I think we should play him in the middle for the rest of the season, he did more in 10 mins than Oscar did for the whole time he had on the park.

If he does end up playing as a number 10 though christ he needs to score more goals. You can always let them off a little bit when they play outwide but not when your playing centrally. No excuses.

He doesn't have the vision or talent to play 10 in my opinion. He's perhaps good enough to dominate the likes of Stoke and Aston Villa, but I think most of our expectations extend beyond the reach of his capabilities.

He doesn't have the vision or talent to play 10 in my opinion. He's perhaps good enough to dominate the likes of Stoke and Aston Villa, but I think most of our expectations extend beyond the reach of his capabilities.

 

And Oscar does? Perhaps if we can land a better no 10 in the summer or a central midfielder to push Fabregas up, but right now, he's our best bet in my opinion.

And Oscar does? Perhaps if we can land a better no 10 in the summer or a central midfielder to push Fabregas up, but right now, he's our best bet in my opinion.

 

Oscar might. He's only 23 and has shown an ability to play that role well, often early in the season. What he needs is consistency.

 

If Willian is our number 10 then we'll forever be limited by what he is capable of. Put simply a team with Willian as number 10 can't be the best in Europe. Oscar could get there based on what I've seen of him at his best.

I don't think we'll ever agree regarding Oscar and Willian. For me, Oscar has got just about enough potential to be a better player than Willian, but that potential is starting to mean less each season he shows little improvement. Willian is the better player at the moment, and deserves to start in his favored position. 

Willian > Oscar

I don't think we'll ever agree regarding Oscar and Willian. For me, Oscar has got just about enough potential to be a better player than Willian, but that potential is starting to mean less each season he shows little improvement. Willian is the better player at the moment, and deserves to start in his favored position. 

 

He has improved season on season, but needs to get even better. Similar things were said about Lampard at roughly the same age, but he's shown an ability to dictate matches at the start of both this season and last season. Apart from the CL campaign of 2012/13, when has Willian ever done that??

 

Oscar isn't a conventional 10 either. He's asked to defend a lot as well as press the opposition, yet he's directly contributed to 13 goals this season (which is more than flavour of the month Coutinho).

Willian > Oscar

Herpes > AIDS

Herpes > AIDS

I think that is now debatable...

He has improved season on season, but needs to get even better. Similar things were said about Lampard at roughly the same age, but he's shown an ability to dictate matches at the start of both this season and last season. Apart from the CL campaign of 2012/13, when has Willian ever done that??

 

Oscar isn't a conventional 10 either. He's asked to defend a lot as well as press the opposition, yet he's directly contributed to 13 goals this season (which is more than flavour of the month Coutinho).

 

Oscar is not a conventional 10 because he doesn't have the vision or talent of a conventional 10. His numbers are good against lower table opposition but its his performances that I'm concerned about and in the big matches, the numbers are not there to help him either. 

 

Oscar has been Jose's golden boy since he came while Willian has had to fight for a place on the right wing with the likes of Schurrle. He has been given countless opportunities to cement that no.10 position and he has not been able to do it. Willian deserves his chance now.

Oscar has tons more potential to Willian. He just needs consistensy. Will it ever happen I don't know. Willian is already filling his potential or very close anyway.

Oscar has shown he can be among our best players and he can win us games. I see Willian as a deputy. He is very good at best but don't see him mentioned with Matic, Terry or Cesc as our core.

Oscar is not a conventional 10 because he doesn't have the vision or talent of a conventional 10. His numbers are good against lower table opposition but its his performances that I'm concerned about and in the big matches, the numbers are not there to help him either. 

 

Oscar has been Jose's golden boy since he came while Willian has had to fight for a place on the right wing with the likes of Schurrle. He has been given countless opportunities to cement that no.10 position and he has not been able to do it. Willian deserves his chance now.

 

We'll have to agree to disagree then, but for me conventional 10s have had their day and players like Gotze, Isco and Oscar are now expected to be far more 'team players' than they were a decade ago. 

 

At his best he has as much influence without the ball as he does with it, and Arsenal at home is a prime example of that. He received a standing ovation for the shift he put in and the fact is he's still a young player. He'll hopefully get better because he does have something special, something that hopefully he'll build on.

Edited April 8, 201511 yr by Blue Daze

We'll have to agree to disagree then, but for me conventional 10s have had their day and players like Gotze, Isco and Oscar are now expected to be far more 'team players' than they were a decade ago. 

 

At his best he has as much influence without the ball as he does with it, and Arsenal at home is a prime example of that. He received a standing ovation for the shift he put in and the fact is he's still a young player. He'll hopefully get better because he does have something special, something that hopefully he'll build on.

 

 

isco and gotze are still on another planet compared to oscar when it comes to technique and creativity

Edited April 8, 201511 yr by launcher

isco and gotze are still on another planet compared to oscar when it comes to technique and creativity

 

I disagree but respect your view.

Oscar has tons more potential to Willian. He just needs consistensy. Will it ever happen I don't know. Willian is already filling his potential or very close anyway.

Oscar has shown he can be among our best players and he can win us games. I see Willian as a deputy. He is very good at best but don't see him mentioned with Matic, Terry or Cesc as our core.

Is this alleged potential real or imagined because apart from some wonder goals here or there, I never see it. 

We'll have to agree to disagree then, but for me conventional 10s have had their day and players like Gotze, Isco and Oscar are now expected to be far more 'team players' than they were a decade ago. 

 

At his best he has as much influence without the ball as he does with it, and Arsenal at home is a prime example of that. He received a standing ovation for the shift he put in and the fact is he's still a young player. He'll hopefully get better because he does have something special, something that hopefully he'll build on.

 

The players you mention are team players while also having the ability to dictate play or pick the ball up in a tight space and create something out nothing. Oscar has never consistently shown any such ability. At his best, he offers a lot more off the ball than on it, while also providing a decent goal threat. At his worst though, he's a passenger off the ball and a liability on it.

 

If he can develop on the player we get glimpses of at the start of a season, he could become a very good player. But it's a big if right now and while that potential is enough to keep him around as a squad player and see if he gets better, I don't think he should be a nailed on starter. 

The players you mention are team players while also having the ability to dictate play or pick the ball up in a tight space and create something out nothing. Oscar has never consistently shown any such ability. At his best, he offers a lot more off the ball than on it, while also providing a decent goal threat. At his worst though, he's a passenger off the ball and a liability on it.

 

 

He does have more goal contributions than those two players this season and in games like Southampton away last season, Palace away this season and a few others he's very much shown an ability to dictate the play, but we'll just have to agree to disagree about what happened in those matches. 

 

 

If he can develop on the player we get glimpses of at the start of a season, he could become a very good player. But it's a big if right now and while that potential is enough to keep him around as a squad player and see if he gets better, I don't think he should be a nailed on starter. 

 

I agree.

 

Hopefully if given the chance Willian can step-up and do something he's rarely ever done consistently in his 8 years as a professional footballer save for the 2013 CL run at Shaktar.

If you wanted a more poignant illustration of how useless assists are as a statistic, bear in mind that Jon Walters got an assist on Saturday for his five-yard backwards pass to Charlie Adam in his own half, but Willian got no statistical recognition despite playing a pivotal role in creating both our goals.

If you wanted a more poignant illustration of how useless assists are as a statistic, bear in mind that Jon Walters got an assist on Saturday for his five-yard backwards pass to Charlie Adam in his own half, but Willian got no statistical recognition despite playing a pivotal role in creating both our goals.

Gary Neville praised Willian on MNF for his work for the second goal.

Gary Neville praised Willian on MNF for his work for the second goal.

 

'Number of attaboys from Gary Neville' should be a statistic.

We have not lost a game against the top 4 since Jose came back and I think Willian has been a big part of that. Incredible ball retention and work rate. 

 

Wouldn't mind a change of thread title. Perhaps 'Willian - he hates Tottenham'?

Played very well but he killed a lot of the attacks we had.

He did well running at defenders and beating them, but as usual then there was nothing at the end of it, either slowing it right down and passing it back, or just a poor pass.

Was great in the first half, he took on his man as often as he could. Like most of the attackers, he died off in the second half.