2 hours ago, Ivanov87 said:

Nice to see him finally adding goals and assists to his game. It's all I wanted.

Assists?

29 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Of course they would swap KDB for Willian, it would be mad not too. KDB is a top player. Just because someone has some off games he is suddenly useless.

I have seen many times KDB consistently do it over a number of games. 

Hazard had an awful whole season last year, would we all think he is suddenly s***?

I don't believe DeBruyne has proven himself to be top class at all. On his day he is capable but he is woefully inconsistent and for long periods is anonymous. I think Mourinhos' decision to off-load him was completely understandable at the time and nothing KDB has done since then has made me think otherwise.

Last season, when all around him were invisible, Willian carried us through on many occasions. That is the mark of a special player IMO.

10 minutes ago, just said:

I don't believe DeBruyne has proven himself to be top class at all. On his day he is capable but he is woefully inconsistent and for long periods is anonymous. I think Mourinhos' decision to off-load him was completely understandable at the time and nothing KDB has done since then has made me think otherwise.

Last season, when all around him were invisible, Willian carried us through on many occasions. That is the mark of a special player IMO.

KDB was excellent in Germany, was really good in the 2nd half of last season and started this season well. Yes has gone of the boil abit lately but so has the whole of City. I haven't heard many people not rate KDB and I doubt you will find many who rate Willian better than KDB not including a Chelsea forum.

Willian didn't carry Chelsea at all, scored a few free kicks but didn't carry the team. He was nowhere to be seen in the second half of the season and carried Chelsea to the heavy heights of mid table lol.

Carry a team is like Drogba, Costa or Hazard. Win games on your own on the biggest stages. 

1 hour ago, just said:

Have always liked Willian and think he is vastly underrated by many on here. In contrast, as an example, I think Kevin De Bruyne is hugely overrated and only has one decent game in ten, and yesterday against Liverpool he was an irrelevance again. Apparently De Bruyne hasn't scored a goal in the EPL since September.

Yet, I bet many Chelsea fans would swap Willian for De Bruyne.

That's mad.

Totally agreed  Willian does a lot of donkey work too which some football fans don't think is important.

Honestly people were raving about KDB against Arsenal for that worldie pass but before that every cross he'd put into the box was utter sh*te. Think he's well overrated.

26 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

KDB was excellent in Germany, was really good in the 2nd half of last season and started this season well. Yes has gone of the boil abit lately but so has the whole of City. I haven't heard many people not rate KDB and I doubt you will find many who rate Willian better than KDB not including a Chelsea forum.

Willian didn't carry Chelsea at all, scored a few free kicks but didn't carry the team. He was nowhere to be seen in the second half of the season and carried Chelsea to the heavy heights of mid table lol.

Carry a team is like Drogba, Costa or Hazard. Win games on your own on the biggest stages. 

Ernie, your post has re-enforced my point.

Surely you would expect a truly "top class" player to step up, to come the fore, when a team is off the boil, particularly over a prolonged period such as City are going through. DeBruyne has failed to do that and yet again was a peripheral figure yesterday in a big game.

Willian was the polar opposite for us last season. He led by example. Without him things would have been much worse than they were.

 

 

37 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

KDB was excellent in Germany, was really good in the 2nd half of last season and started this season well. Yes has gone of the boil abit lately but so has the whole of City. I haven't heard many people not rate KDB and I doubt you will find many who rate Willian better than KDB not including a Chelsea forum.

Willian didn't carry Chelsea at all, scored a few free kicks but didn't carry the team. He was nowhere to be seen in the second half of the season and carried Chelsea to the heavy heights of mid table lol.

Carry a team is like Drogba, Costa or Hazard. Win games on your own on the biggest stages. 

No. 11 players make a team. Not one. No other player put in any where near the work rate and performances, Willian put in last season. Hence, why there was no other realistic challenger for our POTY. Now when players contribute with Willian, we find ourselves top but let's face it, all our players last season apart from Willian were just awful, from goalkeeper to strikers. That is why we finished so low.

3 minutes ago, just said:

Ernie, your post has re-enforced my point.

Surely you would expect a truly "top class" player to step up, to come the fore, when a team is off the boil, particularly over a prolonged period such as City are going through. DeBruyne has failed to do that and yet again was a peripheral figure yesterday in a big game.

Willian was the polar opposite for us last season. He led by example. Without him things would have been much worse than they were.

 

 

Much worse than they were? I doubt it. Chelsea picked up after Hiddink come in to finish mid table which was the end of December I think. Willian was poor in the second half of the season so I'm not sure what he had to do it.

It was actually players like Costa that upped there game.

So we might as well say Aguero, KDB, Silva are not top draw players because City played poor yesterday.

Like I said does that make Costa and Hazard s*** because of last year?

I have never seen Willian put a run of 10 games together where he plays well. He lacks creativity, killer pass or crossing. Yes goals here or there will gloss over it. It's his all round play which is so frustrating.

Lets see if he steps up next week in a massive game, tbh it's a game made for him because Chelsea will be counter attacking a lot.

Willian is a good squad player but no way a special player. Just a knee jerk reaction.

3 minutes ago, STATS said:

No. 11 players make a team. Not one. No other player put in any where near the work rate and performances, Willian put in last season. Hence, why there was no other realistic challenger for our POTY. Now when players contribute with Willian, we find ourselves top but let's face it, all our players last season apart from Willian were just awful, from goalkeeper to strikers. That is why we finished so low.

He did play poor in the second half of the season, that's nothing to do with 11 players or 1. That's the thing you know a player isn't special when the main words people can find for him are work rate and pace.

I would run if I was back in my 20s for 100k a week.

IMO the main thing Willian brings us is tempo. We generally play a quicker game with him in the side. He is a busy player. Good ball winner with great touch who always wants the ball and invariably makes himself an option for teamates in possession. His weakness has been his finishing but while he will never be a natural in that department, he has improved.

It's a fallacy to say he was poor for half the season last year when it blatantly isn't true. He won Players Player and Fans Player of the awards and deservedly so.

49 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

He did play poor in the second half of the season, that's nothing to do with 11 players or 1. That's the thing you know a player isn't special when the main words people can find for him are work rate and pace.

I would run if I was back in my 20s for 100k a week.

Do you watch us at all or you just oblivious to obvious things in football? He was so poor yet he got into double figures last season. So he obviously can score, he can dribble, he has brilliant balance. Thanks god you are not the manager. Willian might not be the world class but is he a quality player, many teams would love to have? Yes. You make him sound as he is another version of United's Park Ji-Sung.

 

 

6 minutes ago, STATS said:

Do you watch us at all or you just oblivious to obvious things in football? He was so poor yet he got into double figures last season. So he obviously can score, he can dribble, he has brilliant balance. Thanks god you are not the manager. Willian might not be the world class but is he a quality player, many teams would love to have? Yes. You make him sound as he is another version of United's Park Ji-Sung.

 

 

Been watching Chelsea for over 20 years thanks.

Willian can dribble when running from one box to the other which is when Chelsea are counter attacking teams. No way when a team have 11 men behind the ball. Park use to run a lot and score some goals ;).

Every player has weaknesses and Willian's is creativity. Really he should be a natural winger who runs at defenders and puts crosses in. 

13 minutes ago, Ernie_blue said:

Been watching Chelsea for over 20 years thanks.

Willian can dribble when running from one box to the other which is when Chelsea are counter attacking teams. No way when a team have 11 men behind the ball. Park use to run a lot and score some goals ;).

Every player has weaknesses and Willian's is creativity. Really he should be a natural winger who runs at defenders and puts crosses in. 

He can lack in his final third but I would not take much players over him. He can be frustrating but he has so much qualities as well and I still think is getting better. He got into double figures last season and should do again this season, something he struggled to do before. Obviously everyone has an opinion and is entitled to one, but I really struggle to understand the lack of appreciation to Willian sometimes.

8 minutes ago, STATS said:

He can lack in his final third but I would not take much players over him. He can be frustrating but he has so much qualities as well and I still think is getting better. He got into double figures last season and should do again this season, something he struggled to do before. Obviously everyone has an opinion and is entitled to one, but I really struggle to understand the lack of appreciation to Willian sometimes.

Tbf his finishes yesterday was really good. The second one was a really nice finish.

I will always give credit due to any player, even ones I don't particular rate like Mikel ;). Like I say it's just the frustrations happen too much like the first half.

Maybe he has upped his game but I just find it hard to change my mind after a few games. He needs to get his assist numbers really and do it consistently.

Hopefully he can get have a good one against Spurs, Rose won't be an easy opponent.

5 hours ago, just said:

Have always liked Willian and think he is vastly underrated by many on here. In contrast, as an example, I think Kevin De Bruyne is hugely overrated and only has one decent game in ten, and yesterday against Liverpool he was an irrelevance again. Apparently De Bruyne hasn't scored a goal in the EPL since September.

Yet, I bet many Chelsea fans would swap Willian for De Bruyne.

That's mad.

I can't comment on what many Chelsea fans would do and wouldn't do, but I am a firm believer in meritocracy when it comes to our team. If someone comes in, De Bruyne, Messi, whoever, they would have to earn their place. 

Having said that, I am glad Willian has found his role and adapted to the demands of the Premier League. I felt like in the beginning of his Chelsea career he wanted to show off too much skill on the ball and take defenders on, and maybe, you know, do a Hazard. It worked for him in Ukraine but he struggled a bit in the Premier League. He has the skill, but lacks a bit of that explosiveness that Eden has. Luckily, Willian found other ways to take advantage of his massive talent. Now he's become more direct, he shoots more, makes more passes and tries to unlock defences with long range passes - and he is pretty damn good at it, too.

On top of that, he seems like a humble, hard-working guy which is always very appreciated in the Chelsea community. 

All in all, we got ourselves someone Tottenham would be demanding >60m for right now. Maybe it is a bit hard to notice because he has Hazard and Costa around him.

Edited January 1, 20179 yr by PythonLu

Willy always has great work rate. And is very good at bursting on the counter attack. 

 

The only critisim i have is he doesn't score enough goals ok he got 2 against stoke. But overall, he seems to lack in that area

 

Given the choice right now, I would take Willian over KDB for sure.

Willian has moments where he can be extremely infuriating and frustrating, however he exudes personal class and a certain humbleness, whereas KDB has an arrogance and conceit in his face that you just wouldn't get sick of slapping out of him.

He lacks creativity or the famous term is 'football brain'.  I'm not sure if that's something that can be improved, sometimes it's a matter of you just have it or you don't. The ability to pick a pass. the ability to link up play, i think willian comes up short in that area but he's not without positives, he has pace, intensity and work rate.. Those 3 attributes are valuable assets, we just have to find a place for someone like that in the team..

It's all opinion where he should be playing, some say he should be playing deeper role but in my case, at the moment a left wingback role could actually work well for the team.. He's right footed so defending in that side would be easier, just like azpi when deployed as left back.. With his pace, he would be hard to beat and also with that pace, he could actually drawing attention from the opposition when going forward, leaving more space in the centre area for his teammates to exploit.. His work rate should cover going up and down that left hand side of the area in balanced manner..

The ability to cut inside and shoot with his right foot is also a plus point in theory but I wouldn't count on it judging from his shooting accuracy... Anyway, the point is to take advantage of his main assets and make do with his lack of creativity, a wingback role wouldn't require much creativity..

 

Just to throw something into the discussion, we don't know how long his mum was ill for before she died. These players are human and personal issues can affect form.

from telegraph
antonio Conte has warned Diego Costa that “money is not everything”, after Chelsea’s Willian emerged as the latest target for the cash-rich Chinese Super League. Oscar has already departed Stamford Bridge this month, joining Shanghai SIPG for an eye-watering £52million where he earns £400,000 a week, and his former team-mate Willian is also understood to be on the radar.

 

if this is true, and since we have a more than capable backup at the wing position in musonda and kenedy, at least £50million and i'll take it

Why are they only after our bloody players?

26 minutes ago, Zeta said:

Why are they only after our bloody players?

Because we've a good support in Asian markets because of our sponsorship with Samsung and Yokohomo. Probably Chinese clubs going for players for marketing reasons as much as footballing ones. 

and south americans are probably more likely to go to china than european ones. if they offer oscar money or more for willian, gotta say i think the club could be tempted, and maybe willian would be too. though he only signed a new contract a few months ago. he does seem a little more loyal, but who knows, money talks. 

Would need to replace him. No point just now, evaluate it in the summer.

http://www.espnfc.com/club/chelsea/363/blog/post/3070098/kante-and-matic-dominance-highlights-roles-of-bit-part-fabregaswillian

Article talks about Pedro overtaking Willian, Willian possibly unhappy, blah blah

 

Reason I post is that, while watching the match last weekend, as Willian came on I found myself thinking "man has he fallen off, doesn't even look like he likes playing football anymore", then this ESPN bit shows up today.  I think his mother's death has taken quite a toll on him, feel bad for the guy, but I think it's time we ship him off while we can still pinch a good penny--although it may be nice to have him in the squad for CL next season.

Willian better than KDB??? WOW.

Willians performances last season are hugely overrated. A few free kicks doesn't mean he carried us through games. He was the best of a bad bunch and still not as reliable as Dave imo. Don't get me wrong I like Willian alot but KDB is a superstar player.

Every top 6 team has a couple of x factor players and with City who are arguably the top 2 of that 6 KDB is one of their gems. City are very lucky to have him.