13 minutes ago, Phillip said:

I am trying to recall if Willian has ever scored using his left foot .  He must have, but I cant recall.  He clearly can dribble equally well with both feet,

To put it bluntly, he's bloody brilliant when he's in form.

I hope this performance reminds people how useful he is to the team, just because he's inconsistent doesn't mean he's useless. Alex Ferguson won many league titles with squad players, they're useful, Willian was on fire tonight and I'm sure we'll see these games from him plenty of times over. I know he hasn't had the best of seasons but who has? Put him on a side with high competition and a reason to fight for his place more and he'll perform, he's shown it time and time again.

Actually, the first 6 months he was at this club were some of the best months of his career, not sure if people can remember but when he was fighting for his place against Mata, Hazard, KDB, Oscar, Moses & De Bruyne he was putting in excellent performances. 

Edited February 21, 20188 yr by Slojo

Credit where credit is due. Top performance from him the last few weeks. Let hope he can continue this and it isn't just a short purple patch. 

I have always loved Willian, you won't find any posts from me slagging him off, same with Hazard.

You can judge his individual performances and come to the conclusion he's inconsistent. But your'e just looking at the stats and not the big picture with how he fits into the team, him and Hazard are the perfect fit and at times just about unplayable.

2 hours ago, coco said:

I have always loved Willian, you won't find any posts from me slagging him off, same with Hazard.

You can judge his individual performances and come to the conclusion he's inconsistent. But your'e just looking at the stats and not the big picture with how he fits into the team, him and Hazard are the perfect fit and at times just about unplayable.

Watching the games you will find he is inconsistent, stats make him player of the year.

3 hours ago, coco said:

I have always loved Willian, you won't find any posts from me slagging him off, same with Hazard.

You can judge his individual performances and come to the conclusion he's inconsistent. But your'e just looking at the stats and not the big picture with how he fits into the team, him and Hazard are the perfect fit and at times just about unplayable.

100% agree. Love Willian.

Yesterday he literally looked like prime Ronaldinho at times. Barcelona couldn't handle him at all.

If he performs similarly at Camp Nou and we get a bit more from Hazard and Pedro i reckon we'll progress.

Edited February 21, 20188 yr by Sindre

Let's not fool ourselves.  We have a huge hurdle to overcome at the Camp Nou, and to argue otherwise is just seeing the glass half full when it is really about 1/10 full.    Can we do it - Yes, but we need a lot of luck, and a referee who will not be intimated, which I suspect we will not get.  Our best hope is a German or Italian referee, and even then I worry that all close calls will go against us.

2 minutes ago, Phillip said:

Let's not fool ourselves.  We have a huge hurdle to overcome at the Camp Nou, and to argue otherwise is just seeing the glass half full when it is really about 1/10 full.    Can we do it - Yes, but we need a lot of luck, and a referee who will not be intimated, which I suspect we will not get.  Our best hope is a German or Italian referee, and even then I worry that all close calls will go against us.

I think it's a sad state of affairs when we're discussing what nationality the ref being would give us the best chance of winning.
If we play well, we'll win.

24 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Watching the games you will find he is inconsistent, stats make him player of the year.

It must be killing you and RIPMourinho that Willian was by far the best player on the pitch last night . 

I'm waiting for Morata to make me eat my words, similar to what Willian has done to you two. I hope he does, but i won't be holding my breath yet, can't see him performing to the level Willian was at last night, ever. But i'm prepared to admit i'm wrong if he does, with pleasure. Time for you two to do the same.

Willian is easily one of the world’s best attacking players when on form, he’s brilliant.

Its sad we don’t get to see that Willian very often. What a baller.

3 minutes ago, coco said:

It must be killing you and RIPMourinho that Willian was by far the best player on the pitch last night . 

I'm waiting for Morata to make me eat my words, similar to what Willian has done to you two. I hope he does, but i won't be holding my breath yet, can't see him performing to the level Willian was at last night, ever. But i'm prepared to admit i'm wrong if he does, with pleasure. Time for you two to do the same.

It's not really killing me , since last night I have said numerous times on plenty of threads how well he played, without him we wouldn't have done anything attacking wise all game. 

Does one game really change anything though? You need to see it consistently over a number of games, you say people just look at the stats but I have watched nearly every game he has been involved in since he arrived, that's how I come to the conclusion he is inconsistent. It's not a 1 man cause but many many Chelsez fans think the same.

Willian and Pedro are very similar players in respect to be being inconsistent but it's just one particular player has a good game and he is called world class and on Hazards level, I'm sure Newton looked like Makelele on the occasional day.

What are your views on Morata?

13 minutes ago, TomCFC85 said:

I think it's a sad state of affairs when we're discussing what nationality the ref being would give us the best chance of winning.
If we play well, we'll win.

True to some extent, but refs from countries where football is not huge will get intimidated at the Camp Nou.  That means just about all of the Eastern European countries and the Scandanavian countries (Frisk, Ovrebo, ...), for which we have been burned horribly in the past.  To deal with the hype and hoopla of the Camp Nou and the pressure that the Barca players will place on the ref throughout the match, that ref needs to be experienced in such matches, such as a German ref who has reff'ed Bayern-Dormond matches or an Italian ref who has reff'ed Juve-Roma matches.   Sorry, but a referee having reff'ed Rosenborg-FC Copenhagen matches just does not cut the mustard with respect to the speed of play and the intimidation factor that will present itself at the Camp Nou.

13 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

It's not really killing me , since last night I have said numerous times on plenty of threads how well he played, without him we wouldn't have done anything attacking wise all game. 

Does one game really change anything though? You need to see it consistently over a number of games, you say people just look at the stats but I have watched nearly every game he has been involved in since he arrived, that's how I come to the conclusion he is inconsistent. It's not a 1 man cause but many many Chelsez fans think the same.

Willian and Pedro are very similar players in respect to be being inconsistent but it's just one particular player has a good game and he is called world class and on Hazards level, I'm sure Newton looked like Makelele on the occasional day.

What are your views on Morata?

In one word, unproven.

 

Back to Willian, you say "Does one game really change anything though?"

Well it was down to one game with an extraordinary performance why we bought him at all,....and thank God we did.

Quote

Shakhtar were tremendous throughout, shredding the Chelsea defence time and again - they pressed and ran, created and scored. The intensity of their football was embodied by the magnificent Willian, who only added to his burgeoning reputation with this dynamic display.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/19958153

20 minutes ago, coco said:

In one word, unproven.

 

Back to Willian, you say "Does one game really change anything though?"

Well it was down to one game with an extraordinary performance why we bought him at all,....and thank God we did.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/19958153

I very much doubt Chelsea brought a player over one football match, it might have brought him to there attention.

One game doesn't change anything if he does nothing for the next 5. It will just show what many Chelsea fans have thought for 5 years.

Hazard can play on the counter, break defences down, smash a shot from one touch,  dribble past 3 etc.

There's a clear difference between Hazard and Willian and thats Willian needs a football match to match his strengths like counter attacking, Hazard can perform whatever.

 

2 hours ago, coco said:

It must be killing you and RIPMourinho that Willian was by far the best player on the pitch last night . 

I'm waiting for Morata to make me eat my words, similar to what Willian has done to you two. I hope he does, but i won't be holding my breath yet, can't see him performing to the level Willian was at last night, ever. But i'm prepared to admit i'm wrong if he does, with pleasure. Time for you two to do the same.

>

7 hours ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Credit where credit is due. Top performance from him the last few weeks. Let hope he can continue this and it isn't just a short purple patch. 

Not killing me, i'm very happy for him. As i would be for any Chelsea player that has a great game and helps the team. Lovely finish for his goal and he probably deserved a couple more for how he played. I came and credited him for a good performance many hours ago. I'm not bitter and will admit when i'm wrong, unlike certain other posters on this forum (Yorkey, Youlots etc.). 

Having said this i hope Willian can continue this run of form for the rest of the year and help us to a top 4 spot. My fear is it'll continue for a couple more games and then he'll fade into bit part player again. I think last night was the perfect game for Willian as on the counter he can use his pace against Busquets, who is arguably slower than Cesc. I think his goal and one (maybe both) time(s) he hit the wood work was shifting the ball to the side past him. 

Yes I notice that Willian has periods where he blows hot and cold. When he is on form he is very good and when not just ordinary.

I don't know why this is might be, I could suggest some alternative possibilities yet am always reminded by reading books of past managers talking about a player suddenly looking hot in training and so bringing them back into the team.

Would be nice to see him sinking JM's Utd this weekend.

Edited February 21, 20188 yr by strider6004

59 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

>

Not killing me, i'm very happy for him. As i would be for any Chelsea player that has a great game and helps the team. Lovely finish for his goal and he probably deserved a couple more for how he played. I came and credited him for a good performance many hours ago. I'm not bitter and will admit when i'm wrong, unlike certain other posters on this forum (Yorkey, Youlots etc.). 

Having said this i hope Willian can continue this run of form for the rest of the year and help us to a top 4 spot. My fear is it'll continue for a couple more games and then he'll fade into bit part player again. I think last night was the perfect game for Willian as on the counter he can use his pace against Busquets, who is arguably slower than Cesc. I think his goal and one (maybe both) time(s) he hit the wood work was shifting the ball to the side past him. 

AAhh go on, go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on,,,, admit you were wrong 

7 hours ago, Phillip said:

Let's not fool ourselves.  We have a huge hurdle to overcome at the Camp Nou, and to argue otherwise is just seeing the glass half full when it is really about 1/10 full.    Can we do it - Yes, but we need a lot of luck, and a referee who will not be intimated, which I suspect we will not get.  Our best hope is a German or Italian referee, and even then I worry that all close calls will go against us.

Fifa/UEFA probably already sacked the ref from the 1st leg and putting in place a proper yes man. Barca will progress based on Fifa/UEFA ffs

Willian's touches vs Barca

 

15 hours ago, coco said:

AAhh go on, go on go on go on go on go on go on go on go on,,,, admit you were wrong 

Come back to me at the end of the season if he's still performing like this and i might admit something then 

I like him because he has an afro.

2 hours ago, Stim said:

I like him because he has an afro.

Do you pick your horse bets on their names too? If so, are you my wife?

36 minutes ago, dkw said:

Do you pick your horse bets on their names too? If so, are you my wife?

I like him because he's a top top playa....

20 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Yes I notice that Willian has periods where he blows hot and cold. When he is on form he is very good and when not just ordinary.

I don't know why this is might be, I could suggest some alternative possibilities yet am always reminded by reading books of past managers talking about a player suddenly looking hot in training and so bringing them back into the team.

Would be nice to see him sinking JM's Utd this weekend.

I just said on another thread, imo I believe he is better coming in from the left. Not saying he is better than Hazard or should take Hazards position, but some interchanging on the wings would be beneficial