Monthly Archives: August 2020
What Willian Brings to Arsenal Football Club
This morning, Arsenal announced the signing of former Chelsea attacker, Willian Borges da Silva, on the three-year deal for free of course. I shared my thoughts about Willian in a previous post but I will like to focus on the attributes the Brazilian sensation brings to Arsenal football club.
Little or No Adaptation Period
Those that saw the exploits of Nicolas Pepe last season can attest to the fact that adaptation is critical for any footballer joining a new club, as challenges such as learning the language, adapting to change in tactical management among others take center stage. Arsenal will face no such issues with with Willian as he spent seven years in London with the Gunners rivals, Chelsea, excelling admirably in the West London outfit. This means that Arsenal fans can expect Willian to hit the ground running from the get-go with the new campaign resuming in just 28 days.
Well Publicized Versatility
Every football manager hopes to have a player or two that can feature in several positions to allow him make tactical changes before and during matches. Arsenal is in luck as Willian is such a player that is adept in the left and right wings as well as the attacking central midfield position. The player himself declared that he is available to compete in any position with the sole aim of helping the team excel,
“I come to help in every position. I can play on the right, I can play in the middle, I can play on the left side as well. So I want to help – in any position where they put me to play, I will try to do my best.”
Excellent Injury Record
In a career that spanned for 14 years, Willian has made 618 appearances and scored 103 goals. In his seven years at Chelsea, the lowest amount of appearances Willian made was 41, and he made 34 league appearances in that campaign. If you check his injury history at transfermarkt, you will see that Willian was injured just three times in his entire career, so Arsenal will be assured that they have a player that will feature consistently for them in the coming seasons.
Dead Ball Specialist
Every team needs that player with a proven track record of set piece taking as it offers another perspective in a teams quest for goals. Last season, Arsenal scored a handful of free kicks with the most notable being Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s goal against Aston Villa and Pepe’s double salvo against Victoria Guimaraes. However, Willian is a seasoned dead ball professional and will certainly earn the trust of his teammates to take a dead ball when the chance arrives in a favorable position. He’s also adept in taking corner kicks and swinging in dead balls from deep lying positions which will be an important asset for Arsenal in the forthcoming season.
Trophy Winning Experience
Willian enjoyed a distinguished football career winning six league titles (four at Shakhtar Donetsk and two at Chelsea), seven domestic cups (five in Ukraine and two in England) as well as two Europa League titles with Shakhtar and Chelsea. On the international scene, has won the 2007 Youth Championships with Brazil U-20s and the 2019 Copa America, so its fair to say that he has won his fair share of trophies. This will help with his mentality, and he has stated his intentions to carry it into this stint with Arsenal.
Much Needed Creativity
Whether he is cutting in from the flanks or making his short bursts past his opponents, Arsenal can count on Willian to provide that much needed creativity lacking in the side in recent campaigns. Mesut Ozil is the player tasked with that responsibility but he has not been featuring on the side. Sky Sports did an analysis on Willian’s creative numbers last season and it was very impressive to say the least. He created 76 chances, completed 51 crosses, notched up seven assists and scored nine goals. The likes of Aubameyang, Eddie Nketiah and Alexandre Lacazette will lick their lips at the prospect of working with such a creative player in the club’s ranks.
Attacking Output
Willian’s entire career has seen him score 103 goals in 618 games. 63 of those goals appeared in Chelsea colors from 339 appearances. In his last five seasons with Chelsea, Willian scored 11, 8, 13, 12 and 11 goals respectively in all competitions, which are very decent numbers from an attacking midfielder. Arsenal will be expecting the same from him and we expect him to deliver.
Sayonara.
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Arsenal Stuck with Ozil, so Arteta Has to Make it Work
I remember the fanfare that arrived with Arsenal’s club-record signing of Mesut Ozil in September 2013. If I recall, we just defeated Tottenham with a deft Olivier Giroud finish which settled the contest and we had the international break to bask in the euphoria of the signing of the German superstar from Real Madrid, while some players on the Spanish outfit, notably Cristiano Ronaldo, expressed their displeasure with his departure. It took him just 11 minutes into his Arsenal debut to record his first assist for Giroud in the 3-1 win against Sunderland. After 26 games in his maiden campaign with the Gunners, Ozil notched up five goals and 10 assists. He crowned the campaign with the biggest prize in world football when Germany dominated the world stage in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
In the following seasons, Ozil continued his fine form with his best assist haul (19) coming in the 2015/16 season while his best scoring haul arrived the season after with Ozil scoring 12 goals for the club, which actually turned to be his personal best in terms of goal scoring in his entire career. Then 2018 happened. Ozil struggled with form and fitness and with grumpy Alexis Sanchez close to the exit door, Arsenal had a big decision to make on his future, which ended up making him the highest paid player in the club’s history. That fat salary came with its fair share of expectations, and Arsenal fans can attest to the fact that Ozil isn’t the same player that he was in his early days with the club. The injuries certainly increased and the form was shabby as well. Then there were the off the field activities that raised a few eyebrows.
The man that brought Ozil to our beloved club left after 22 years of service and we expected Unai Emery to make the best out of his situation. Sadly, it was pretty much the same as he was ostracized from the team with the Spanish gaffer having little or no faith in the German playmaker. Their exchange when he got substituted for Joe Willock in the 2019 Europa League final proved to be the last straw and it was evident that Ozil was only going downhill from there. The shitefest with Emery ended in November 2019 and the young and vibrant Mikel Arteta joined the club, offering everyone a clean slate. Ozil looked like he had found a new lease of life under the new manager, featuring consistently as the creative hub in his 4-2-3-1 setup, and even notched up three assists (Norwich, Brighton and West ham) as well as a goal in the win against Newcastle. His work rate and distance covered also increased under Arteta’s tutelage. These are not staggering numbers by any margin but Arsenal was struggling from the depths Emery plunged them into, so every player had to pull their weight for the new gaffer, since he offered them a blank check, forgiving their previous footballing transgressions.
The COVID-19 pandemic took center stage and football was brought to an abrupt halt with the most faithful of fans having little optimism that we would see the beautiful game again, but it resumed in June with much excitement, even though Arsenal’s defeats against Man City and Brighton dampened the spirits, one thing that stood out was that there was no Mesut Ozil in the match day squad. With the games coming thick and fast, and squads heavily depleted from a fitness standpoint, one would expect that every manager would want to utilize the entirety of his squad, let alone, its highest earner, but not Arsenal. Ozil remained in oblivion as fans wondered what was really going on – footballing reasons or chronic back pain, bottom line was that Ozil was unavailable for selection, and we continued to struggle to create chances.
It was only expected that the fans would be expecting the club to cash in on an out-of-favor player with a huge salary and at least some worth in today’s transfer market this summer. However, Ozil’s recent interview with the Athletic (£) has revealed a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes but the conclusion we have gotten from the German playmaker is that he’s going nowhere and is still determined to prove his doubters wrong and make his mark on the team.
He has come to the public to share his thoughts on his situation and it’s clear that Arsenal have been pushed to the same corner similar to that of Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck, but with Raul Sanllehi declaring that we will be faced in such a situation again, it is going to be a very dicey situation to say the least.
Let’s stick to the realities we are clearly aware of – Mesut Ozil is still contracted to Arsenal for one more season before he’s going to be available on a free transfer, and we are certain that the likes of Fenerbahce, Istanbul Basaksehir and co will be licking their lips at the prospect of having such a talented footballer in their ranks. However, the onus is on Mikel Arteta and the club to steer the ship in the right direction and make this upcoming campaign a sort of make-or-break type for Ozil, that’s if the executive decision is not to sell him despite his recent comments.
He’s still a very valuable player to the squad, capable of scoring a goal or two and most importantly, creating chances for his teammates. This is a player that has notched up 28 goals and 53 assists in 155 appearances for the club – and we know that he creates a whole lot of chances that don’t get converted so those assist numbers don’t do justice. Yes, we are clamoring for Philippe Coutinho and the magic he can bring to the side, but we still have a player in Ozil that is still capable of so much more – but he has to be given that chance to prove his worth.
Arsenal is stuck with Mesut Ozil, so Arteta has to make it work.
Sayonara.
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Willian-In or Willian-Out?
So its now public knowledge that Chelsea’s Brazilian maestro, Willian, is leaving the club after over 300 appearances in seven seasons with the Blues. He also managed to amass some silverware with the London-based outfit, winning two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and last season’s Europa League following their victory against yours truly in Baku.
At 32, you would expect that his last major contract would be in some retirement league, but all indications show that Willian is about to join Arsenal on a three-year deal, which is going to bring up some mixed emotions among the Arsenal faithful.
Many would look at the talent coming into the Chelsea team and see why there’s no more room for a talented individual like Willian in their side, but in all honesty, I believe that he will be a welcome addition to Arsenal and I will share my reasons. Firstly, Willian will give us some much needed depth and quality in attack as last season showed that we were heavily reliant on our dependable captain for the goods, and even though he always delivered, the supporting pack should have done better. Willian is the kind of guy that averages 10 – 15 goals per season from midfield, and that’s a big plus in my books. Another exciting reason for having Willian in our ranks is the fact that he can cut in from the left hand side of our attack, allowing Aubameyang to play through the middle. He’s also versatile enough to play on the right or in the attacking midfield slot. That’s the kind of versatility that modern day coaches dream about.
We also have to consider the fact that he’s an experienced individual that has seen it all, so it can only rub off on the younger wingers in the squad like Bukayo Saka, Reiss Nelson and Nicolas Pepe. Having a figurehead like Willian in the dressing room can only aid their development even further.
Then there’s the financial implication of the transfer – Willian will not cost the club any transfer fees if he joins the club. It will just be the issue of his salary that can certainly be sorted out with mininal fuss. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected lives and businesses adversely, with Arsenal even confirming that they are going to lay off 55 employees, getting a talented and experienced footballer for free serves as a good business decision.
Well, its all speculation till we get the official communication but I’m certainly a staunch member of the Willian-In brigade.
Sayonara
