Willian has been arguably Arsenal’s worse signing of the season after he joined the Gunners for free in the summer.
The Brazilian has played in the Premier League since 2013 and he won two Premier League titles with Chelsea.
He was still playing well for the Blues last season, and they were keen to keep hold of him for two more years.
Arsenal offered him a lengthier contract, and he joined them, but the transfer now looks like a mistake.
The Brazilian is now making excuses for his poor form by claiming that he is coming into a different system and has had to change his game.
He said that after spending seven years at Chelsea, he has had to adapt to Arsenal’s style of play.
Adding that he knows he hasn’t been doing as well as he should do, and he will do better.
Commenting on why he has flattered to deceive, Willian told Arsenal’s official matchday programme via Sun Sports:
“Well it’s never easy changing club, especially after being somewhere for so long.
“I was at Chelsea for seven years before coming to Arsenal and then you have a new club, new people, a new philosophy.
“Things are different so I’m still adapting but I feel good, I have been learning a lot – a new footballing philosophy.
“Everyone is great here. I know I can improve a lot, and of course my performances on the pitch can be a lot better.”
Mikel Arteta was keen to have Willian’s experience around his dressing room, but the inexperienced players have been the ones helping Arsenal the most in this campaign.
The man’s stealing a living! Willian needs to be moved on plain and simple along with Pepe.. they just aren’t good enough!
Willian was good at Chelsea but seems to find it difficult to adopt to Arsenal style of play or probably he’s not getting enough assistant from the coaches.
Guess he’s got 3 years to adapt anyway………!
Willian’s always be a crap footballer. At Chelsea,he had a one good game every 4 or 5 games. So no surprises there really.
What upsets me though is Mikel finding excuses for this old man. He shouldn’t be at our club in the first place.
“I know I can improve a lot”!?
Seriously, couldn’t get any worse!!
He should just avoid interviews for a while, until he decides to show up. Didn’t expect him to start banging in goals and racking up assists from the start, but there are things he can do.
For example, be a solid defender, actually make runs without the ball rather than being so static, put in a tackle or two. There is effort and intensity that should not take this long to adapt.
If he showed half the effort and intensity of the younger players ousting him at the moment, perhaps a degree of patience and understanding.
But I fear we will be stuck with a part-time very expensive player who isn’t putting in the effort of his younger teammates.
Well, he isn’t the only one still adapting 😳
Sorry to disagree MARTIN but Willian is not” arguably our worst signing of the season”. He is UNARGUABLY the worst!
I was totally against his signing for a number of reasons, but his performances for Arsenal have been woeful for someone who used to be a top class winger.I’m afraid age tends to impact more on forwards than defenders but the extent of his decline has really surprised and disappointed me.If Saka is obliged to deputise for Tierney against Newcastle, I suspect Willian will start as Pepe was anything but impressive in his cameo against Palace for whom their young winger(not Saha) looks a real prospect.
Agreed – “adapting to the system” does not explain an unwillingness to take people on, tackle or break out of a trot. He is always 5 yards away from the action and seems to like it that way. So much so that he even makes Pepe look enthusiastic. I could perform at his level, and I’m in my 60’s, a lot cheaper and am only demanding a one-year contract (and a new Zimmer). Another fiendish Chelsea plot succeeds…
GUY, what you seem to be strongly saying , with which I much agree ,is that laziness is unforgivable. Willian barely breaks out of a trot and “adapting to the system” is a lame and untruthful non – acceptable excuse.
LAZINESS, in ANY player, no matter whom, is always unacceptable. I called Ozil out for laziness the year he first arrived and was proven right, though sadly I take no pleasure in being right.
I wish to warn the many fantasists on here who see only style and not laziness in their hero players to start seeing what SHPOULD BE clear to all. We have several idle players this season; Willian, Pepe and Auba are the worst. I have been a massive fan of Auba till this season but that does not prevent me saying the clear truth; that he is lazy.
I am not a rich as Ozil but I am OK. Funny thing is I let my brain do the thinking and not my feet.
In the past decade Arsenal has loved them some free transfers, unfortunately there isn’t a single success story to be had when you take a closer look at the facts…don’t get me wrong, if we managed to get WIllian on free, then paid him a reasonable wage befitting someone who was going to be primarily a later game sub, like at Chelsea, then I’m probably not so bent out of shape about the move…instead we paid him like a focal point, everyday starter, that was in the prime of his career, which is absolutely ludicrous on the part of an organization that pretends to be in transitional mode and who has likewise already invested heavily in the same position Willian plays(if you remember though there was some talk about him playing more centrally, maybe to quell the obvious questions about him being an inappropriate luxury buy, but we haven’t heard boo about that since)
Since the time we got Sol from Tots, some 20 years ago, we have totally shit the bed when it comes to free transfers…if you don’t believe me just look at the facts…here are some of our most notable incoming free transfers: Cedric, Willian, Kols, Lich, Sanogo, Flamini 2.0 & Chamakh…what about this list inspires confidence in our ability to assess the value of free transfers; not to mention, most of these individuals were vastly overpaid, considering their respective contributions, and none provided anything for our coffers going out
As for our outgoing free transfers, they represent everything that has been wrong with this club since our move to the Emirates, both from the perspective of those who milked our payroll and never came good and those we allowed to leave without banking a single penny…Miki, Ramsey, Welbeck, Wiltshire, Cazorla, Ryo, Diaby, Fabianski, Sagna, Santos, Arshavin, Gallas & Sol…keeping in mind that besides the obvious flops, the other became starters on teams playing first division European football for at least a season following their free departures…this is reprehensible for a “professional” footballing organization