FA introduced salary cap last year to prevent clubs from spending fortunes on foreign players and to encourage clubs to invest on local players instead. 

[communicate 2,703]

17 hours ago, NikkiCFC said:

That is not unpopular opinion. Kalou and Malouda were better than Willian.

I mean when people try to praise Willian they say something like: he is good defensively lol. He is a winger ffs. And this tells you all.

Hmm, not really if he is just good defensively he won't last here. 

[Special Juan 27,419]

100k to Willian but getting rid of 55 staff.....Arsenal the peoples club.

[Puliiszola 519]

8 minutes ago, Special Juan said:

100k to Willian but getting rid of 55 staff.....Arsenal the peoples club.

Shambles of a club. Also heard willian will be getting a 5m signing bonus and Kia (his agent) getting around 2m.