Gilberto Silva has claimed that Arsenal forward Willian ‘sent a message’ with his performance against Leicester, and claims ‘he’s ready to help the club.”
There was a number of players who deserved special mentions for their individual performances against the Foxes, where we overcame an early setback to come away as comfortable 3-1 winners.
Willian was the name picked out by BT’s commentary team for the Man of the Match award, mentioning that he had been criticised for previous performances as part of the reasoning for him being chosen, and the fans have praised him for the role that he played in our victory.
Former Invincible Gilberto Silva believes it could well be ‘very important’ for the summer signing, especially as he has shown his doubters what they’ve been missing.
Silva told his Invisible Wall podcast: “Willian had a good game, it was very important for him because I believe there has been a lot of pressure on him since he’s come to Arsenal. There’s been some criticism on his performances and it’s important for him to feel that he’s able to help the team and that he’s capable,” Silva said.
“The good thing is that I do believe that people in this squad do not really care about what people say outside, because they understand each other, they know each other on the training ground and they understand how hard everybody works in order to get results to help the club.
“Particularly for Willian this is something very important and he’s had a good performance and sent a message for people telling them he didn’t forget how to play football, and just to show that he’s capable, he’s got quality and he’s ready to help the club.”
If the former Chelsea man is able to string a run of performances together he could well play an important role in the side, although he has some strong competition for places with Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe also in contention for similar roles.
Could Willian play a significant role in our remaining fixtures?
Patrick