Willian

[obiwan92 217]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/33675031

Its not a misquote.

Don't worry, Gilvorak has a history of making sure our players are as negatively perceived as possible. Hasn't said much positive since I joined.

[!Hazard! 3,394]

Very excited to see him this season and beyond! The evolution he has made since Christmas has been fantastic. IMO he is perfect in 4-3-3 as the third midfielder as are Oscar, Cesc and Ramires for that matter. So I am amazed we don't seem to be willing to play that formation more often.

If Oscar can make the next step in his evolution as we are all hoping, I can really see why Jose has decided not to sign new midfielders this season. The bigger question is that if Oscar and Willian are in top form before a big game, does Jose have the balls to drop Cesc to the bench instead of playing Obi Wan?

[Hybrid Angel 2,130]

Wow, not one mention of Willian today?

Exactly what I said about him in the Moses thread. He has made a HUGE step in his evolution towards becoming a world-class player and that is taking responsibility when the team is playing shite. He was the only player who could be arsed to do something. I'm in love.

[Magic Lamps 11,453]

the much maligned (GC and) Willian were our best outfield players today by a country mile. But Willian is somehow not best as a classical winger. He strives at carrying the ball forward with his mazy dribbling. In the final third he is average. So maybe we should pair him with a more conventional winger like Kenedy or Moses and leave out either Fabregas or Oscar as they are obviously not athletic enough to be played both - in a big match at least.

[Special Juan 27,104]

He's a square peg in a round hole on the right, has too much time to think, but as the 10 he's so much better. A none thinking Willian is better than one that needs to think.

[termninja 5,290]

He had a great 1st half compared to our players, he was pretty good in 2nd also, but I really hate when he's on the right wing, has the ball at his feet, and just dances around it for 15secs while the opposition defender just looks

Our MOTM for me (tough one with Courtois).

[iseah100 5,612]

Made some great runs (all through the middle) and has looked to carry his form from the end of last season. So excited for him.

[mikeholiday 209]

Very good first half. "Freak Friday" stuff with Hazard tbh

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Another one of our players that would be perferct in a 3 man midfield.

He made so many runs FROM DEEP to push our team forward, reminded me of what essien used to do for us. Playing in a 4-3-3 would be perfect for our team.

[supporter 3,088]

Willian vs Arsenal (Neutral) 02/08/2015 Community Shield HD

[stroey 2,525]

He played very well yesterday and continued his form of the 2nd part of last season.
But I think Willian has it in him to reach the next level in his game: to carry the team and be decisive.

He has a lot of confidence currently, you can see it back in his dribbles and long passes. He should now take more responsibility to be more aggressive in the final third of the field, for example dribbling into the box like Hazard and shoot more. He also has a good long shot, most of his goals are great long distance goals (Stoke, Norwich, Soton, Everton, Watford?) He should do it more often, we need another player who can carry the team and I think Willian can be the person this season.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

He played very well yesterday and continued his form of the 2nd part of last season.

But I think Willian has it in him to reach the next level in his game: to carry the team and be decisive.

He has a lot of confidence currently, you can see it back in his dribbles and long passes. He should now take more responsibility to be more aggressive in the final third of the field, for example dribbling into the box like Hazard and shoot more. He also has a good long shot, most of his goals are great long distance goals (Stoke, Norwich, Soton, Everton, Watford?) He should do it more often, we need another player who can carry the team and I think Willian can be the person this season.

He has the ability, if he can match it with that desire and intent to make things happen, he'll be fantastic for us this season.

[Madmax 9,219]

He has a lot of confidence currently, you can see it back in his dribbles and long passes. He should now take more responsibility to be more aggressive in the final third of the field, for example dribbling into the box like Hazard and shoot more. He also has a good long shot, most of his goals are great long distance goals (Stoke, Norwich, Soton, Everton, Watford?) He should do it more often, we need another player who can carry the team and I think Willian can be the person this season.

Came here to post this. Literally the moment Gibbs scored the goal going inside Azpi I muttered to myself that's what Willian needs to start doing instead of his usual tricks of stand still, feint, pass or stand still, feint, dribble, cross. He knows he has to shoot more, I remember him saying last season that Mourinho wanted him to not finish a game without at least 3 shots.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Came here to post this. Literally the moment Gibbs scored the goal going inside Azpi I muttered to myself that's what Willian needs to start doing instead of his usual tricks of stand still, feint, pass or stand still, feint, dribble, cross. He knows he has to shoot more, I remember him saying last season that Mourinho wanted him to not finish a game without at least 3 shots.

Willian would do that a lot more if he was positioned on the left. He just isn't a RW tbh.

[iseah100 5,612]

Willian would do that a lot more if he was positioned on the left. He just isn't a RW tbh.

Yesterday he was one the left quite a bit. He was awesome too.

[yuvala 2,167]

He's so good at leading the team forward and carrying the ball.

In order for him to reach the next level he needs to have more impact in the final third aswell.. shoot more, assist more.

He is very talented and I'm very pleased with his evolution here.

[Magic Lamps 11,453]

Willian vs Arsenal (Neutral) 02/08/2015 Community Shield HD

He's so good at leading the team forward and carrying the ball.

In order for him to reach the next level he needs to have more impact in the final third aswell.. shoot more, assist more.

He is very talented and I'm very pleased with his evolution here.

What I realized about him the past couple of days is, that IMO, he is not a winger. neither is he a cm/cam. Still he is kind of playmaker, but no no.10. He is something in between. The player he is closest to or rather should be is Iniesta. He also needed until he reached his late 20ies until people realized how good he was, having before been wasted on the wing or too deep in midfield. Like Iniesta Willian is neither a scorer or deliverer. He is a a creative player who channels the game, gets the ball out of the defense, catalyses the transition and distributes it after his dribbles. In any other league it would be much easier to utilize correctly but I have thought of a Barcelona-like 4-3-3 where Willian is Iniesta (cycles the game, makes the pre-assists, the diagonals to the winger to play the cross etc), Fabregas is Xavi/Rakitic (vertical passes -> assists), Matic is Busquets, Hazard is Messi and Pedro/callejon/candreva or even moses/kenedy/traore could be pedro/neymar, eto'o/suarez would of course be modelled by any of our strikers.

------------------------Matic-------------

----------Willian-----------------Fabregas

direct winger-------------------------Hazard

-----------------------Costa-------------------

could be deadly. but would require a complete change of the football we are playing. Also it is questionable whether we would change our system just to suit Willian. The big downside would be the lack of physical presence in midfield. But on the one hand physicality is overrated in football and only still relevant in the epl because of the more lenient refs. On the other hand, our right winger has to track back anyway, so a more physically strong winger like Candreva/Bale/Moses could remedy that. It would also suit FAbregas better, who obviously is not a no.10 and needs a higher circulation of the play to get more of the ball. We should at least give it a go on Fifa and FM. ^^ Also this system is basically what we play everytime we got Moses/Cuadrado, Fab, Hazard and Willian on the pitch together while Oscar is out.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Yes, but there are a few differences, pour exemple... Matic does not recirculate the ball as well as Busquets (and nor do I expect him to, as the person Barcelona disposed of to make room for him was one Yaya Toure.) and Fabregas is less mobile than Xavi was (Imo, he is somewhat a cross between Oscar and Cescy) hence why he was dropped once he lost his mobility and became liable to be exposed easily. Therefore in games when we will not need a bus breaker and we are going to be pressed Oscar would come in.