2 minutes ago, big blue said:

Hazard puts that ball across goal like that very regularly. City in the final he did the same thing. 

Strange haven't really noticed more Hazard's trickery on the edge of the box is what sticks in my mind. 

Let's hope Sarri addresses that as we need to put games like this to bed early.

3 hours ago, Andy North said:

I know he isn't the force he once was but he does contribute.

He's never been a force at Chelsea. He's a 5 goal 3 assist per season player.

He's right on that right now. Actually, his output in assists is ahead of pace. HIs contribution relative to time on the pitch has always been a shocking at Chelsea. Literally, people are SHOCKED when you tell them he's averaged 5 goals and 3 assists per season at Chelsea (in the League). Even his fans wax poetic about the force he once was. His best season was 8 goals, in which he then slagged off the manager that put him in position to have the best season of his career.

He's come up with 3 goals this year. Cardiff, Burnley, and Newcastle. I think the highest position of any of those teams when we played them as 16th. 

For a player who takes so many set pieces, spends so much time in and advanced position, he's just flat out not good enough to warrant the time he gets. And he never has been.

20M is about right for a squad player. Which is what he is. Unfortunately, he gets star treatment from the club and the media.

I wish I could say he was Bang Average, but Bang Average for a Top 6 wing player would be a vast improvement for Chelsea.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

This is my problem with Willian, look how lackadaisical he is at the back post.

That's part of the illusion. See, he's in position to track back.. What a defensive contribution! 

How many tap ins do City wingers get on plays just like that? 

On the bright side, all of those minutes Willian takes up will help rubber stamp a move to Bayern for Hudson-Odoi... so there's that... 

21 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

He's never been a force at Chelsea. He's a 5 goal 3 assist per season player.

He's right on that right now. Actually, his output in assists is ahead of pace. HIs contribution relative to time on the pitch has always been a shocking at Chelsea. Literally, people are SHOCKED when you tell them he's averaged 5 goals and 3 assists per season at Chelsea (in the League). Even his fans wax poetic about the force he once was. His best season was 8 goals, in which he then slagged off the manager that put him in position to have the best season of his career.

He's come up with 3 goals this year. Cardiff, Burnley, and Newcastle. I think the highest position of any of those teams when we played them as 16th. 

For a player who takes so many set pieces, spends so much time in and advanced position, he's just flat out not good enough to warrant the time he gets. And he never has been.

20M is about right for a squad player. Which is what he is. Unfortunately, he gets star treatment from the club and the media.

I wish I could say he was Bang Average, but Bang Average for a Top 6 wing player would be a vast improvement for Chelsea.

He was voted player of the year by the fans in 2015/16 and the players in 2017/18.

You must be missing something.

21 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

He's never been a force at Chelsea. He's a 5 goal 3 assist per season player.

He's right on that right now. Actually, his output in assists is ahead of pace. HIs contribution relative to time on the pitch has always been a shocking at Chelsea. Literally, people are SHOCKED when you tell them he's averaged 5 goals and 3 assists per season at Chelsea (in the League). Even his fans wax poetic about the force he once was. His best season was 8 goals, in which he then slagged off the manager that put him in position to have the best season of his career.

He's come up with 3 goals this year. Cardiff, Burnley, and Newcastle. I think the highest position of any of those teams when we played them as 16th. 

For a player who takes so many set pieces, spends so much time in and advanced position, he's just flat out not good enough to warrant the time he gets. And he never has been.

20M is about right for a squad player. Which is what he is. Unfortunately, he gets star treatment from the club and the media.

I wish I could say he was Bang Average, but Bang Average for a Top 6 wing player would be a vast improvement for Chelsea.

He was voted player of the year by the fans in 2015/16 and the players in 2017/18.

You must be missing something.

 

1 hour ago, Andy North said:

He was voted player of the year by the fans in 2015/16 and the players in 2017/18.

You must be missing something.

 

We were absolutely honking in 15/16 whereas Willian probably stayed at his usual performance level and really done well around January time I think it was for a month or so then it was back to normal. It’s more a sign of how poor we were that year that his performances across the whole were POTY worthy.

 

players POTY is also a popularity contest for the most part and as others have outlined, it was the season with his best output which still wasn’t terrific.

 

I’ve said before he’d be a terrific squad player but it baffles me how he gets the amount of time he does because of “defensive discipline”. It’s no wonder we struggle with goals and clear cut chances when one of our wingers main attribute is running around a lot. I’d keep him if I thought it meant he’d be used as a backup but he won’t be and if it’s true we rejected £50m for him - it’s utter, utter madness.

2 hours ago, Andy North said:

He was voted player of the year by the fans in 2015/16 and the players in 2017/18.

You must be missing something.

 

He had 5 goals in the league for a team that finished 10th. (not the Title winning season in which he had his best season (8) as an impact sub for Conte).

Those goals came against Newcastle (2), Southampton (2) and Bournemouth

It's ironic that that's roughly the same output against the same level of competition that he'll have this year, and yet even his fans say "he may not be as good as he was."

This is exactly what he's always been, and it's woefully short of what we need in a Front 3 player. 

I wish I was missing something, but this guy has fooled more people than Houdini into thinking he was ever more than a 5 goal a season squad player.

 

 

Edited March 5, 20197 yr by Skinnedy

1 hour ago, Skinnedy said:

He had 5 goals in the league for a team that finished 10th. (not the Title winning season in which he had his best season (8) as an impact sub for Conte).

Those goals came against Newcastle (2), Southampton (2) and Bournemouth

It's ironic that that's roughly the same output against the same level of competition that he'll have this year, and yet even his fans say "he may not be as good as he was."

This is exactly what he's always been, and it's woefully short of what we need in a Front 3 player. 

I wish I was missing something, but this guy has fooled more people than Houdini into thinking he was ever more than a 5 goal a season squad player.

 

 

He also played REALLY well when we were doing awfully. Then when we got rid of Jose and no one was paying attention anymore, he drifted into the anonymous player he is now.

He's a perfectly good squad player, but so is Pedro and when we have a midfield that doesnt score or create goals, it's a bit of a luxury to have them in our first team. 

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

He also played REALLY well when we were doing awfully. Then when we got rid of Jose and no one was paying attention anymore. 

I see what you're saying in that is drop in production coincided with Jose's dismissal, but there's nothing in his career to suggest it was ever going to be more than a nice game or two. 

The five goals in that season against Newcastle, Southampton and Burnley WAS that season. 15/16 that Jose was sacked, and we were battling relegation. 

Unfortunately, you're right. No one was paying attention so they were fooled into thinking Willian had some magical year and was player of the year. 

Nope... 5 goals... Against three teams, one of which was relegated and none of which was Top 6 opposition. 

See what I mean.. Everyone remembers something that never actually happened.he scores a worldie once a month and people assume his production matches his skill level. 

He didn't play really well in 2015/16. He hit a couple nice free kicks early in the season. Scored 2 in our first 6 league games, then 3 the entire rest of the season and was voted Player of the Year. 

It's a mirage... 

Edited March 5, 20197 yr by Skinnedy

1 hour ago, Skinnedy said:

I see what you're saying in that is drop in production coincided with Jose's dismissal, but there's nothing in his career to suggest it was ever going to be more than a nice game or two. 

The five goals in that season against Newcastle, Southampton and Burnley WAS that season. 15/16 that Jose was sacked, and we were battling relegation. 

Unfortunately, you're right. No one was paying attention so they were fooled into thinking Willian had some magical year and was player of the year. 

Nope... 5 goals... Against three teams, one of which was relegated and none of which was Top 6 opposition. 

See what I mean.. Everyone remembers something that never actually happened.he scores a worldie once a month and people assume his production matches his skill level. 

He didn't play really well in 2015/16. He hit a couple nice free kicks early in the season. Scored 2 in our first 6 league games, then 3 the entire rest of the season and was voted Player of the Year. 

It's a mirage... 

He also played really well in our biggest game of the season when we went out to Barcelona in the CL. He's just a steaky player 

1 hour ago, bisright1 said:

He also played really well in our biggest game of the season when we went out to Barcelona in the CL. He's just a steaky player 

hmmmmm steak...

I think the fact that we can remember his good games individually speaks volumes as to how infrequent they are... Especially in the League.

I bet a lot of people would also be surprised to learn that Willian scored HALF of his League Goals playing for Conte... He must have loved Antonio with that type of production. (OK, I'll stop for a while now. ?)

 

1 minute ago, Skinnedy said:

I bet a lot of people would also be surprised to learn that Willian scored HALF of his League Goals playing for Conte... He must have loved Antonio with that type of production. (OK, I'll stop for a while now. ?)

 

Amazing really that Willian disliked the coach that got him playing the most consistent football of his career.

I will concede that Willian's best position is LW, and he's been behind Hazard in that position for pretty much his entire Chelsea career. If he played LW for us every week, I think his output would be better. Not Eden level stats, but still much better than current levels. 

This is just based on what I've seen in matches. I've tried finding a breakdown of his statistics LW vs RW, but haven't been able to find anything so detailed. If anyone can find that info, please do share. 

However, this still doesn't explain why he seems to hit every corner into the first defender....and he continues to take them? Makes no sense to me

 

10 hours ago, dustbin719 said:

However, this still doesn't explain why he seems to hit every corner into the first defender....and he continues to take them? Makes no sense to me

He must have learnt that from Lampard. 

10 hours ago, dustbin719 said:

However, this still doesn't explain why he seems to hit every corner into the first defender....and he continues to take them? Makes no sense to me

He must have learnt that from Lampard. 

worth another look but from behind the goal

Was the player interviewed prior to tonight's game. 

Asked about his two previous goals against Dynamo he said "This is my job to score goals and help teams win games". 

So I suppose that puts to bed that particular argument then. 

5 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Was the player interviewed prior to tonight's game. 

Asked about his two previous goals against Dynamo he said "This is my job to score goals and help teams win games". 

So I suppose that puts to bed that particular argument then. 

I'm sure @yorkleyblue would've loved that one!

I really hope he isn't here next season. 

34 minutes ago, Slojo said:

I really hope he isn't here next season. 

The workrate, defensive contribution is a myth... he's arguably the second most skilled player on the team behind Hazard, but what he contributes on the field is minimal.

This drove me nuts

 

6 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

The workrate, defensive contribution is a myth... he's arguably the second most skilled player on the team behind Hazard, but what he contributes on the field is minimal.

This drove me nuts

 

So glad that got picked up. It actually happened twice in 5 minutes after the break. 

 

30 league appearances for the season now and just the three goals. 

1 goal every 10 games for an attacking midfielder is frankly sh*t. 

He's basically matching the output of Theo Walcott. 

7 hours ago, Skinnedy said:

The workrate, defensive contribution is a myth... he's arguably the second most skilled player on the team behind Hazard, but what he contributes on the field is minimal.

This drove me nuts

 

So glad someone posted a video of this, drove me crazy watching that live. How on earth has he been at Chelsea for 6 years??? Shows how sh*t we've been in the attacking department and recruitment for this position.