Isn't given the credit he deserves for whatever reason. One of our best this season and two years ago played excellently while most of the team were tanking.

1 hour ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Isn't given the credit he deserves for whatever reason. One of our best this season and two years ago played excellently while most of the team were tanking.

He's a fantastic squad player, and any team in the Premier League would take him because he's a useful versatile attacking player who has a lot of impact. 

But he's not someone you can rely on, if you had to rely on Willian for 38 games he would probably score about 2 goals and assist 4 by the end of it. If you play Willian in less than 30 Premier League games with him coming on after half-time and competing with another player for minutes he will probably end the season with 9 goals and 8 assists. 

He's that sort of player, he's arguably been our best attacker bar Hazard for the past 3 years, the season we won the league under Mourinho was his worst season for me. And that was the season where he played pretty much every game. He was a workhorse but brutal going forward, couldn't do anything but pass the ball sideways or lose it. 

18 hours ago, opinionsarelike said:

even though willian has gotten better as the season has progressed, i still don't think he's good enough for a team with our ambitions and status as a top european team. a player who was seen as not nearly good enough for us was kalou, and he had better production than willian, who i think have improved very little the 5 seasons he's been with us.

my opinion of willian is that i think he fools a lot of people. on a seasons average he will, in 4 out of 5 games, a) dribble the ball far away from oppos goal, b) lose the ball in dangerous areas (far away from oppositions goal) and c) get paralyzed and make the wrong decision when closing in on the opposing 18 yard box. in 1 out of 5 games, he will do the same, but pull it off. in that match, where everything he tries works, he will typically grab a couple of goals, maybe an assist or two as well. this makes his average production seem decent i suppose (maybe 2 goals and 2 assists during a 5 match period), and pundits and/or fans will think that he's turned a corner or that he should start permanently, but then he has his 3-4-5 matches where he does next to nothing once again.

i've attached a picture that in my opinion shows what i've been trying to write; four-five games on the spin where he does nothing, then maybe a game where he assists and/or scores 2-3 times. willian is decent i guess, but he wouldn't start in any of the top four-five teams in england, and shouldn't be for us either. if we could get the opportunity to sell him next summer, and replace him with someone younger, faster and more productive (i really like the look of leon bailey), i think we should do that. i don't think willian will improve to the level we need to compete for the biggest trophies, and the brazilian probably has a decent sell-on value.

This picture says it all to me. Look at the teams he is doing it against. Hull, Brighton, Stoke, Bournemouth, Huddersfield, Qarabag twice, Everton before they picked up form and Burnley. 

If i remember correctly his goal against Liverpool was the cross that he miss-hit too?

We need a player to show up for when it counts. 

As Yorkey perfectly summarised above, he only shows up against pub teams and lower league dross. 

On the other hand, look at the standard of side we've lost to in the League this season. Other than City they're all bottom-half standard sides (Burnley, Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Watford). Having a player like Willian in the squad who excels in that environment seems quite useful to me.

That said, I can certainly see where his critics are coming from. I think he is a valuable squad player who can definitely be improved upon.

Had no idea he had 10 goals and 10 assists. 

While he's certainly not playing like someone with those figures, I have to say that's quite impressive considering he's not been a consistent starter. 

Love willian Chelsea through and through fantastic player

55 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

On the other hand, look at the standard of side we've lost to in the League this season. Other than City they're all bottom-half standard sides (Burnley, Palace, West Ham, Bournemouth, Watford). Having a player like Willian in the squad who excels in that environment seems quite useful to me.

That said, I can certainly see where his critics are coming from. I think he is a valuable squad player who can definitely be improved upon.

oh don't get me wrong, i'd keep him around. I think he's the perfect player to bring on with 30 minutes left against tired legs. He suited that role perfectly last year. I do think we need an improvement to him and certainly Pedro for a starting position. 

Same old story with Willian, and Pedro too. It's all very well saying we could do with replacing them but I'm still yet to see anyone on here make a compelling case for exactly who. Bailey? His best position is LW, Pulisic's numbers are worse than Willian and Pedro this season, Reus maybe, Robben? Imho there are very few players who could actually be considered an improvement.

Edited February 20, 20188 yr by the special one

I'd like to see someone that can match their output and still have the potential to improve though. With Willian and Pedro you know what you're going to get with them for the rest of their career. Someone like Richarlison, Bailey, Malcom, Lemar etc. can likely match their goal returns and still have potential to be a world beater 2 or 3 years down the line. Hazard's best position is in the number 10 role but he still dominates at LW. Someone like Bailey would be able to operate just as well on the RW swapping with Hazard throughout the game. 

Same old story with Willian, and Pedro too. It's all very well saying we could do with replacing them but I'm still yet to see anyone on here make a compelling case for exactly who. Bailey? His best position is LW, Pulisic's numbers are worse than Willian and Pedro this season, Reus maybe, Robben? Imho there are very few players who could actually be considered an improvement.

Same haven't yet see any worthy replacements

Fekir from lyon? But would cost a fortune....

17 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

I'd like to see someone that can match their output and still have the potential to improve though. With Willian and Pedro you know what you're going to get with them for the rest of their career. Someone like Richarlison, Bailey, Malcom, Lemar etc. can likely match their goal returns and still have potential to be a world beater 2 or 3 years down the line. Hazard's best position is in the number 10 role but he still dominates at LW. Someone like Bailey would be able to operate just as well on the RW swapping with Hazard throughout the game. 

I wouldn't go as far to say he'd be an improvement over Willian but Malcom would perhaps be a good shout, from what I've seen of him he looks like he could be the 'new Pedro'. Arsenal are interested apparently and Pedro's contract runs until next summer so will be interesting to see what if anything happens this summer. Bailey I personally see as a potential replacement for Hazard.

52 minutes ago, the special one said:

Same old story with Willian, and Pedro too. It's all very well saying we could do with replacing them but I'm still yet to see anyone on here make a compelling case for exactly who. Bailey? His best position is LW, Pulisic's numbers are worse than Willian and Pedro this season, Reus maybe, Robben? Imho there are very few players who could actually be considered an improvement.

I think Mahrez is better than Willian and Pedro, getting him here won't be easy though.

1 hour ago, Remodez said:

Had no idea he had 10 goals and 10 assists. 

While he's certainly not playing like someone with those figures, I have to say that's quite impressive considering he's not been a consistent starter. 

Batman had 12 goals before he left, no one expected that. Stats can always gloss over performances, specially assists which can be anything including a 2yrd pass.

46 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Batman had 12 goals before he left, no one expected that. Stats can always gloss over performances, specially assists which can be anything including a 2yrd pass.

Oh I'm well aware, just surprised me as I think this has probably been his worst season yet. 

Good squad player to have. Would keep him in the summer and flog Pedro.

I decided to look at the stats for some players and it seems different sites give different values. These are all for league matches as well.

As you can see, Squawka gives Willian the best stats whilst Whoscored give Malcom the best stats. I don't know which is more reliable.

9 minutes ago, Total-Football said:

I decided to look at the stats for some players and it seems different sites give different values. These are all for league matches as well.

As you can see, Squawka gives Willian the best stats whilst Whoscored give Malcom the best stats. I don't know which is more reliable.

 

While it's useful for comparison the stats don't take into account both Bailey and Malcom play in respective leagues that made Djilobodji look a reasonably solid CB.

Edited February 20, 20188 yr by the special one

While it's useful for comparison the stats don't take into account both Bailey and Malcom play in respective leagues that made Djilobodji look a reasonably solid CB.

Exactly so bring those players to this league and it will be a completely different story when it comes to performance.

3 minutes ago, Brutos said:

23 minutes ago, the special one said:

While it's useful for comparison the stats don't take into account both Bailey and Malcom play in respective leagues that made Djilobodji look a reasonably solid CB.

Exactly so bring those players to this league and it will be a completely different story when it comes to performance.

But some would say it could be the other way around, it's a team sport, and those players are playing in worse teams, so put them in better teams and they will in time improve their own stats.

12 minutes ago, coco said:

But some would say it could be the other way around, it's a team sport, and those players are playing in worse teams, so put them in better teams and they will in time improve their own stats.

True, don't get me wrong I'm not trying to argue a case against replacing Pedro with Malcom for example. Just highlighting Malcom and Bailey arguably play in leagues that give attacking players more opportunities to accumulate goals/assists, i.e. Lacazette's goal/assist average last season was an impressive 0.93, this season his average is down to 0.45.

Edited February 20, 20188 yr by the special one

43 minutes ago, the special one said:

While it's useful for comparison the stats don't take into account both Bailey and Malcom play in respective leagues that made Djilobodji look a reasonably solid CB.

Just look at the teams Willian’s stats have come against, not exactly brilliant, league and fa cups and Stoke reserves. That’s where stats are misleading.

7 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Just look at the teams Willian’s stats have come against, not exactly brilliant, league and fa cups and Stoke reserves. That’s where stats are misleading.

Would Malcom, Pulisic, Bailey do any better? The fact remains Willian has a proven track record in the EPL, in terms of this season's performance 20 goals/assists in 40 appearances is up there with the likes of Eriksen and Alexis Sanchez. 

Edited February 20, 20188 yr by the special one

1 minute ago, the special one said:

Would Malcom, Pulisic, Bailey do any better? The fact remains Willian has a proven track record in the EPL, in terms of this season's performance 20 goals in 40 appearances is up there with the likes of Eriksen and Alexis Sanchez. 

Willian doesn’t have 20 goals this season.

Just now, Ernie_blue said:

Willian doesn’t have 20 goals this season.

See the edited post, my bad.