Let me start off by saying that Willian is playing great,  But.......

I’ve seen this movie before and I know how it ends.  When a player is in the last year of his contract, you generally see that person play better since they are highly motivated to get a big contract. You see this in baseball (as an Orioles fan, we are stuck in a horrible contract given to Chris Davis) and the NBA.

As to Willian, if we are dumb enough to sign him for three years, I think we will fall in that trap and he will revert back to the mean for those three years, And probably sink below the mean for the last year or so.

So, in my view, let’s thank him for his time here, and not consider signing him to either a two year or a three year contract.

 

Edited June 28, 20206 yr by Phillip

Willian is absolutely crucial to our off-the-ball strategy and to our structured counter attacks (i.e. ones which weren't created by a comical f**kup from the opposition or from Pulisic/Barkley somehow managing to dribble past five people by themselves). I hope there is a plan in place for someone to fill his role next season (assuming he does leave) as there are maybe two players in the squad who have the intelligence/sharpness/work rate to try it (Pedro and Mount). Little point having all these fancy players like Ziyech and Pulisic if we can't actually get the ball to them outside our own half.

3 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Willian is absolutely crucial to our off-the-ball strategy and to our structured counter attacks (i.e. ones which weren't created by a comical f**kup from the opposition or from Pulisic/Barkley somehow managing to dribble past five people by themselves). I hope there is a plan in place for someone to fill his role next season (assuming he does leave) as there are maybe two players in the squad who have the intelligence/sharpness/work rate to try it (Pedro and Mount). Little point having all these fancy players like Ziyech and Pulisic if we can't actually get the ball to them outside our own half.

I’m sure I read someone (someone may have even posted it here) that Ziyech despite being a Tip Tap Charlie also works his arse off for the team so we should be alright!

27 minutes ago, Munkworth said:

I’m sure I read someone (someone may have even posted it here) that Ziyech despite being a Tip Tap Charlie also works his arse off for the team so we should be alright!

To be honest I might have seen him all of four times, and I spent most of that making rude comments about Tottenham and chuckling to myself about Dusan Tadic playing in a Champions League semi-final.

3 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

To be honest I might have seen him all of four times, and I spent most of that making rude comments about Tottenham and chuckling to myself about Dusan Tadic playing in a Champions League semi-final.

I’ve only seen him against us, can’t remember anything he did (scored apparently) and I only know what people have posted about him since he ‘signed’. 

Ignorance is bliss 

I like him very much as a player, I always have, he was very important this season and more emphasis has been on his last year.

He's got to be the most underrated penalty taker ever.

Perhaps if Willian starts throwing the toys out of the pram as he realises the three year contract is not coming then it might be time to bring back our old penalty taker Jorginho who was pretty reliable in this regard. I say this as Pulisic's running is likely to earn us a few more before the season closes.

2 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Perhaps if Willian starts throwing the toys out of the pram as he realises the three year contract is not coming then it might be time to bring back our old penalty taker Jorginho who was pretty reliable in this regard. I say this as Pulisic's running is likely to earn us a few more before the season closes.

Willian is playing for his next pay day. Until he gets it here or somewhere else I expect we see the best of him.

5 hours ago, Amputechture said:

He's got to be the most underrated penalty taker ever.

I was about to counter this with Shola Ameobi, but it turns out that he missed two towards the end of his career:

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/shola-ameobi/elfmetertore/spieler/3276

 

I feel so disillusioned.

51 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

I was about to counter this with Shola Ameobi, but it turns out that he missed two towards the end of his career:

https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/shola-ameobi/elfmetertore/spieler/3276

 

I feel so disillusioned.

Looks like Willian has missed one, for Shakhtar back in 2012.

https://www.transfermarkt.com/willian/elfmetertore/spieler/52769

I saw throughout the time a huge injustice always directed towards Willian.
It is nothing new.
But let's talk about this year.

Contrary to what many try to sell, Willian has big clubs that want him well before this season starts, there were never just one or two nor none of them disappeared with the covid.

It is certainly, among the players who terminate the contract, the most desired one.

So this argument that what he does well is because he is trying to get a contract as if he didn’t get a better or equal in another club has no place.

He was absolutely essential this season, in the midst of this chaos, he was a leader and a warrior.

While many spent the season talking about clouds like CHO and company, Willian gave and continues to give what no one else is able to give, even if it is completely inglorious as it was in the last game.

He could have protected himself this season, because he did not need this season to get the contract he had already secured, much less walk this time of year killing himself playing every 3 days in a club that does not know how to defend a corner.

A little respect and justice for Willian who is one of the few who deserves it.

But we know where these narratives come from.

9 minutes ago, Mr. President said:

I saw throughout the time a huge injustice always directed towards Willian.
It is nothing new.
But let's talk about this year.

Contrary to what many try to sell, Willian has big clubs that want him well before this season starts, there were never just one or two nor none of them disappeared with the covid.

It is certainly, among the players who terminate the contract, the most desired one.

So this argument that what he does well is because he is trying to get a contract as if he didn’t get a better or equal in another club has no place.

He was absolutely essential this season, in the midst of this chaos, he was a leader and a warrior.

While many spent the season talking about clouds like CHO and company, Willian gave and continues to give what no one else is able to give, even if it is completely inglorious as it was in the last game.

He could have protected himself this season, because he did not need this season to get the contract he had already secured, much less walk this time of year killing himself playing every 3 days in a club that does not know how to defend a corner.

A little respect and justice for Willian who is one of the few who deserves it.

But we know where these narratives come from.

Don't understand this last line, can you explain it for me?

He's been decent, but he stands out because we haven't had a great attacking force this season. When we do, hopefully next season, it will be amazing. 

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Don't understand this last line, can you explain it for me?

I assume he's implying it's a race thing. 

 

I dont actually think Willian has been great. He still doesn't have end product. 2 penalties and a free kick don't change that for me. But he's all we've got at the moment as CHO is injured, Pedro is worse and we are waiting on Ziyech. I have never bought that Willian plays better when hoping for a contract, I think he's just inconsistent.

14 minutes ago, bisright1 said:

I dont actually think Willian has been great. He still doesn't have end product. 2 penalties and a free kick don't change that for me. But he's all we've got at the moment as CHO is injured, Pedro is worse and we are waiting on Ziyech. I have never bought that Willian plays better when hoping for a contract, I think he's just inconsistent.

I'm not sure on his motivation, against big sides he works very hard against others looks lack lustre and he has played every match recently.

I agree with the exception of set pieces (excl corners) his end product is lacking.

 

He's been superb since the restart. The pen today was very cooly taken and he was dangerous elsewhere too. In a young team he has been important. 

Is it time to discuss a new contract for him? Or is this Willian putting himself in the shop window for potential buyers?

3 minutes ago, Spiller86 said:

He's been superb since the restart. The pen today was very cooly taken and he was dangerous elsewhere too. In a young team he has been important. 

Is it time to discuss a new contract for him? Or is this Willian putting himself in the shop window for potential buyers?

It might be an unpopular opinion but i would keep him, especially with so much change, i think a little bit of stability would be great. He has been pretty solid all season, work rate is top notch, he is a fantastic athlete, my only concern would be his attitude if he isnt in the team every week. 

 

Of the two going (probably), I'd have kept Pedro, I think he suits us much better and has better end product. But it seems that Frank prefers William, and he has been good this season. Now, while Pedro is going to Roma, I don't see teams lining up for William, which is telling. If he's not happy with the two years contract and likelihood of being on the bench, then it's time to move on.

1 hour ago, Spiller86 said:

He's been superb since the restart. The pen today was very cooly taken and he was dangerous elsewhere too. In a young team he has been important. 

Is it time to discuss a new contract for him? Or is this Willian putting himself in the shop window for potential buyers?

We've fallen for this before already, lets hope we don't make the same mistake again. 

Appreciate his time here but its time to move on if we are going to improve.

2 hours ago, RMH said:

Of the two going (probably), I'd have kept Pedro, I think he suits us much better and has better end product. But it seems that Frank prefers William, and he has been good this season. Now, while Pedro is going to Roma, I don't see teams lining up for William, which is telling. If he's not happy with the two years contract and likelihood of being on the bench, then it's time to move on.

Why? They have about the same end product at chelsea but Pedro is basically just a vertical player, so his whole game is end product, while Willian is 100 times better at building the play up and shifting it from side to side and defending

If we can extend his contract for another year that would be ideal. The reality is different, Willian doesn't want another year, he wants to bargain for a decent contract and a lot of security (who can blame him of course) because he knows he's coming to the end of his career. It will be another Malouda situation where he'll sit in the reserves for a year and enjoy the rest of his contract. 

I'm a big fan of Willian, but I've seen him drop stinkers and he sometimes looks like a player who plays on his mood, right now you can tell he's playing for a big contract either here or at another club. And fair play to him, he has a family to support, football is a very short career, I can't fault the man one bit. But as a club we have to be smart, don't give Willian more than one year, it would be a massive mistake on our part, he gets a year max, take it or leave it. 

I've already accepted the fact he's moving on, at 31 he's likely to get a better contract elsewhere rather than playing his heart out for another year and being 32. 

7 hours ago, kinni said:

Why? They have about the same end product at chelsea but Pedro is basically just a vertical player, so his whole game is end product, while Willian is 100 times better at building the play up and shifting it from side to side and defending

Pedro has scored 29 goals versus 37 of William, with average of 0.21 goals per match for Pedro with 0.16 gpm for William. Regarding the play, William keeps the ball well, but the runs Pedro used to make behind the lines of the other team were more dangerous than all the shifting from side to side you say William is good at. If anything, William slows down the pace in quite a few occasions, when what we obviously need is speed to break the defensive set ups. And defensively Pedro puts in a huge effort instead of putting his arms to the air when things don't go the way he want a them. It is a matter of opinion, don't get me wrong, I'm happy with William and I'm not a William hater, but I would have kept Pedro's instead.

It is a political decision.
We opted to hire young people.

We cannot offer a 3-year millionaire contract to a player of this quality to sit on the bench.

I really like Willian, it was very important this year, when he could be being selfish and save energy for his next club.
There is no shortage of suitors for him.
But it is true that his wish was to stay here.

A complicated decision, but a political one, I think that after hiring a substitute for the starting eleven, you cannot have a Willian in the bench when with that effort you can apply to other needs.

If both parties can agree further than the 2 years on offer on the table (yes Luiz was offered 2 years same age as Willy before he joined Arse) maybe the 3rd year optional based on performance targets ?

I know Willy is 31 but wouldn’t like to see him playing against us next season as he will do if he walks for free next month.

His free kick return is pretty good and apparently he’s the 1st prem player ever to score in every calendar month (only cus Covid😉)!