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What a difference a few months can make.
The opening weekend of the Premier League season saw Arsenal sail to a 3-0 win at Fulham, their new signing Willian quickly enchanted by fans with one hand on all three goals.
Gunners loyalists were hugely optimistic about the new season and hiring seasoned free agent Willian seemed like it could have been a canny deal, despite reservations about his £ 220,000 weekly salary.
Three months later, the former Chelsea player is being listed as one of the worst signings in the club’s history.
And it’s hard to argue with such claims.
Willian has always been present at an Arsenal that has had its worst start to the season in 46 years.
The Brazilian, brought on to add dynamism and creativity to Arsenal’s attack, has provided an assist and no goals in 15 games in all competitions since that day at Craven Cottage.
Mikel Arteta’s ‘revolution’ has collapsed, the north London club currently ranked 15th in the Premier League with Saturday’s defeat at Everton extending its winless streak in the top flight to seven matches.
And Willian deserves much of the blame.
With Mesut Ozil sent off, the onus has fallen on the 32-year-old to be a driving force for Arsenal going forward. It has failed miserably.
Arteta’s side have managed just 12 goals in 14 league games and that’s largely because their ability to create clear chances has been almost non-existent.
Willian has created four in his 12 top flight appearances. Even more alarming, he has only managed one target shot in that time.
In terms of numbers, all of his key stats are way down from his last season with Chelsea where he really enjoyed a strong Project Restart.
He’s averaging just 0.88 key passes per game, down from 1.16, and 0.63 shots, down from 1.67.
The troubling numbers don’t end there, with the Brazilian international dropping a rate of just 1.5 dribbles per game, a drastic decrease from the 4.3 per 90 minutes he was driving last season.
The reaction to Saturday’s 2-1 loss at Everton told a familiar story, with Arsenal fans flocking to social media to criticize Willian’s display.
He had been another devoid of any spark or flair, or any justification for his seemingly guaranteed place in the starting lineup.
Such an established Premier League player shouldn’t need time to adjust, and at his age, you should feel like Father Time has caught up with him.
Speaking after Saturday’s game, club legend Tony Adams said Willian’s signing was a “weak draft.”
“You have to really question the hiring process at Arsenal right now,” he continued. You wouldn’t have even considered Willian if Arsene Wenger was still in control of the club.
“ For him, a striker over 30 years old, physiologically he does not believe that he can get that player to consistently perform at the levels that Arsène wants him to achieve, it would not even have been on the agenda.
‘This is a simple agent recommendation, it has the same agent as the sports director [Edu] so it’s an easy option for him, three-year contract, here we go. I think it’s really poor recruitment.
‘One shot in 12 games. I’m like, ‘wait on putting [Joe] Willock out there ‘, we got [Gabriel] Martinelli back there. You have other options. ‘
Sportsmail columnist Chris Sutton was equally damning in his assessment, saying Willian “might as well be playing in slippers” at this point.
Maybe it’s time for you to get on and stay home.
Source: m.allfootballapp.com
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