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Will.I.An

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rurikbird said:
You can just ask me 🙂 Douglas has similar goal-scoring numbers to Willian (a bit better in the league, but worse in the CL), but far less assists. I agree with you that he is a bit more direct in some ways.



The thing is, Willian has both. Maybe the compilations are a bit misleading, they seem to focus on his dribbling and showboating and don't show his numerous assists. I wish someone made a compilation of only his assists. He has excellent vision and guile, that's what sets him apart from the showboaters - and more often than not, he makes good decisions with the ball. Just because he is fast and a good dribbler people think he is not smart - actually it's the opposite, he is smart, good at combination play and always on a lookout for his team-mates runs. For instance A LOT of Mkhitaryan's goals came from Willian's direct or secondary assists. He is a real #10, not someone who runs into blind alleys and loses the ball.

If you want to hear some criticism from me to make sure I'm not biased, I can tell you that he had a tendency to drop his intensity level at times, especially in games against weak opponents. There has been less of that in his last season or two as he has matured more, but in the beginning he could be too passive, only showing flashes of brilliance rather than going for the kill every time he has a ball. Like most Brazilians, he doesn't enjoy playing on bad pitches and on frozen ground or snow (which is pretty much 50% of games in Ukrainian league). I don't think he is lazy at all, but I would say character-wise he is closer to Ronaldinho or Kaka than to someone like Suarez, for instance.
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I remember you mentioned Willian a while back before this link materialised.

You watched him a lot?
At Shakhtar only or at Anzhi too?

Does he have good close control esp in / around the box - and is he accurate with his passes / finish?
 
keniget said:
In other words, he's Coutinho with more pace.
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And much more hair 🙂 Um… no, I would say Coutinho is a bit more of a playmaker type, a player who enjoys pulling the strings and looks for the killer pass first. Willian is more of a Ronaldinho or Hazard type: a player who loves to dribble and draw opponents to himself, then looks for an incisive pass into the space vacated by the defenders who rush to help out. In other words, he is a player who creates space for his teammates by drawing opponents to himself.
 
Hyena said:
I remember you mentioned Willian a while back before this link materialised.

You watched him a lot?
At Shakhtar only or at Anzhi too?

Does he have good close control esp in / around the box - and is he accurate with his passes / finish?
Click to expand...

Shakhtar is my hometown team and in the last few seasons I watched most of their important games (i.e. domestic games against strong opponents and all games in Europe). I didn't recall seeing any Anzhi games at all, except the ones against us.

If you watch any of the Youtube videos, you can already see he has an excellent touch and control even at high speed. I wish there were some videos that focused more on his passing - it's quite precise and logical.

As for finishing, he has a sweet right-foot shot, can curl the ball and has good technique on the volley - as you would expect of a highly technical player. He likes to beat opponents with sudden bursts of acceleration from standing position, and he likes to stop the ball completely and wait for the opponents to try to attack him - from there he can either you his opponent's momentum to dribble past him by suddenly changing direction (Suarez does this a lot too) or pick out his teammate's run into the open space. Because of this tendency (or role) to draw opponents, he doesn't get into scoring positions as much as his teammates, so that's probably the biggest reason he hasn't been scoring more.
 
Really want him. What a statement we'd be making if we have him and Siqueira in the stands during the season opener against Stoke.
 
Whenever I've seen him in Champions League he has looked a decisive player for Shakhtar. Could be a great coup.

Are we interested?
 
Would be an amazing marquee signing, and it's a real possibility considering we have the funds, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
 
rurikbird said:
Shakhtar is my hometown team and in the last few seasons I watched most of their important games (i.e. domestic games against strong opponents and all games in Europe). I didn't recall seeing any Anzhi games at all, except the ones against us.

If you watch any of the Youtube videos, you can already see he has an excellent touch and control even at high speed. I wish there were some videos that focused more on his passing - it's quite precise and logical.

As for finishing, he has a sweet right-foot shot, can curl the ball and has good technique on the volley - as you would expect of a highly technical player. He likes to beat opponents with sudden bursts of acceleration from standing position, and he likes to stop the ball completely and wait for the opponents to try to attack him - from there he can either you his opponent's momentum to dribble past him by suddenly changing direction (Suarez does this a lot too) or pick out his teammate's run into the open space. Because of this tendency (or role) to draw opponents, he doesn't get into scoring positions as much as his teammates, so that's probably the biggest reason he hasn't been scoring more.
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so how does he compare to our original no.1 target Mkhitaryan ? Ok he doesn't score anywhere near the goals but considering our issues and requirements which do you think would have suited us better ?
 
RedZeppelin III said:
so how does he compare to our original no.1 target Mkhitaryan ? Ok he doesn't score anywhere near the goals but considering our issues and requirements which do you think would have suited us better ?
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From what RB says it sounds like Mkhitaryan is precisely that guy who runs into the space vacated by Willian, receives the ball and slots it in.

What I'm wondering is - do we have a guy that makes these runs? sounds like a role for a Meireles-type
 
The transfer of Shakhtar Donetsk attacking midfielder Willian to Anzhi Makhachkala has become the third most expensive in the history of Russian football.
According to Sport-Express newspaper, Anzhi have parted with €35 million to lure Willian away from the Ukrainian champions.
The Brazilian has signed a four-year deal with the side from Russia’s republic of Dagestan with a salary of €2.5 million per season.
Shakhtar’s coach, Mircea Lucescu, informed the press that English giants Chelsea were also interested in Willian’s services, but he “chose money” by opting for Anzhi.
The 24-year-old arrived in Donetsk in 2007 from Brazilian side, Corinthians, scoring 20 goals in 140 games for the Miners since then.
The player, who has two caps for the Brazilian national team, has contributed to Shakhatr winning four Ukrainian champion’s titles and the UEFA Cup 2008-09.
Willian is expected to arrive at Anzhi’s training camp in Marbella, Spain on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the two the most expensive players in Russia compete for Zenit Saint Petersburg, who paid €100mln for Porto’s Hulk and Axel Witsel of Benfica last autumn
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Wages wouldnt be an issue. Thats about 45k a week.
 
RedZeppelin III said:
so how does he compare to our original no.1 target Mkhitaryan ? Ok he doesn't score anywhere near the goals but considering our issues and requirements which do you think would have suited us better ?
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Well, I'm not really sure if we had a straight choice between Mkhitaryan and Willian, who would be Rodgers #1 choice (remember that until a few days ago, Willian was not available to buy for anyone). Personally, I would take both 🙂 They complemented each other really well in Shakhtar, one was creating chaos and distorting the opponent's defensive shape, the other making clever and unexpected runs into the resulting spaces and finishing with aplomb. If we buy Willian, we will need other players to make those kind of runs. Someone like Borini, for instance, could greatly benefit from playing alongside Willian, because that would put the emphasis on his strong points (running into space and finishing) while someone else can create the space and opportunities for him.

OK lads, it's way past my bedtime. Hope to hear some good news when I wake up.
 
Hyena said:
From what RB says it sounds like Mkhitaryan is precisely that guy who runs into the space vacated by Willian, receives the ball and slots it in.

What I'm wondering is - do we have a guy that makes these runs? sounds like a role for a Meireles-type
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Allen or Henderson are the likely contenders, the midfielder on the apex of a midfield three. I like to think we'd have more versatility with Coutinho or Sterling on the end of his assist as well, with them swapping roles and Willian receiving the ball when Coutinho or Sterling assists.
 
Time for a song and dance said:
Allen or Henderson are the likely contenders, the midfielder on the apex of a midfield three. I like to think we'd have more versatility with Coutinho or Sterling on the end of his assist as well, with them swapping roles and Willian receiving the ball when Coutinho or Sterling assists.
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I seeee yoooouuu.
 
Would a loan option be out of consideration, with the option to buy? leaving money enough for a striker and defender (regardless of Suarez's status).
 
FoxForceFive said:
Wow. Fuck it, give it all to this lad. He's from Brazil & can do step overs. The rest doesn't matter.
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Balance sheet
+28.4m sales profit (Carroll, Spearing, Downing and Shelvey)
-22.6m expenditure (Iago and Alberto and Simon)
=
-5.8m NET GAIN.

+22,000,000 Per annum wages removed (Carroll, Suso, Spearing, Wilson, Carragher, Downing, Reina, Shelvey, Gulacsi)
-7,280,000 Per anum wages added (Iago, Mignolet, Kolo and Alberto)
=
+14,720,000 PER ANNUM saved.
Click to expand...
 
Three attacking midfielders/wingers, all from South America, it's the stuff dreams are made of.
 
Herr Onceared said:
Balance sheet
+28.4m sales profit (Carroll, Spearing, Downing and Shelvey)
-22.6m expenditure (Iago and Alberto and Simon)
=
-5.8m NET GAIN.

+22,000,000 Per annum wages removed (Carroll, Suso, Spearing, Wilson, Carragher, Downing, Reina, Shelvey, Gulacsi)
-7,280,000 Per anum wages added (Iago, Mignolet, Kolo and Alberto)
=
+14,720,000 PER ANNUM saved.
Click to expand...

Splash £10million of that on Willian, Sakho/Papa and Sequirerereaarea, and everyone's a winner.
 
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