Chelsea Officially Signed Willian

[Fernando 6,376]

Wait a minute, I just notice something!

His virtuoso display made him a prime target for Arsenal. Manager Arsene Wenger tried to sign him last summer but was put off by Shakhtar's asking price.

First Mata and now Willian.

Are we scouting from Arsenal?

[xPetrCechx 13,546]

Wait a minute, I just notice something!

First Mata and now Willian.

Are we scouting from Arsenal?

If u ask Boas then no. (Official Site).

[Fernando 6,376]

If u ask Boas then no. (Official Site).

[daBlackMamba7 174]

Yeah and I remember Mourinho also did some crazy buy here at Chelsea as well. Yet not many people mention that.

It is why it's silly to judge a manager just by one transfer. You have to judge overall.

Overall Mourinho did good.

Overall (so far), AVB has been doing good.

The amazing Boulahrouz springs to mind :eyebrows:

[Severinb 309]

He said: “Willian is a very interesting player but he is cup-tied in the Champions League and I don’t think we should go for players who cannot be involved in all the competitions.”

“Again, I’m not stressed on what we can do in this transfer window.

“If a good opportunity arises we could study it but at the moment we are very satisfied.”

But while Villas-Boas hinted there may be no further additions to his squad, he was pleased to see Michael Essien continue his comeback from injury.

[laeth 527]

If AVB truely beleives this squad is good enough; I'll have lost all respect for him. Did he not watch the game today? =\

[manpe 10,855]

I find his reluctance to sign players who are cup-tied frustrating. That only means that next season, when they are not cup-tied anymore, they'll end up somewhere else and we'll end up with B/C plans like Meireles. Although that might not be true, because it doesn't seem that other clubs are too active in Jan either. But if we miss out on a CL spot next season because of no obvious cover for our main players, AVB will really reflect on his words with salt and ketchup on it and eat it.

[cchuka 99]

I like how he's not afraid to take players on and dribble past them, as oppose to the standard pass pass pass pass that's currently plaguing our midfield. He's a good alternative if we don't get Hazard

[pHaRaOn 2,131]

I like how he's not afraid to take players on and dribble past them, as oppose to the standard pass pass pass pass that's currently plaguing our midfield. He's a good alternative if we don't get Hazard

Kalou deserve Golden Ball if we watch him at YouTube

[Joker10 946]

I haven't seen much of him, only seen him in the CL. But the only player i have seen that constantly gets the better of Dani Alves.

btw Did he sign a new contract recently, because i thought he in the last year of his contract?

[Pizy 17,860]

His Wikipedia page says we've signed him today to a 5 year £22m deal.

Someone jumped the gun a bit early.

[pHaRaOn 2,131]

His Wikipedia page says we've signed him today to a 5 year £22m deal.

Someone jumped the gun a bit early.

Wikipedia pages can edit every idiot who wants.

[Slam Dunk 1,442]

I like how he's not afraid to take players on and dribble past them, as oppose to the standard pass pass pass pass that's currently plaguing our midfield. He's a good alternative if we don't get Hazard

Ok, it's only Youtube, and anyone can look good on there, but my word, what a goal at 1:39. Great shift of pace. Can't say i've seen much of him in the context of a real game though. I like the fact that he bases his game on getting past the man in front of him by himself though, something we haven't had for a while.

AVB did call him 'very interesting' however, and we know what that means...

[laeth 527]

Cant shake that feeling that we're in for both Willian and Hazard. Seems unbelievable; but I actually wouldn't be surprised if we wanted to sign both of them.

[Chelsea_Fan 227]

Cant shake that feeling that we're in for both Willian and Hazard. Seems unbelievable; but I actually wouldn't be surprised if we wanted to sign both of them.

Where they will play in the same time?

[ChelseaFanMKD 41]

Cant shake that feeling that we're in for both Willian and Hazard. Seems unbelievable; but I actually wouldn't be surprised if we wanted to sign both of them.

We kinda arent after Hazard no more, so Willian is our target now.

[laeth 527]

Where they will play in the same time?

We should really have two players for each position. Who else do we have to play on the right of the attack to rotate with Sturridge?

Hazard, Sturridge, Mata and Willian could all rotate.

[Madmax 9,219]

btw Did he sign a new contract recently, because i thought he in the last year of his contract?

His contract expires next summer.

........................................................

For what it's worth,

The biggest concern with Willian is probably his size. He stands 5'8" tall with a very slight build. He'll never be noted as an overly physical player at that size, and he's also pretty poor in the air. On the flip side of that argument Willian offers absolutely blazing speed, tremendous balance, and incredible agility. He's got the kind of speed that will cause opposing fullbacks absolute nightmares when he's on the pitch if they venture too deep into the Chelsea half or try to play a high line. He also gets up to speed incredibly fast, likely due in large part to his diminutive size.

Positionally Willian is pretty much exactly what we are looking for. He plays on the left wing for the most part at Shakhtar and his speed would seem to be best utilized on a wing. He's easily capable of playing either wing though as he's equally adept with either foot. He has also looked good in an advanced central role when he's positioned there. Shakhtar generally play their wings a bit deeper than we do, so it's fair to say that he's capable of playing as a more traditional 4-4-2 midfielder should he be asked to do that as well. Shakhtar also use a fair amount of interchange during the game so I'd imagine he and Mata would work together very well.

Technically Willian is a very intriguing player. His dribbling is fantastic, but he does occasionally tend to hold the ball a bit long. He is known as a penetrating player, and he tends to play forward balls into space very well. He's much better when he keeps his passes on the ground than when he tries to play them over the top. One gripe I might have is that he will tend to be unaware of players cutting in behind too often, but it's not a real problem. His finishing has been a bit hit and miss. When he's on he's absolutely lethal, but when he's off he's probably best just not shooting. What I've seen of his crossing hasn't been bad but I just haven't seen him do it often enough to get a real feel for his ability.

Defensively Willian doesn't offer a whole lot. He'll willingly track back and try to help out, but he's not overly physical and just isn't much of a tackler. He's an asset when Shakhtar press though, offering an active presence on the left. That press tends to leave him in lethal position for the counter as well, and he's probably the best overall offensive player on that squad.

I've got a few Willian videos for you today. The first will feature all of his touches against the other very good team in the Ukraine, Dynamo Kiev:

Next up we'll take a look at Willian against Alexandria:

Here we have all of his touches against Arsenal Kiev:

And finally for today we'll take a peek at his game against Zorya:

You'll notice that all of those videos have been brought to us by the same user, so if you want to see more it shouldn't be too hard to find. Some of you may remember him from last years Champions League as well where he was absolutely brilliant. For what it's worth, he was by far their best player in this season's disappointing campaign. It wouldn't be too hard to argue that he's been the best player in the Ukrainian Premier League thus far either. It's hard to say exactly how he'll translate to the Premier League, but all the tools are there for him to have at least the same type of impact as Luis Suarez did last January.