MOL Vidi V Chelsea (EL) Thurs 13th Dec 17:55 UK

[CFCholland]

I'll take your word for it, I don't see enough of PSV to have a firm opinion on him. I only really see him in European competitions.

I see him quite a bit but wouldn't want him at Chelsea. Don't think he has the quality (yet, doubt he ever will tbh) and he's a dirty player. Loves to dive and always overreacts to try and get opposition players booked.

He's work a lot better in a counter attacking team.

[Gol15]

2 minutes ago, CFCholland said:

I see him quite a bit but wouldn't want him at Chelsea. Don't think he has the quality (yet, doubt he ever will tbh) and he's a dirty player. Loves to dive and always overreacts to try and get opposition players booked.

He's work a lot better in a counter attacking team.

He gets fouled a lot, but I don't think he's diving he's like Hazard if you kick him he will go down he won't try to fake it out.

[Hazzy_B]

I thought we lost 8-0 and someone died from listening to the media and reading some reports

 

then i saw the score.

lord above

[carrickblue]

I'd like us to draw Celtic. It'd be good to wipe the floor with Brendan again. 

[Giordano_Bruno]

I couldn't watch the game but got a glimpse on the highlights and one dream scenario poped out in my mind about forward position:

1) Giroud first option

2) Hazard second

3) Morata third

4) Bring Batschuayi in January and make him 3rd

5) Sell Morata to Barcelona and ruin their run in CL

 

[evissy]

I hope we utilize this second string of players in this tournament. It would benefit us much more than to go all out. In the latter stages of the EL we will face some though teams (if we make there that is). I know Sarri won't do that as he is probably very eager to win the trophy. 

[yorkleyblue]

 

13 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Sorry that I don't see this brilliant player that you see. ?If a winger can't find a single team mate from a cross, or play passes forward to team mates that get them in on goal, then he isn't having a very good game.

I've never said he's a brilliant player, I've always said that some people in here try too hard to pick up on any little mistake that he makes and blow that up into some sort of HUGE cock-up,and you are usually one of them.  

AND, apart from winning the free-kick and then scoring from it for our first goal, Willian, according to you, "isn't having a very good game"!

Some people doing player ratings above have him on 7/10, and just a very quick look at some player rating sites show the following

"The 30-year-old ran the show and was the difference maker for his side until his 55th-minute substitution. 7"

"He scored a quality free-kick, after he earned the set-piece, and constantly beat his marker to get to the byline. He often lacked numbers in the box to find. 7"

"Stunning free-kick set Chelsea on their way to a 100 per cent group record - and generally looked lively. One of the few senior members of the starting XI, Willian led the way in attack for the Blues. 7.5"

"Willian – 8
First shot on target and it was a Willian free-kick that cureled in to give the Blues the lead on the night – these are the kind of situations the Brazilian thrives in."

So, it would appear that most of the viewing public, both amateur fans like us, or professional reporters employed by football web-sites and newspapers disagree with your dislike of Willian's performances.

It's sad Scott, because a lot of the time you post some sensible stuff, but this Willian obsession you have is making you look a bit silly at times, and have you teetering in the edge of being regarded in the same light as the prat who thinks Dave has a poor work ethic and bad personality - and that would be a shame.

[coco]

14 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

Sorry that I don't see this brilliant player that you see.

Would you be happy to see him go to Man u ? Thats my litmus test, i would not be, they can have Morata or Bakayoko.

[EmeraldBlue]

Those touting Emerson as better than Alonso should now see why he is 2nd choice. In practically all the EL matches he has gone missing on defence.

[dkw]

6 minutes ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Those touting Emerson as better than Alonso should now see why he is 2nd choice. In practically all the EL matches he has gone missing on defence.

I thought he was terrible last night, his "pass" in to Giroud where he lifted it to knee height was so bad. If he had just knocked it along the floor Giroud has a tap in, instead he had to jump and try and twist round to score.

[Blueblur]

Emerson has showed little to nothing to suggest he should be first choice over Alonso.

Definitely part of our second-string along with the likes of Zappacosta and to my chagrin, Christensen. 

[coco]

3 minutes ago, Blueblur said:

Emerson has showed little to nothing to suggest he should be first choice over Alonso.

Definitely part of our second-string along with the likes of Zappacosta and to my chagrin, Christensen. 

I find it difficult to judge players who we only get to see now and again, what makes it hard is that they are usually brought into the team with most of the first team absent, so they are basically in the reserves, playing with reserves. We don't get to see what they are like in the first team amongst the best players.

[DaRick]

1 hour ago, EmeraldBlue said:

Those touting Emerson as better than Alonso should now see why he is 2nd choice. In practically all the EL matches he has gone missing on defence.

Alonso was in fairly shocking form in the lead up to the Man City game though so I could see why people were wanting Emerson to be given a proper run. 

[Skinnedy]

5 hours ago, coco said:

would you be happy to see him??? go? to M?a?n ?u ??

For anything over £30M. Yes. 

For anything under £30M. No

if he takes minutes away from Marital - Yes (I said the same thing about Sanchez)

I’d honestly like to see Willian in one of the midlfield roles. We’re pretty well stocked there, but I think he’d be More effective slotting next to Jorginho than higher up the pitch.

He played a more central role at times for Brazil in the World Cup, and I thought he looked good there. 

[Remy10]

1 hour ago, Skinnedy said:

I’d honestly like to see Willian in one of the midlfield roles. We’re pretty well stocked there, but I think he’d be More effective slotting next to Jorginho than higher up the pitch.

He played a more central role at times for Brazil in the World Cup, and I thought he looked good there. 

Interesting idea. His strength does seem to lie in wriggling free in tight spaces and driving forward with the ball at pace, which is something Kovacic etc are capable of, but Willian has that extra burst of speed and trickery. He's also capable of putting a shift in. However, he does tend to disappoint with his end product more than most though, so I'm not sure it'd really help with that. Overall I like Willian though, and certainly wouldn't want to sell him to a direct rival.

In terms of Emerson, I always find myself wanting him to play, then being disappointed with his performance when he does. He completely got caught in no mans land for their second goal last night, and had no idea there was anyone behind him. Other than being quicker, I'm not sure he offers anything more defensively, and going forward Alonso tends to look more of a threat. 

[Scott Harris]

9 hours ago, yorkleyblue said:

 

It's sad Scott, because a lot of the time you post some sensible stuff, but this Willian obsession you have is making you look a bit silly at times, and have you teetering in the edge of being regarded in the same light as the prat who thinks Dave has a poor work ethic and bad personality - and that would be a shame.

It's not an obsession, it's a few comments now and again. I say what I see during the game, and what I see is Willian consistently performing below what we need from him. Maybe you see it as an obsession because you are looking for it, but when it comes to talking about players, criticising them and praising them, I talk about Willian just as much as I do Azpilicueta, Alonso, Kovacic, Morata, Barkley and many others. Just check out the threads of each of these players and you will see.

If anything, I criticise other players in their threads more than I do Willian, or at the very least just as much. Check the Willian thread and you will see for yourself. The last time I said anything about him was at the start of the month, then I hadn't made a single post in the thread since September, so I hardly see how you can say I'm obsessed.

I think you're reading too much into this, I don't scapegoat any player, I will never blame one player for the performance of the team as a whole, but I will say when I think that player isn't playing well, and I don't think Willian is playing well. Out of our regular players, he's in the bottom 3 when it comes to performances from my point of view. And with him having more minutes on the field than any other player this season, it's natural that people will pick up on it and mention it in match day threads more often than they would with others players.

He hasn't had a run of consistent good performances since that period last season where he looked like a world beater. Overall, Willian has been poor for sometime now. In Conte's first season, Pedro was favoured over him and Willian only looked good playing as an impact sub. Last season, he was awful for the first 3 months of the season, it was the worst I had ever seen from him in his time with us, up until December where he turned it around and ended up playing the best football of his career, but it faded in March, and since then, it hasn't picked up again.

This is my honest assessment of Willian from my point of view. You can see it as being obsessed and scapegoating all you like, but it won't change things.

[Scott Harris]

9 hours ago, coco said:

Would you be happy to see him go to Man u ? Thats my litmus test, i would not be, they can have Morata or Bakayoko.

No, I am never comfortable with selling our players to rivals.