Willian at Man Utd?

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Funny old game, and all about opinions as they say!

I'm sure plenty of us underrate Willian, but I have to go with those who reckon he's a solid workhorse at the top level and not a great deal more.

To negatively compare Martial is outrageous and seems to be based on his classic "difficult second season". If you actually manage to compare to last season, he was like a one man attack at times and as basically a kid showed how much ability he already has and a much higher window than Willian.

The days playing for Brazil meant you were some sort of world class player have long long gone. That average little clogger over at Liverpool has played many a time for them!

The Ashley Young comments are also particularly odd. The guy is 31/32 and clearly now is a squad player. In his attacking heyday, his stats were miles better than Willians, and for a much worse team
 
Willian is a very good 2-way player (with a very rounded skill set for an AM) that is good enough to start at any top club. He is not a core player (i.e. the ones you build the team around) but he is the kind that help complete the team by given you consistency on most days and having the occasional great game. Even when Chelsea was bad last season, he was still a bright spot.

As an example, his early freekick goal against spurs, followed by the penalty basically set the tone and kept Spurs on the backfoot for most of the game. For someone that is not a regular starter, that was a very timely performance.

I wont mind having him at the right price.
 
Sigma said:
I was using the same methods I am now last season, but for Valencia. I was basically the only one saying that he was quality and everyone was disagreeing with me. If you don't believe me, go look at the first page on Valencia's performance thread. Back then, it wasn't cool to say he was one of the best right backs in the league/world. I was right, and I'm right again now.
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If you were saying that Valencia was one of the best right backs in the league last season then you were wrong.
 
I think Willian is a great player, but he'd cost a lot and at his age I don't think it's the best investment. I'd rather we went for Douglas Costa.
 
I dont rate him tbh. I think he's a natural RB..
The fact he was a starter in the nt in the past is not an argument at all.
Brazilian coaches have their agenda and a player with such experience tend to be named to the nt.

But i think there are A LOT of Brazilian wingers that are ahead of him imo.
In Brazil i can see at least 4 young wingers/midifielders better than him: Gustavo Scarpa, Luan, Dudu and Richarlison are superior players.

Malcom(Bordeaux) is better than him.
I would call Anderson Talisca over him any day. Talisca is not winger but Brazil play with 4-1-4-1 and William is a midfielder in the nt like Coutinho.
I would pick Felipe Anderson over him too FOR SURE..Felipe Anderson was not playing well after his father got jailed in 2016, but apparently he's better now.

Willian would be a great squad player, but he's too expensive.
Malcom from Bordeaux plays the same role, is 20 years old, is better, half the price tag and would be a better option as squad player/possible future starter.
 
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Not a big fans of him. He's a good dribbler and got good technique and got pace which are normal for Brazilian. But that's about it + work rate. There are many players out there who have the same of these three attributes but fail to play for us because of poor mentality attributes. I think we can do better because I don't think he will be an upgrade of both Mata and Mkhytaryan. Him being lack in his end product makes him not exactly one of the solution that we need so I don't know why we are targeting this guy when we already have Mata and Mkhy??
 
Akash said:
Tell me why it's ridiculous. Young has been past it for a while but he was very good for Villa and a very productive player who made team of the year. Willians high points so far have been banging a few free kicks for half a season in Chelseas worst season ever.

Lingard will be our Willian. Two reasonably talented players who will often play more than people want them to because they work hard and managers like them tactically.
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Ok so Willian is not as good as Young and on a par with Lingard - I can't work out if this is serious or not, bloody ridiculous if serious.
 
Orc said:
Coutinho, Mata, and Mkhitaryan I would consider #10's rather than wingers. They aren't players who are as effective out wide. Their primary role as creators are very different to Willian's.

Forgot about Sané. Blows hot and cold as expected since he's a teenager.

Martial has missed out completely on your 18 multiple times this season, hasn't he? In a team that can't score goals that says a lot. Not on Willian's level.

Sterling is a headless chicken with zero end product. Not on Willian's level.

Our shit season last year must have made people forget how great Willian was last season. Scored in double digits this season still despite limited minutes.

Mourinho would love him there and he'd start ahead of Martial.
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Martial not on Willian's level :lol: In 50 apps he has almost as many goals (-2) and assists (-3) as Willian has in 125. No way he'd start ahead of Martial in normal form.

Also funny of you to criticize Sterling for having no end product when he has 30 goals and 23 assists in 155 games - far better than Willian. And both Sterling and Martial are still very young and yet to enter their prime as opposed to Willian.

I'll give him one thing though, he was one of very few Chelsea players who looked like he gave a shit last season. That's probably why Mourinho is interested (if he is).
 
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Willian is a good player but it'll be hard to get Chelsea to sell him to us; especially harder since Mourinho has taken over at United. Willian is not much of an upgrade on Mhikitaryan if that's the type of player we are trying to get. I'm not a Lingard fan but we already have a benchwarmer and I don't think Willian is a starter. I would get Dembele instead. Although, I wouldn't be hating on anyone if Willian did come to United. The accuracy at which he takes set pieces is what I would be looking forward to if he did join us.
 
M Bison said:
Ok so Willian is not as good as Young and on a par with Lingard - I can't work out if this is serious or not, bloody ridiculous if serious.
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I think he is talking about Young's level when he was at Villa.
 
Well you guys can have him. He's a decent player but not world class.
 
Would have taken him instead of Lingard. Rather have a world class RM with mikhitarian in CAM.
 
He's better than Pedro and Moses but doesn't fit the system they play.
 
beckbeck said:
He's better than Pedro and Moses but doesn't fit the system they play.
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He isn't better than Pedro. Pedro's football brain is miles ahead. Willian lacks a lot when it comes to the mentality of the game. His intelligence in the final third is extremely frustrating. Sure, he's technically very astute but he doesn't use his skill effectively because he hasn't got a great football brain.

He hasn't ever in his career reached double digits in goals or assists. For a player that's so far up the pitch, it's a very bad return. He's a good player but never world class. I would easily swap Martial, Mata or Mkhitaryan for him to be honest with you.
 
The Skipper said:
He isn't better than Pedro. Pedro's football brain is miles ahead. Willian lacks a lot when it comes to the mentality of the game. His intelligence in the final third is extremely frustrating. Sure, he's technically very astute but he doesn't use his skill effectively because he hasn't got a great football brain.
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Sounds a lot like Nani.
 
Very good, player. Excellent at beating his man and has a very good set-piece. We are crowded in that position but wouldn't mind him at United.
 
Some people are really living in cuckoo land. Moaning about squad rotation, lack of depth etc., etc. yet turning their noses up at the likes of Rodriguez, Willian etc., who in whatever universe you live in would improve our squad. Thankfully Mourinho knows what he's doing. If he signs any of Griezmann, Rodriguez, Willian, I'd be very happy. M'bappe would also be nice but probably unattainable this year.
 
Would be a good signing for squad purposes, but he wouldn't improve the Top XI outright. He'd replace Young on the roster or even take Lingard's slot in the pecking order, but I wonder if he'd start half our games, unless there was a ton of outgoings/injuries. Jose probably loves him, since he was one of the few who actually performed to his abilities last season, and he's always had a good workrate.

The comparison to Martial is a bit ridiculous. Yeah, Martial probably is the better, more valued player, but Willian gives what Jose likes, while Martial seems to be lacking on tracking back. Now, maybe Martial is being misused and shouldn't be used on the left wing, but Willian fits exactly what Jose needs for his ideal team. Whether he is worth to Jose what Chelsea will be asking for is the crux of the matter. I wouldn't mind him being the last of 5-6 signings, tbh. If you told me he was #4 of 4, I don't think I'd be happy, unless you told me Jose was truly incorporating TFM, Axel, Pereira, et al into the rotation.
 
Willian-Miki combo would be very good IMO. The reason Miki scored 25 goals for Shakhtar was largely due to Willian.
 
On a random note him and Owen Hargreaves are the two best free kick takers who you would not expect to be great free kick takers if that makes any sort of sense.
 
Keeps It tidy said:
On a random note him and Owen Hargreaves are the two best free kick takers who you would not expect to be great free kick takers if that makes any sort of sense.
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Most Brazilian's hit a good free kick, i get what you mean about Hargreaves though
 
Sometimes you buy a player to fit a manager. Zlatan is World class but would never fit in a Pep or Klopp team. Willian is a perfect Mourinho player.
 
He's a hard working skillful player who is also good at set pieces, something we suck at. For a reasonable fee I'd happily take him. At worst he's a good squad option, at best he improves our first team. It'd be a very solid signing.
 
I rate him, but don't think he's what we need really.

Willian is basically ideal as the second choice winger for a top club. He's about the best quality player you can get to be back-up, without them kicking up a fuss and wanting to leave. Lingard is currently fulfilling that role for us, and doing reasonably well, I think.

We have other priorities than marginally improving our back-up players.
 
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I understand he works very hard. One of the reasons he was preferred over Mata by Mourinho. Can he actually defend? If so, he'd actually make a good wing back.
 
Very hardworking lad. It's like he has two hearts pumping blood at extra rates around his system.

Good at set pieces. Quick pace. Fine team player.

But I disagree about his dribbling skills. He's not that much of a dribbler. Study him carefully and you'll see that he has only one dribbling technique. He'll pretend he wants to go left but will go right and attempt to beat his opponent with pace. Same style, all the time. Very easy to read.

At best, he's a good squad player. He will fit in perfectly into Mourinho's idea of having a team of 'warriors'.
 
AndyJ1985 said:
He's a hard working skillful player who is also good at set pieces, something we suck at. For a reasonable fee I'd happily take him. At worst he's a good squad option, at best he improves our first team. It'd be a very solid signing.
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We've bought good set piece takers before and they've turned to shite as soon as they get here. I think we just have to accept we're cursed.
 
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