Been looking at a few posts about Willian and it seems most of us are split about the start of his Chelsea career, I think he's personally done decent and love his work rate! Needs more of an end product though, what's your opinion on our 30m pound signing?

Like Willian alot and was one that was happy when we bought him.Love his work rate and his pace,agreed that he need to work on his final ball but he has still put in some nice passes and cross in the last few games.Mourinho seems to really like him aswell and has started our 2 biggest games recently Liverpool and Arsenal.

My favourite player after Hazard

Works so hard off the ball, reminds of Robben in the way he chases down opponents when we don't have the ball. Also seems like a humble bloke too and not an arsehole. His creative side needs work but is growing and getting better with every game. Fast becoming a fan favourite

Good work rate, seems like he never stops running but you don't pay £30m just for work rate. I'm sure there's some youngsters in our U21's who would run till their feet bleed if they were getting paid the same amount in wages. I don't think work rate alone should warrant a place in the team but given the state of our current strikers I can see why Jose values him so highly.

 

He needs to be more confident with the ball, he's got the ability to beat players like Hazard but he just doesn't do it. It's quite frustrating at times. His final ball needs serious work, out of all the attacking mids he's the most chances to play that final pass but he's fails to do so the majority of the time. It will, hopefully,  improve once he gets more used to the league and the players but for now it's not good enough.

Excellent work rate and good on the ball, if he can add some end product to that he'll be a great player for us.

Superb. Never stops running, works his absolute socks off from start to finish. He's got plenty of improving to do, but he's looking better and better as the season progresses. Could be absolutely pivotal for us over the next few seasons.

As others have said I love his work rate and desire but I think his direct competition for a place in the team is schurrle and from what I've seen so far I'd have schurrle over willian. Both have similiar levels of work rate but schurrle is the more likely to beat players and get into scoring positions. Don't know why he has suddenly fallen out of favour with jose to be honest.

Edited December 30, 201312 yr by Bluehatter

Loved the signing just to stick it to Tottenham. Didn't really want him when we went after him a few years ago but he is certainly making his mark with his work rate and he's growing on me for sure.

It could just be me, but Schurrle seems a lot more one dimensional. He works hard, but when he gets the ball there's usually a 75% chance he's going to try and run really fast at the nearest defender and either break or just lose the ball. When it works it's ace, but when it repeatedly doesn't it just gets a bit tiresome.

i thought first half against liverpool he looked totally out of his depth working hard but every pass misplaced. second half a lot better. generally i agree with bluehatter that i think schurrle has shown more so far although i think both have been a bit underwhelming given the money. I'm prepared to give both time to settle, seen enough players over the years who have taken a season or two to shine (think wise, lampard, drogba) and willian definetely has attributes, needs to become more than a workhorse for $30m though.

It could just be me, but Schurrle seems a lot more one dimensional. He works hard, but when he gets the ball there's usually a 75% chance he's going to try and run really fast at the nearest defender and either break or just lose the ball. When it works it's ace, but when it repeatedly doesn't it just gets a bit tiresome.

I think that's what makes him better. Willian picks up the ball and his first thought is to pass. Schurrle picks it up and his first thought is to go at the defender and beat him. Thats what you want from your wide players

Still in the undecided camp. It's great that he runs around a lot and can keep possesion well but that's no good if these traits don't come to anything and more often than not with Willian it doesn't. As I've said before my cats run around a lot and they have almost the same number of assists as he does.

That said he had a good game yesterday and it's still his first season in a new country. An upgrade over Moses no doubt, but I'm still not convinced we really needed him.

Excellent team player who will become a permanent fixture in the side imo.

For me he's done really well and I think he's always a better option that someone like Schurrle because of his workrate. He's better for the team, had he not been on the pitch yesterday I'm not sure we'd have won, he was everywhere yesterday. He may need to work on his end product but you need players that work like he does.

Good work rate, seems like he never stops running but you don't pay £30m just for work rate. I'm sure there's some youngsters in our U21's who would run till their feet bleed if they were getting paid the same amount in wages. I don't think work rate alone should warrant a place in the team but given the state of our current strikers I can see why Jose values him so highly.

 

He needs to be more confident with the ball, he's got the ability to beat players like Hazard but he just doesn't do it. It's quite frustrating at times. His final ball needs serious work, out of all the attacking mids he's the most chances to play that final pass but he's fails to do so the majority of the time. It will, hopefully,  improve once he gets more used to the league and the players but for now it's not good enough.

 

My thoughts exactly.

But doesn't Willian deserve time? Its only his first season in the PL.

A decent player who is clearly getting better and is probably worth a starting spot right now BUT OMG what are we doing spending £30m on a player whose final ball is so consistently poor. For that money he should be the real deal in every dept. Can you really coach a player of that experience to improve such basics of the game like passing? Should you have to?

Anyway head and shoulders above Andre ( David Hopkin) Schurrle.

Masiv fan, agreed with many that so far his final ball has lacked confidence, he needs to be more single minded in that area of the pitch . But that aside he is such a silky player, rarely looses the ball in the middle of the pitch, is very hard to tackle, lightening fast, great touch and the amount of tackles he out in yesterday, technically gifted for sure.

As Jose would say right now his numbers don't add up. I would say that if you looked at a lot of his highlights he used to like to beat his man and hit a low cross in to the box.. He also started that way with us but with no one hitting the front post it kind of looked rubbish.

If Jose can get him focused and improve that final ball we have a very special player who is worth far more then 30 mil

His first touch and awareness of those around him is top drawer.

 

Work rate wise he is a Jose type player and along with Hazard and Oscar will become one of his new

untouchables for certain next season.

 

Barak sums his current game up perfectly, I would add that when we played Shaktar last season he was

head and shoulders above anyone on the pitch.

 

With the best manager in the league to improve his game, I'd go as far as saying, along with Hazard

we will have players in the world's top ten.

He's a brilliant player however ..

 

His career stats are very poor in terms of goals and assists, and you can see why.

 

This season he has one goal and one assist, which came in the CL, I think, and that's poor.

 

That side of his game really needs to improve for him to be considered top-drawer.

 

Right now we're relying on Hazard and Oscar to score and assist.

 

It's about time he started chipping in too.

He is involved in a lot of the goals though, he's almost an 'assist assister'  If that makes sense 

 

Still early days, I like his work rate, there's still a good bit more to see from him I think.

Really like him but again, his end product is very poor and for £30mil that's not good enough. That being said I'm glad we bought him, yesterday was a prime example of what's good about him, his first touch, his runs and work rate are fantastic. Hopefully as time goes on Jose can improve the holes in his game and if he can Willian will be one of the best wingers in the world.

i wasnt sure about him when he first came, but now that he is settling in a bit i can see why we bought him. his talent is starting to shine through, but he still needs more time to gain confidence and fully acclimatise to the prem. if he continues on the upward curve he has been on since signing, then i think by this time next year we will be seeing a very good player indeed

To add to the points already made, it's the way he combines with hazard and Oscar that makes him an increasingly influential player...perhaps schurrle, though I think he has also shown promise, doesn't have this? However, I believe mata has the best understanding with hazard than anyone in the team