8 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

I'm not his biggest fan by any means as he lacks end products (goals and assists), and his corners are infuriating.  But reality is he is a quality player with a work rate second to none.  His experience and effort alone earn a place in the squad for me.  With a busy fixture list next season we need four quality wingers, and I hope he is one of the four.

There was a moment vs. Norwich where we lost the ball and Willian tracked back at full sprint faster than I have ever seen him run.  That said it all to me.

The man is paid hundreds of thousands of pounds per week. Workrate should be a given and a good performance is what should be demanded. 

He is one of our highest earners. What are we paying him so much for if what we expect of him is tracking back. Might as well just have a youth player on if all we ever wanted was someone who tracked back

I wonder if William could be played as a midfielder instead. He has the skills to bring the ball forward in tight spaces, he can be quick and strong, his work rate this season can't be denied and tracks back when loses the ball (at least this season he has not waved his arms very often), which would be good to help cover the defence, and he would not be expected to make assists or score goals every game.

14 minutes ago, yorkleyblue said:

There you go lad, I corrected your spelling for you.

His point was Willian tracks runners down his wing. I gave him an example of when that didn't happen, i even offered the possibility it could have been Barkley's fault (even though Pulisic tracked back the other side of the pitch. 

Constantly changing others posts to suit your own agendas is very boring now, at least offer some variety. 

Don't take it personally when someone criticises Willian either, its not that deep.

19 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

His point was Willian tracks runners down his wing. I gave him an example of when that didn't happen, i even offered the possibility it could have been Barkley's fault (even though Pulisic tracked back the other side of the pitch. 

Constantly changing others posts to suit your own agendas is very boring now, at least offer some variety. 

Don't take it personally when someone criticises Willian either, its not that deep.

It was funny nevertheless 

Anyway, no player is beyond criticism, as Yorkley knows very well (I seem to remember a critical post here and there). To me, Willian is the kind of player that can perform very well for all to see, but when his contribution to the team isn't that obviously flashy it gets interpreted as below par, when in fact he made the team tick. Clearly the second coming of Mikel 

Edited July 16, 20206 yr by Valerie

Very sweet interview/article from Willian. I didn't realise how deeply religious he is. He talks about his life and career, and about being at Chelsea and living in London.

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us/articles/willian-borges-chelsea

1 hour ago, Valerie said:

It was funny nevertheless 

Anyway, no player is beyond criticism, as Yorkley knows very well (I seem to remember a critical post here and there). To me, Willian is the kind of player that can perform very well for all to see, but when his contribution to the team isn't that obviously flashy it gets interpreted as below par, when in fact he made the team tick. Clearly the second coming of Mikel 

That’s just about other people’s posts 😉!

Hope he stays.

He's been brilliant lately. Vital part of the XI and his workrate is unprecedented for a winger. Thought he was great again tonight.

Ha, just try passing it out from the back when Mount and Willian are playing. Please, for the love of all that is holy, let him sign a new contract. He cannot fall into José's hands.

I hope they give him a extension well worth it 

Edited July 19, 20205 yr by Brutos

Tough call on whether he stays, given we're offering two years and he wants three. In that third year he'll be 34 when the season begins, and turning 35 shortly after it ends.

He's been immense this season, and while he's always clearly been very athletic and extremely fit I don't recall him in prior seasons pressing and tracking back anywhere near as much as he has done this season. I'm not sure whether it is him naturally maturing or that he's playing for one last big contract, but if the Club is confident we can get this Willian, and not the streaky and sometimes sulky Willian of old, I think it's a no brainer we give him the full three. That is of course no guarantee though.

I wonder also whether stepping out of Hazard's shadow for the first time has encouraged him to take on more responsibility on the field.

 

9 hours ago, Jonty said:

Tough call on whether he stays, given we're offering two years and he wants three. In that third year he'll be 34 when the season begins, and turning 35 shortly after it ends.

He's been immense this season, and while he's always clearly been very athletic and extremely fit I don't recall him in prior seasons pressing and tracking back anywhere near as much as he has done this season. I'm not sure whether it is him naturally maturing or that he's playing for one last big contract, but if the Club is confident we can get this Willian, and not the streaky and sometimes sulky Willian of old, I think it's a no brainer we give him the full three. That is of course no guarantee though.

I wonder also whether stepping out of Hazard's shadow for the first time has encouraged him to take on more responsibility on the field.

Willian has always been one of our highest work rate players when tracking back, to say you never seen him do it as much in other seasons is just plain wrong. You complain about his finishing, end product or whatever the narrative is about him but one thing you can never ever question is him on is WORK RATE. 

Willian has his critics and rightly so, his attacking contributions are lacking at times and he's never been particularly prolific but you saw first hand how important he is in a big game like yesterday.

I do hope he stays, he shouldn't be considered first anymore next season but in big games he's a massively important piece of the team and would also be an amazing option to bring off the bench in games where we have the lead and play on the counter

Willy saved of more times this season than many care to admit. Don't know if it's smart to give him another three years though, with players coming in and him probably insisting on gametime in his contract. It will be the last big contract of his career though, so I can't blame him.

We needed Willian yesterday.  It has to be said. Him and Mount are great defensive wingers. 

Attacking wise,  he's a good decoy. Just wished he could cross better,  shoot more and give a nice corner 75% of the time

If Willian had been our penalty taker his whole time here he would be held in higher regard, he works harder than any of our players and needs to be appreciated for that because if every player worked as hard as he does we would be a lot harder to beat.

I never understood the Willian hate. I admittedly did not become a true Chelsea fan until I saw my first match at the Bridge last summer, but I have followed the EPL closely for longer than I can remember. He's always been a nice player and has had two seasons where he was one of the best players in the Premier League. Overall, he has been a solid player that sometimes was asked to do more than he is capable of. But he works hard and tracks back well while his pace is glorious.

Not sure he is worth a three-year contract, especially given our financial situation, but I appreciate him.

Perfect end to his career with us. Do not give him a new contract and tarnish it.

Was not good enough tonight

13 minutes ago, mwblue10 said:

Was not good enough tonight

Agreed, rather poor.

25 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Agreed, rather poor.

No end product I’ve gotten used to. But no first touch? Not something we should be seeing. Thought for a second that we brought Lukaku back...

I think Willian would make a great wing back if he learnt how to cross the ball. 

But he is not an attacking player. 

He can't pass, shoot or cross. 

I pray that he isn't here next year. 

53 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I think Willian would make a great wing back if he learnt how to cross the ball. 

But he is not an attacking player. 

He can't pass, shoot or cross. 

I pray that he isn't here next year. 

I don’t want him here either but I think you’re being a bit harsh. He runs hot and cold. Today was ice cold. But he’s pretty good at all of those things. Just sometimes his final decision is the wrong one.

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

I think Willian would make a great wing back if he learnt how to cross the ball. 

But he is not an attacking player. 

He can't pass, shoot or cross. 

I pray that he isn't here next year. 

He would be hopeless at wing back, there's a very good reason Conte tried every winger and fullback there apart from him (and obviously Hazard).

As bad a performance and you’re likely to see. He almost had me fooled over the past few weeks.