Willian

[RacingPhoton]

He's obviously going to start. This bullshit about not being motivated is weak sauce.
Willian could have left in China or Qatar like some of his compatriots throughout the years and get silly money but he still stayed in the toughest league.
He's a consistent performer that doesn't cause trouble and works hard on the pitch.
Who else do we have that's more experienced than him for Willian to be a make shift player? You're talking as if this squad is made out of galacticos or something.

He's coming here to be an integral part of the first eleven not a make-shift player. Cup and EL is reserved for the likes of Nelson, Martinelli and other youngsters.

Who is he going to replace in the first 11?
He is not a consistent performer. His performance was poor in 2018/19. About average in the year before that.
China and Qatar are not everyone's cup of tea. Just because a player doesn't go there, it doesn't mean he is motivated. It is clear that his family likes London and that's the reason why he wants to join Arsenal. Chelsea is the club where he has been playing all these years. There is a reason why they think that he is not worthy of a three years contract.

 

[KrissKringle]

Who is he going to replace in the first 11?

Let me ask you a better one. Who do you think is irreplaceable in the first 11 aside from the front 3?
I think he'd be best used behind the striker, either Laca or Auba, because that means the player doesn't have to drop and help/collect balls (in Laca's case) and can be more in the box or just outside to take a shot.

There is a reason why they think that he is not worthy of a three years contract.

Lampard kept saying that he wants to keep him. Why are you still going with this narrative?

 

[RacingPhoton]

You are speculating, we have to wait and see, at this point it looks to be good business. Also we paid £10m for Cech + his wages so you cant really compare the 2 signings.

Of course I am speculating. But it is based on what we are seeing around. Players do not pay for their badges anymore. Even trophies motivate them only to a certain extent. Their motivation has been mostly money. That is why clubs are having tough time dealing with players in their final contract.
Teams give long contracts to players in their final years who don't have anything to prove. They can turn up and give average performances. The problem is they have nothing to lose. Clubs have realised that and started focusing more on better scouting and developing academy players while we are here trying to steal players thrown out by other clubs.

We started Cech regularly purely based on his reputation while sending Martinez all around on loans. Cech never turned up for us completely. He negotiated with Chelsea before EL final when we were going to face them and ****ed off immediately. The only saving grace of this deal is that there won't be a huge transfer fee and the wages are also not big.
But if our idea is that he is going to lift our team in the next couple of years, we are most probably going to be disappointed.

 

[AberGooner]

Who is he going to replace in the first 11?
He is not a consistent performer. His performance was poor in 2018/19. About average in the year before that.
China and Qatar are not everyone's cup of tea. Just because a player doesn't go there, it doesn't mean he is motivated. It is clear that his family likes London and that's the reason why he wants to join Arsenal. Chelsea is the club where he has been playing all these years. There is a reason why they think that he is not worthy of a three years contract.

I'd agree, not sure he'll be a starter either. Despite most people's wishes I still think Auba will used off the left hand side and Pepe right.
Can see Willian being first off the bench the way Arteta has usually done with Willock, with Willian being able to slot into a number of positions.

 

[RacingPhoton]

Let me ask you a better one. Who do you think is irreplaceable in the first 11 aside from the front 3?
I think he'd be best used behind the striker, either Laca or Auba, because that means the player doesn't have to drop and help/collect balls (in Laca's case) and can be more in the box or just outside to take a shot.

Lampard kept saying that he wants to keep him. Why are you still going with this narrative?

I think any player is replaceable. But not by Willian playing on final contract. The position you say needs to be filled. But depending on Willian to do that will be a big mistake.
All managers tell that in public. No one would come out and say we are not interested in three year contract.

 

[Oxeki]

 

[KrissKringle]

I think any player is replaceable. But not by Willian playing on final contract. The position you say needs to be filled. But depending on Willian to do that will be a big mistake.
All managers tell that in public. No one would come out and say we are not interested in three year contract.

I respectfully disagree. We'll see which one is right in September if he does sign with us.

 

[14Henry]

Nah you didn’t make the point that his last season may have been an unnatural improvement in form only due to contract expiry.
Your points are **** as others have pointed out above.

Yes i did. Go back and read them where I said maybe he was over performing because he was trying to impress with his contract running out.

I basically made the same points as above so basically if my points are **** then so are his.

 

[RacingPhoton]

I'd agree, not sure he'll be a starter either. Despite most people's wishes I still think Auba will used off the left hand side and Pepe right.
Can see Willian being first off the bench the way Arteta has usually done with Willock, with Willian being able to slot into a number of positions.

That's an arrangement I would be happy to go with. Given that the wages are not high either, it will be an ideal set-up. I just don't want us to be over- reliant on him.

 

[Beksl]

Who is he going to replace in the first 11?
He is not a consistent performer. His performance was poor in 2018/19. About average in the year before that.
China and Qatar are not everyone's cup of tea. Just because a player doesn't go there, it doesn't mean he is motivated. It is clear that his family likes London and that's the reason why he wants to join Arsenal. Chelsea is the club where he has been playing all these years. There is a reason why they think that he is not worthy of a three years contract.

There's plenty of space for him in a 4-3-3, Arteta's prefered formation.

He wasn't poor or average, he was a key player for Chelsea.

 

[14Henry]

Nah you didn’t make the point that his last season may have been an unnatural improvement in form only due to contract expiry.
Your points are **** as others have pointed out above.

Go and read my debate with several others regarding the Willian transfer. Educate yourself before spouting rubbish.

The thread is 125 pages long. You think no one else has mentioned those things before. You probably didn't read the others.

 

[HollandGooner]

Willian and Coutinho is fantastic business not only 1 of them.

 

[Makavelii]

Yes i did. Go back and read them where I said maybe he was over performing because he was trying to impress with his contract running out.

I basically made the same points as above so basically if my points are **** then so are his.

Fair. I didn’t see that.

 

[Oxeki]

Merson endorsing this makes me skeptical

 

[tap-in]

Of course I am speculating. But it is based on what we are seeing around. Players do not pay for their badges anymore. Even trophies motivate them only to a certain extent. Their motivation has been mostly money. That is why clubs are having tough time dealing with players in their final contract.
Teams give long contracts to players in their final years who don't have anything to prove. They can turn up and give average performances. The problem is they have nothing to lose. Clubs have realised that and started focusing more on better scouting and developing academy players while we are here trying to steal players thrown out by other clubs.

We started Cech regularly purely based on his reputation while sending Martinez all around on loans. Cech never turned up for us completely. He negotiated with Chelsea before EL final when we were going to face them and ****ed off immediately. The only saving grace of this deal is that there won't be a huge transfer fee and the wages are also not big.
But if our idea is that he is going to lift our team in the next couple of years, we are most probably going to be disappointed.

I dont think Willian will be an amazing signing or lift us for the next 2 years but I do think he will have a role to play and will be good to have around younger players. I'm judging this signing on what it is, a cheap experienced attacking player on a free with a sensible salary. If this enables us to buy Partey, CB and secure Ceballos for another season then its money well spent. Only time will tell!

 

[blrgooner]

What I understand from most of the opinions here is that the order of signings is somehow very important. I think if we had signed Partey, a top class AM and a CB and then Willian, more people would accept the signing. Many people are saying that Willian won`t take us to the next level or that we shouldn`t "depend" on Willian.
The question which we should try to answer w.r.t to Willian signing is whether adding Willian to our squad strengthens the squad and I think the answer is quite clearly yes IMO. Its well known that Chelsea wanted to keep him. Chelsea don`t sign people over 30 on 2+ year deals. Even Lampard had multiple one year extensions IIRC. In our current state we can`t afford to be choosy about these things and when we get an opportunity to sign a player who would cost you very little over a period of time, I think we should take it.

 

[Hleb's Sirush]

There is a reason why they think that he is not worthy of a three years contract.

There is a simple explanation for this. Chelsea have a club policy that they don't offer more than 1 year contracts to 30+ players. If I'm correct they didn't even break that rule for Terry, Lampard Drogba etc. Incidentally they did break it for Luiz.

https://www.football.london/chelsea-fc/players/david-luiz-new-chelsea-contract-15606546

Whether he is good enough is up for debate (personally I think on a free it is a good deal for us). What isn't up for debate is that Chelsea would like to keep him. He is even on the shortlist for their player of the season award.

 

[MutableEarth]

Merson endorsing this makes me skeptical

To be fair, Merson's got it right more often than not recently when it comes to individual players - surprisingly enough.

 

[tap-in]

What I understand from most of the opinions here is that the order of signings is somehow very important. I think if we had signed Partey, a top class AM and a CB and then Willian, more people would accept the signing. Many people are saying that Willian won`t take us to the next level or that we shouldn`t "depend" on Willian.
The question which we should try to answer w.r.t to Willian signing is whether adding Willian to our squad strengthens the squad and I think the answer is quite clearly yes IMO. Its well known that Chelsea wanted to keep him. Chelsea don`t sign people over 30 on 2+ year deals. Even Lampard had multiple one year extensions IIRC. In our current state we can`t afford to be choosy about these things and when we get an opportunity to sign a player who would cost you very little over a period of time, I think we should take it.

Exactly, this is also the way I look at it, you have to think of the window not a single transfer. If we only sign Willian I'd be furious but he's just part of the window, a cheap effective option.

 

[Trilly]

There's plenty of space for him in a 4-3-3, Arteta's prefered formation.

He wasn't poor or average, he was a key player for Chelsea.

I would like to see him as the n8/10 in a 433. He’s got the fitness to have a free role when we’re on the ball but tuck into a midfield three off of it.

That would be exciting to see and would help with the creativity problems. If we play him on the wing then we still need a creator in midfield.