Much more cutting edge today. Hope for more of the same

He may not have the goals and the assists but if he keeps playing like he did today they will improve. He was dangerous going forward today and his pace on the break was amazing, he turned defense into attack in a blink of an eye a few times tonight.

Willy was the bollocks today.

Eyes took some time adjusting to see Willian steaming down the right on the outside and roasting the fullback. Retains the ball so well and if he keeps up this kind of incisive play, there won't be too many Willian critics around.

Been brilliant recently

A fantastic player. Always liked him, but he has really kicked it up a few notches lately. Ran the show today, and if you didn't know better you may have been thinking there was two of him. On the right, in the middle, tracking back, setting up counters. A key player in our team.

He was brilliant against Arsenal and he took it up a notch tonight, admittedly against weaker opposition.

 

I've said it before but he's a player that has really grown on me.

 

He's starting to look a fantastic player.

 

Jose deserves a lot of credit also, he's played him all season and he's helped him enormously with his development.

 

Tonight he just had that "wow factor".

Willy was the bollocks today.

Good combination to have.

Wondering about his performance just now, it hit me - Willian was actually quite frightening today. Genuinely menacing. Think it's the first time I've said or thought that about him.

Normally for all his dribbling and running you get the feeling opposition teams are quite content to see Willian on the ball, as it generally means their goal is safe from any direct threat where they don't have time to collect themselves and get into shape .

Not tonight though.

Leicester City came up against 'Evil' Willian tonight.

Edited April 29, 201511 yr by GhostOfDembaPast

Awesome performance, i said on sunday i wanted to see more, last night we got it....

Watched the match here stateside and my memory slips who said it but he said this;

"Willian is harder to read than War and Peace!"

Absolutely brilliant comment and so true.

That would be Jim Proudfoot - good commentator. Along with Alvin Martin, used to cover a lot of the Chelsea games for Talk sport during the Ranieri era. The two of them made football on the radio very enjoyable to listen to.

It was hard to read. Willian mixed it up well.

Edited April 30, 201511 yr by GhostOfDembaPast

He's always been a very good player, just not a very good winger. In midfield he brings us that drive we miss with the usual combination that lacks a ball carrier. If he's played consistently through the middle, I think his numbers are bound to improve too. Not that it really matters when he's indirectly playing a part in many of our goals. 

i have criticised him a lot, but bloody hell this is the willian we need to see week in, week out, more often. He has such incredible stamina, i don't know how he does it. 

He's always been a very good player, just not a very good winger. In midfield he brings us that drive we miss with the usual combination that lacks a ball carrier. If he's played consistently through the middle, I think his numbers are bound to improve too. Not that it really matters when he's indirectly playing a part in many of our goals. 

 

But the point many of us have been making is that he hasn't always been a 'very good player'. He's been a very busy player and he's shown flashes of skill especially in the way he links with other players but he's never shown that drive, that directness that he did last night and in moments against Arsenal at the weekend. If he had been doing that for the last two seasons then there wouldn't have been any questions about him.

 

If he keeps playing like that when we have a proper striker up front then the assists will definitely come. If he can add goals to his game even better. For the first time ever I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in his next start.

We know what he can do now.

Play him in the no 10 role and watch him flourish, that's where he was most dangerous for his previous club.

Not sure where that leaves Oscar though.

He truly earned his corn last night. You have to look past the 30M and the lack of goals and think about the amount of work he puts in for the team.

He still has as much pace in the 80th minute as he does in the 1st minute.

I don't know - I always felt he was excellent. If you go back and watch liverpool games and city games last season (at home and away respectivly) He had such an influence on the game. When parked out on the right against packed defenses he doesn't have the same set of keys as Hazard, but he has been a big player in terms of our season.

 

Do we still need more guns, yes. But i don't think that that means no place for Willian 

He truly earned his corn last night. You have to look past the 30M and the lack of goals and think about the amount of work he puts in for the team.

 

The work has never been in doubt, but it's always been what the end-product or even by-product was of that effort. If he plays like he did last night then it doesn't matter if he scores goals or gets assists (although he would) quite so much because he's driving the team on and creating a nice balance from the right.

 

It is worth noting that Leicester aren't a great team and did go chasing the game which left a lot of space open, but Willian used it whereas Hazard actually didn't.  If we can get them both firing on all cylinders then that could be something special...maybe in a couple of weeks against a certain scouse team?

But the point many of us have been making is that he hasn't always been a 'very good player'. He's been a very busy player and he's shown flashes of skill especially in the way he links with other players but he's never shown that drive, that directness that he did last night and in moments against Arsenal at the weekend. If he had been doing that for the last two seasons then there wouldn't have been any questions about him.

 

If he keeps playing like that when we have a proper striker up front then the assists will definitely come. If he can add goals to his game even better. For the first time ever I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do in his next start.

 

He does give us drive from midfield and for me he's always shown the ability to do that. The problem as Barak says is when he's parked on the right against a packed defense and he looks a bit clueless and because thats where he's been played most of the time, that's the player that some think he is. A 30 million winger who cannot beat his fullback and who doesn't score goals. As a playmaker, how do you look very good in a team where you are expected to support the main playmakers (Hazard, Fabregas, Oscar)? I'm sure it's not a case of Jose asking Willian to take on players and Willian simply refusing to do it.

 

He does give us drive from midfield and for me he's always shown the ability to do that. The problem as Barak says is when he's parked on the right against a packed defense and he looks a bit clueless and because thats where he's been played most of the time, that's the player that some think he is. A 30 million winger who cannot beat his fullback and who doesn't score goals. As a playmaker, how do you look very good in a team where you are expected to support the main playmakers (Hazard, Fabregas, Oscar)? I'm sure it's not a case of Jose asking Willian to take on players and Willian simply refusing to do it.

 

The thing is he's given a licence to roam. Maybe not as much as Eden but he drifts in a lot because he has Ivanovic overlapping. It's the constant cutting in, slowing down of play that I think put a lot of people off. The ponderous sideways dribbles as opposed to last night where he was devastatingly decisive. Even down to little things like stealing a step on his opponent and whipping a cross in.

 

Everything was done sharper, quicker, more decisively and that's what a lot of people were waiting for I think. Assists and goals follow on from that and it became easy to criticise his lack of direct contributions.

 

But you do raise a good point about him doing it against packed defences. That's a completely other thing and whether he can do that consistently remains to be seen but he deserves all the plaudits he's getting for the performance last night.

I actually think it's him drifting/cutting in that gives Ivanovic all the space he gets. But it doesn't actually do Willian any favours because he's moving into a further packed area. Again, I think for us to see him at his best he needs to be played in the middle with a proper winger stretching play on the right.

He has been good this year though, he was average from September to December, I have no idea why Schurrle got such little game time. But since 2015 Willian has put in decent performances as well as quality ones, can't really fault him. 

 

Put some faith into Cuadrado, lets see how he turns out next season, maybe he can show something before the season finishes give us some more hope. But if he is an ideal rotation option then I don't think we will have any troubling issues on the right side. 

 

I still think we will regret not playing Schurrle when we did though, maybe he might of left anyway but we had a match winner in that one, I'm just hoping Cuadrado does turn out to be that winger with end product that we need. 

I really think this attacking four could flourish next season.

Costa

Hazard - Willian - Cuadrado

Cuadrado is the RW we need from what I've seen previously. Direct when he needs to be, makes the runs inside. Very pacey and tracks back. Willian has looked very dangerous through the middle especially on counter attacks.