Willian

[DYC. 7,542]

http://i.imgur.com/zhmg32O.gifv

Will Mourinho allow him to express himself like that next season? It is not the first time he does this kind of stuff for Brazil (that elastico). Also judging from r/soccer, he played better than Neymar for large portions of the game. For the past 2 years it seemed like he was on strict orders not too try anything fancy. Hope that changes now that we won the league.

Willian was already playing with a lot of swagger in the final months of the season.

Anyone claiming he performed better than Neymar, in any capacity, can not be taken seriously. Willian was solid in his distribution and he was involved throughout the match, but he failed to threaten goal yet again as one of the attackers, and was lacking in imagination. Neymar was the one creating space and causing havoc with his dribbling and trickery. Neymar was the one setting up opportunities for his team mates. He was the one making intelligent runs, threatening goal (unlucky not to add a goal to his total) on quite a few occasions. He scored the equaliser and provided the game-winning assist, displaying amazing vision with a wonderful pass that took out the entire defence, zipping through the tightest of spaces. His performance was the best individual performance of the tournament by far, carrying a very average Brazil side.

Maybe Willian is the one who should play in midfield, alongside a holding midfielder. The Fernandinho and Elias pairing is painfully poor for a side like Brazil.

[5354 204]

anyone understand why william takes corners now?

i dunno but i always rmb Mata's corners always lead to a goal as compared to William....

[Sir Mikel OBE 4,742]

Him vs Colombia

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Massively overrated player. Wouldn't be surprised if Douglas Costa takes his spot. The balance & workrate excuses won't work at International level.

[Sheva. 5,373]

Like I said on another thread, I just don't know what Dunga is doing with all the random players he put in attack lol.

Willian has done fuck all like the rest of them, now Neymar is banned..

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Like I said on another thread, I just don't know what Dunga is doing with all the random players he put in attack lol.

Willian has done fuck all like the rest of them, now Neymar is banned..

He just isn't a threat out there whatsoever. He doesn't have the dribbling ability & chaos factor of Hazard, he's obviously not going to get you goals seeing as he struggled in that aspect even in nothing Leagues over in Ukraine/Russia & there isn't an ounce of creativity in that body of his.

Our fans love him because he works hard, does the basics well & have somehow convinced themselves he gives us balance, but outside his comfort zone he's always going to get exposed. He's a non risk taker which is the worst kind of player imaginable.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

I love reading player threads when the player loses

[Special Juan 27,103]

The Willian in the last few months in the #10 role was fucking immense.

[didierforever 7,349]

Massively overrated player. Wouldn't be surprised if Douglas Costa takes his spot. The balance & workrate excuses won't work at International level.

this is coming from a poster who called oscar GOAT... :lol:

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

Yep he's played very well in the last couple of months here, but nowhere to be seen last night. Neymar did some tricks from now an then, but other than that it was a flat and soulless Brazil.

[zolayes 14,489]

only watched the first half ,, Brazil were totally outplayed ,, NO IDEA why Willian is getting held responsible . Messi would have been poor in the Brazil side .

[Kieran. 6,317]

Willian is overrated? [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23][emoji23] absolute clowns troll this forum. [emoji23]

[DYC. 7,542]

What did anyone expect, really? When the team is not playing well or struggling, you don't look at the likes of Willian to turn up and (try to) win you the game. He does not possess that ability, he's supporting cast. Chelsea have Cesc, Eden and Diego as star men, players that make the difference. Neymar is the only top attacking player Brazil have, but he won't be able to perform every single time. That's impossible. At least play Coutinho, a player capable of producing high quality play (at times).

[Gilvorak 3,734]

What did anyone expect, really? When the team is not playing well or struggling, you don't look at the likes of Willian to turn up and (try to) win you the game. He does not possess that ability, he's supporting cast. Chelsea have Cesc, Eden and Diego as star men, players that make the difference. Neymar is the only top attacking player Brazil have, but he won't be able to perform every single time. That's impossible. At least play Coutinho, a player capable of producing high quality play (at times).

Coutinho would be a starter but he got injured in training just before the tournament started. They're struggling massively to build attacks and control games without Oscar that much is certain so Coutinho deserves a shot next game, there isn't a better alternative in that squad.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Imagine taking the "GOAT" post at face value . It's definitely not like people haven't been using that slang tongue in cheek for ages now.

I love reading player threads when the player loses

Trust me I don't flip flop on opinions unless the player actually improves. I've always maintained my stance even through his "immense" 2nd half of the season in which he amassed an incredible 2 goals & 3 assists in 25 matches.

[WNDS 502]

Massively overrated player. Wouldn't be surprised if Douglas Costa takes his spot. The balance & workrate excuses won't work at International level.

It was no coincidence that Willian gave his worst performance for Brazil under Dunga when he had seemingly been instructed to remain wide on the right, and so been denied the freedom he is usually given to influence Brazil's general possession play. We know from his performances at Chelsea that he is rarely influential in attack if he is deployed in this way, so it should come as no surprise that this is also the case when he is playing with Brazil.

He WAS very poor against Colombia, but it says everything about how terrible Brazil were that he was actually the 'best' (or 'least outright bad') of the four players who were selected to start in the attacking positions; Fred was (somehow) EVEN MORE of a non-entity than Willian was, and seemed to be having a competition with Firmino and Neymar to see who could lose the ball the most per minutes on the pitch, Firmino missed an almost-open goal and did nothing else of note for the rest of the game, whilst Neymar refused to pass the ball to team-mates time and time again in favour of dribbling into oncoming tackles.

Fred MUST be dropped from the starting 11, and Douglas Costa deserves to start (along with Coutinho). With Neymar suspended, Willian might as well play on the left behind whichever of Tardelli or Firmino impresses more in training over the next few sessions (neither has done enough in the two matches already played to merit starting). When Neymar returns, whichever of Willian, Douglas Costa, and Coutinho impresses the least against Venezuela should be dropped to accommodate him. Simple.

[DYC. 7,542]

Coutinho would be a starter but he got injured in training just before the tournament started. They're struggling massively to build attacks and control games without Oscar that much is certain so Coutinho deserves a shot next game, there isn't a better alternative in that squad.

That's true, but I think he should have started anyway. He was fit to play against Colombia, but I guess Dunga still believed in his original midfield set-up. He made a comment about Fred possibly starting before the tournament, so I'm not so sure Coutinho would've been a starter if not for his injury. I'd always play Coutinho because he's the only creative player they have besides Neymar.

I'd really like to see Willian in midfield, even at Chelsea. I've always wondered why he's never been tried there. With his ability to retain the ball under pressure, his ability to cary the ball, solid passing (at times he's displayed fantastic range in passing) and his ability to switch play, you'd think he'd be well suited to play in midfield. Not to mention his fantastic ball control. He does not take many risks, so that's no problem in midfield, in terms of losing the ball. He might even grow as a player there, with that extra bit of time and space on the ball in deeper positions. Defensively, he has the required energy and work rate, and good upper body strength for physical tussles, with his pace an added bonus. Not the tallest player but the likes of Fabregas and Ramires aren't that much bigger than him, and I'd say he beats both of them strength wise. The only question would be whether he has the vision, but more importantly, the required tactical awareness to play there, but I have a feeling he does. Or better said, he has the potential and willingness to learn in order to master the role.

And it's not like you can say his ability to score or set up goals would be wasted in midfield.

[Clockwork 1,764]

That's true, but I think he should have started anyway. He was fit to play against Colombia, but I guess Dunga still believed in his original midfield set-up. He made a comment about Fred possibly starting before the tournament, so I'm not so sure Coutinho would've been a starter if not for his injury. I'd always play Coutinho because he's the only creative player they besides Neymar.

I'd really like to see Willian in midfield, even at Chelsea. I've always wondered he's never been tried there. With his ability to retain the ball under pressure, his ability to cary the ball, solid passing (at times he's displayed fantastic range in passing) and his ability to switch play, you'd think he'd be well suited to play in midfield. Not to mention his fantastic ball control. He does not take many risks, so that's no problem in midfield, in terms of losing the ball. He might even grow as a player there, with that extra bit of time and space on the ball in deeper positions. Defensively, he has the required energy and work rate, and good upper body strength for physical tussles, with his pace an added bonus. Not the tallest player but the likes of Fabregas and Ramires aren't that much bigger than him, and I'd say he beats both of them strength wise. The only question would be whether he has the vision, but more importantly, the required tactical awareness to play there, but I have a feeling he does. Or better said, he has the potential and willingness to learn in order to master the role.

And it's not like you can say his ability to score or set up goals would be wasted in midfield.

Agreed i always wondered why he has never been given a similar role like Angel Di Maria has with Argentina and his last season under Carlo.