Willian may have spent the last couple of months running around in an Arsenal shirt looking a bit lost but he’s not blaming Mikel Arteta.
In fact, the Brazil international says he’s been very impressed with the Spaniard’s coaching methods and thinks he has all the qualities needed to become one of the best managers in the world.
“He’ll be a top manager, I’ve no doubt about it,” Willian told the latest edition of FourFourTwo.
“The potential is there, as is the ambition. In a few years he’ll be considered one of the best managers in the Premier League – and the world.
“Obviously you must win trophies to be considered one of the best, and it will happen for him sooner rather than later.
“I’m impressed with the way he talks and explains his tactical thoughts – he’s quick to read the game and make adjustments when needed. It’s been fantastic to train under him so far and I’m learning a lot.”
Willian also explained how it was that Arsenal lured him away from Chelsea after years of rumours linking him with a move to Barcelona.
“There was a lot of talk about Barcelona for the past few seasons,” he said, “but I wouldn’t have gone there just because they’re Barca.
“I wouldn’t go to any club without hearing about their targets and what they wanted from me.
“It wouldn’t be nice to be there or anywhere else if you weren’t going to be a big part of the project and didn’t play much.
“Arsenal were the only club to show me a project that would fit with my ambitions, and they’re one of the biggest clubs in the world.”
Good to hear that Willian is feeling settled at Arsenal. We’re off to search for his form in the Fulham area.
He says all the right words. Now let’s see some evidence of it on the pitch.
It’s like when you know you’re about to be dumped so you get their name tattooed on your face to show you’re committed.
We’ve all been there. Right?
Right?
So you are the guy with the face that reads like a telephone directory?
No. I’m the guy with your mums name on my face.
I see “your mum” jokes are going the same way as Willian’s career…
Nope. It’s actually a sign of everlasting commitment. Feel the looooooveeeeeeeee. Or something. It’s really astounding how this guy (Willian, not you) makes the match-day squads, never mind the playing XI.
I also wonder about the timing of the statement. So far he’s been a waste. Arteta praised Willian and two weeks later Willian praised Arteta. A stint on the bench might wake him up – if he really cares. So far I’m not convinced
10 million quid to live in expensive part of London for 3 years. Doesn’t have to try too hard at work, because expectations are so low, due to the owner’s insouciance. Cushty.
Looks like he will be in the team for the rest of the year now.
How inwould love to have been the fly on the wall in that room where Arteta sat Willian down and broke down his big plans for him in this team. Because am really confused as to why we fucking signed this guy and put him on those wages..
Don Raul and his fucking black book of phone numbers. Then Edu is real good mates with some slimefuck agent who had/has the keys to The Emirates, Colney, his and Arteta’s front gates. He comes and goes at will. I bet not even Stan swans around the premises with such liberty.
Hence we’ve become top heavy in the Chelsea hand-me-down department.
Ultimately Arteta wanted Willian.
So did I. For a year at a time.
“Obviously you must win trophies to be considered one of the best, and it will happen for him sooner rather than later”.
He’s already won more than most recent Tottenham managers/coaches.
And in all honesty we have been on a downward spiral for the past few years now. Just imagine. Lmao 😂
Call me pessimist, but Maureen might be bubbling a nasty surprise this season.
Nah. They’ll still win fuck all, the empty cabinet cunts.
He’s too busy bullying his players to ever win anything again. Be that Spuds, Man U, Chelsea or anyone.
True, but comparing ourselves to the Spuds indicates how far expectations have reduced doesn’t it. I remember, albeit a long, long time ago (in another galaxy) when we could compare ourselves against all the other “big” clubs. Memories, eh.
https://twitter.com/clivebullen/status/1310252433143197698?s=19
I am absolutely surprised that so many fans are so unhappy with Arteta. He is not even one year into his job and has had to face extraordinary circumstances. Inspite of that he has already won us a fuckin FA cup and also clearly made us competitive. Even the greats like Guardiola and Klopp struggled in their first season. Why such negativity I dont understand at all..
It’s the fact that his words don’t translate to what we see on the pitch that ticks people off. The fans have also got non-negotiables. You don’t intern under Le Prof and Pep and then set up every week like that POS jose maurinho with negative football.
The fans are not one organism
I give you the fa cup win, which was amazing. We have also beaten couple of the big six on the way which is great. You could also argue that our defence is getting better if you ignore the Villa game. But at the end of the day he will be judged on his final leauge position after one season. With Emery we finished 5th in his first full season. I know Arteta was an ex player and we all like him, but he has to finish higher than Emery. We can’t aford finishing outside top 4 or top 6… Read more »
I am always surprised when conclusions of a clubs fan base are drawn based on impression of a narrow timeframe social media activity. It’s very far fetched to say fans are unhappy with arteta. We are right to be unhappy at what happened against villa, but only a week earlier arteta was lauded for tactical & team selection brilliance against manu. Be specific who you address, or do you agree that others doing the same rightfully includes you in that negative Arteta perspective?
There’s unhappy then there’s doubt. All this play Auba through the middle or try out Willock is evidence of doubt. Unhappy is something else. I love the boss and I trust his words personally but once in a while we drop a performance or the general struggle to create or inability to mount any successful counter attack (Sorry Xhaka that was some counter attack recently) and watch as the opposition regroup and deny us our lucky punch (That’s you Leno) makes me nervous. Obviously if we had buried Leicester city in that first half we could be feeling different. Unhappy?… Read more »
Can’t speak for other fans, but supporting Arteta doesn’t mean supporting his stance on every individual player. Willian’s permanent inclusion cannot be justified. When all the others are injured or something, I would accept Willian coming out of his paid retirement with an exasperated, resigned grimace and snarl. Till then, he has no business even gracing the substitute bench.
Arteta’s unwillingness to change things when everyone can see where the problem lies is frustrating, never mind which way you swing as far as supporting him is concerned.
You think this is unhappy, wait until you see the next moves:
Sadly, the prophecy actually came true, at least for the few minutes after Pepe’s red card:
Praise for Arteta, just when he is very poor form is a “dont drop me or people will say I’m a waste of money”.
Frankly it’s time to give Pepe and Nelson a run.
Good to know, but Willian would help Arteta considerably if he pulled his finger out where it matters, on the pitch.
I don’t see how Willian farting more will help…
Might make him a little more mobile. Or at least deter opposition defenders.
Hahahaha Hahahaha
Well, if you can’t dart your way, then fart your way…to score
You need to widen your retrospective m8
I wish I knew what this meant…
Arsenal were the only club dumb enough to give him a big 3 year contract. Otherwise he would’ve never left Chelsea.
To say no to willian would have been dumb. It has not turned out like it should have so far, but to call it dumb, is dumb.
So how come Chelsea didn’t renew his contract for 3 years. They knew him best and were ok to let him go free to a rival. I didn’t see man utd, man city, Liverpool, and sp*rs try to get him free. At his age if he was banging in goals and having a high assist rate I would say fair enough. But 3 years 200k+ is a joke.
Arsenal is now like Santa Claus.
Aye, he and his agent saw us coming.
His agent is the one who steered us towards him, has Edu’s ear.
Cause Chelsea spent billions on younger more promising players, abramorich is the Santa Claus, closely followed by who ever approved Ozils contract. Willian is a fairly decent compromise for a club that is outside CL, no Santa on steroids and still spent like we did., I am sure the club would happily allow unhappy fans to outbid Chelsea and get the hottest German in universe instead, go for it
I agree with you.
You talk the talk.
Now walk the walk, sunshine.
“Obviously you must win trophies to be considered one of the best, and it will happen for him sooner rather than later.”
Clearly blocked the 2-1 FA Cup Final defeat out of his mind!
Ah so THAT’S why he starts…
Suckup is always
Teachers pet.
But the
Class clown gets the stick although he is a true hero and man of the people
This has nothing to do with my own childhood.
That’s a sad way of thinking
That was one bitter post, you need an ice cream lad
Salted Caramel , thank you good sir.
He is a class player, and it looks like he tries to perform, maybe overworking situations and not finding his rhythm in that pursuit. With his experience he should be able to use this break to process that and get back on track. We have a bold &,shrewd manager, he knows finishing outside top 4 is not an option, and will look to balance the speed of change to ensure we remain in that race. Thankfully he has the confidence, determination and player as well as fan base trust to survive blips
Personally think the entire problem of Areenals attack is the blunt striker aka Laca. We’ve got systems and system players and when you call on the the fore guy , the ‘arrow head’ in the attack he’s blunt and unwilling as the flat edge of an anvil . No ball is played into the foot of the cf in this Arsenal team (when Eddie came on for last match he was pissed when he didn’t get the ball when alone in the final 3rd). So how you expect Willian to thrive considering he’s not prime Willian and not Hazard (who… Read more »
Bit of balance and perspective and positivity and it’s -4 down votes already. Says it all. The fan base will be (and has been) the downfall of the club.
Let’s see him live up to all the promise that made us give a 32 year old player a 3 year contract and I’m sure the positive comments will follow. Let’s see the Willian who made Chelsea a great team. For 200k a month for the next three years that’s what I want to see.
Bumbling around for the next two and a half years won’t cut it.
Sorry, 200k a week. And some!
Thx m8, The devil is in the details, very little in life is black or white, artetas capacity as manager is not degrading to zero and regrading to 100 by our result on the day, and willian is in his 1st few months with us. I don’t mind thumbs down, if it comes with a thoughtful comment. The fans I speak with back Arteta all the way
This guy has nothing to do in the team and he will surely not spit on the man who plays him all the time no matter how bad he is.
I think the problem that Arteta faces is that you are not given the time to build a successful team. Its all about money and champions league football. Arsenal HAVE to be in that competition and if Arteta cannot deliver that then I don’t seem him lasting. At the moment Arsenal do not look like challenging for top four and I don’t see him lasting…
I wonder if Willian will be so effusive about Arteta if he’s on the bench vs Leeds?
If at 32/33 this guy, Willian, is this pedestrian, I cringe at the thought of his still being an option in two seasons.
I’d love to be left in a caged ring with the clown who signed off on this deal.
This is lining up to be the worst deal since I started following Arsenal circa ’98 after Kanu signed.
I think Arteta would appreciate a bit of support on the field from Willian.
Boring. Usual self blow jobs. Do it on the pitch. Currently with his team in place , Arteta has us at 12th spot. Unai did not have all the pieces either but was not being toasted as the d. second coming that Arteta has been by usual suspect crowd …they play their favorites who can do no wrong but conveniently neglect home truths when say Xhaka and Mustafi are not on pitch and we still slip to 3 goals. Then they shift the proverbial goalpost and start to find blame in say Lacazette instead when Auba has been drawing blanks… Read more »
Meanwhile worth noting Olivier Giroud is now I believe 8 shy of Henry’s all time record for France, not bad for a striker many preferred to believe mediocre when at Arsenal.
He is in with a real shot at being France’s all time top scorer. Henry is on 51, Giroud with yesterday’s brace stands on 44. But hey, football “professors” online the world over have labeled him a donkey. Reality must be bending then.. Odd world.
Your analysis frankly is not any better that the anonymous folks you keep berating. Let’s just forget Giroud’s form at the second half of the 2015-16 where he went on a 15 game drought in the league. Let’s forget that Giroud finished France’s 2018 World Cup campaign without a single shot on target. Giroud was scoring 0.35 goals per game for Arsenal in the league. That was a mediocre return and not good enough for a Top 4 team at the time. All this is coming from someone who thinks Lacazette has been worse than Giroud for Arsenal. Half of… Read more »
we better not have guaranteed him playing time…
Never rated Willian, never liked him. I thought it was a ridiculous deal when it happened and it looks even worse now. I hope Willian proves me wrong but if it’s true he’s taking a trip to Dubai in a global pandemic instead of staying in his bubble then I’m not getting my hopes up. Clown off the pitch, a passenger on it. Fuck him and the other Chelsea has-been enjoying their retirement at Arsenal. The young players need to be trusted to start regularly, they won’t win us the league yet but they might in the future. The old… Read more »
underperforming player backs underperforming manager. Im shocked!
Don Raul was sacked but Edu gets away with Willian signing! this club is a joke