Willian

[Rmpr 8,977]

I will say something quite unpopular. Willian being our best player this year says more about the current state of our squad than it says about Willian. Sorry, but its the truth...

[Simon1991 225]

On the contrary, I think it's a quite popular opinion

[Mechromancer 262]

Yeah, but we can also say that he improved, right? He never received too much love in this forum.

[stroey 2,525]

[zolayes 14,489]

JUST AMAZING

[Rmpr 8,977]

Yeah, but we can also say that he improved, right? He never received too much love in this forum.

Yes he has and he is indeed a good player, but even then he wouldnt start on most top teams...

Bayern would not trade Douglas Costa, Muller nor Robben for Willian. So wouldnt Barça, PSG, City, Real, etc.

[xPetrCechx 13,563]

Glad he Heard me and scored that FK...

[WNDS 502]

I will say something quite unpopular. Willian being our best player this year says more about the current state of our squad than it says about Willian. Sorry, but its the truth...

Yes he has and he is indeed a good player, but even then he wouldnt start on most top teams...

Bayern would not trade Douglas Costa, Muller nor Robben for Willian. So wouldnt Barça, PSG, City, Real, etc.

And yet he's not looked at all out of place alongside Neymar or Douglas Costa for Brazil; he's been more consistent than the former, and slightly outperformed the latter (so far), whilst also being one of the NT's most influential players outright in the process.

This is in addition to him currently being our most in-form player, as he has been for most of the season up to this point. How else are we supposed to judge him? The 'only' context we have is his level of performance for club and country.

[The Skipper 20,593]

Yes he has and he is indeed a good player, but even then he wouldnt start on most top teams...

Bayern would not trade Douglas Costa, Muller nor Robben for Willian. So wouldnt Barça, PSG, City, Real, etc.

He'd have a role at City or PSG for sure IMO.

[Rmpr 8,977]

He'd have a role at City or PSG for sure IMO.

Maybe PSG, I will give you that.

Definitely not City though. They have Silva, KdB and Sterling ahead of him and while you could argue he can play better than Sterling, having 2 midfielders who like to slow the pace of the game is not exactly a good gaming plan. So, between the two, the Spanish is clearly better.

But that was not the point of my argument. What I was trying to show is that if our best player would have trouble making the starting eleven of most top clubs, what does it say about our squad?

[El P. 1,354]

I will say something quite unpopular. Willian being our best player this year says more about the current state of our squad than it says about Willian. Sorry, but its the truth...

It says about both. It's not so easy to be WAY better performer than Begović and Azpilicueta who are decent.

[stroey 2,525]

Willian's consistency and versatility are his strongest points, he will always give you at least a 7 no matter who we play: City, United, Arsenal, Atletico, PSG or Sunderland, Stoke, Norwich, Maccabi.

At City he will start over Sterling. You can say he won't start over xx player or xx player, but it isn't that simple. You play in a different team with different tactics, a different role and different team mates.

Even Robben would struggle to replace one of MSN but that doesn't mean Neymar or Suarez is better than him.

[manpe 10,861]

Bayern would not trade Douglas Costa, Muller nor Robben for Willian. So wouldnt Barça, PSG, City, Real, etc.

Good, let that filth stay away from him. He's ours.

[Essien19 1,415]

I think before Bayern Munich took Costa, there were rumours about an interest in Willian.

Stroey already said it, at the end of the day it comes down to tactics, role and freedom.

It's up for speculation and discussion, but i firmly believe that Willian could have been as good as Costa at the german powerhouse.

They field so many attacking players in the line-up and the whole team goes forward, there would have been a lot more space and colleagues for the interplay.

For Brazil, one can see glimpses of what he is able to do.

I wonder how good would be Willian as a fullback, in my point of view he could florish, maybe that's what Pep thought back in the day.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Has Willian really improved though? Take away the set pieces and he's still pretty much the same player he's been these past 2 years. Like everyone else has said we wouldn't be relegation status if he was playing at a World Class level. Those sort of players can elevate even the worst of teams.

[LAM09 6,750]

Has Willian really improved though? Take away the set pieces and he's still pretty much the same player he's been these past 2 years. Like everyone else has said we wouldn't be relegation status if he was playing at a World Class level. Those sort of players can elevate even the worst of teams.

He's won games with his set pieces. Overall play hasn't changed much, but he's saved us on numerous occasions this season. That's why the praise is possibly amplified

[DYC. 7,542]

Has Willian really improved though? Take away the set pieces and he's still pretty much the same player he's been these past 2 years. Like everyone else has said we wouldn't be relegation status if he was playing at a World Class level. Those sort of players can elevate even the worst of teams.

He's not a world beater but he has definitely improved. I was not a fan of Willian pre-2015, and that's putting it lightly. Before it was hard work, simple side and back passes and sideways dribbling. Simply lacking any kind of adventure and fantasy in his game. A water carrier. He would receive great praise from some and I just didn't get it.

Now his game is more vertical, he takes more chances and risks, he creates more chances for his team mates (that's my impression anyway), he engages in more take-ons (!), creating space and drawing fouls. Before 2015 his contribution to the creation of goals was very poor. Nowadays he's so much more involved, directly and indirectly, in game-changing and match-winning moments as well. Then there's his free-kicks in the current season, also game-changing and match-winning. He's bumped up a level.

You're just mad your boy Oscar has been average after hyping him up, Gilvorak.

[Stats 7,056]

Has Willian really improved though? Take away the set pieces and he's still pretty much the same player he's been these past 2 years. Like everyone else has said we wouldn't be relegation status if he was playing at a World Class level. Those sort of players can elevate even the worst of teams.

LOL. You just don't like him as a player and are mad that all your posts before about Oscar being a better player has been proven to be rubbish. Maybe you should look at it another way and say if our other 'world class' players performed how they should and helped Willian, we might be doing better. Funny how since you always use to criticise him and he came back proving you wrong, you were not able to praise him but instead your next post is one to find an excuse for him playing well. Typical... But let me guess, you still think Oscar makes our team better when he plays? Not surprised.