Chelsea winger Willian did not have the best of games against Leicester yesterday. The Brazilian came on for Christian Pulisic after 71 minutes but his display was strewn with poor crosses and errant passes.
The 31-year-old, who was given the number 10 shirt following the departure of Eden Hazard, was heavily criticised by fans on Twitter following his cameo in the 1-1 draw:
Terribly disappointing performance.
— SOUGHT OUT (@OLAYINKA_OP) 18 August 2019
I thought his new magical number 10 was going to inspire him somehow ?♂️
— Charles (@9jamind) 18 August 2019
Was just going through the motions …. badly
— Andy Rogers (@AndyRog2330) 18 August 2019
Willian arguably did more for Leicester than Chelsea when he came on
— Declan Leylon (@DeclanLeylon) 18 August 2019
Really poor given he just got handed the 10 shirt too.
— ✭bendrick lamar✭ (@cleftchineddie) 18 August 2019
He was a joke! Didn’t look interested. We were down to 10 men as soon as he came on the pitch
— Ben Fallows (@BenFallows23) 18 August 2019
he didn't do anything right
— MaxK ? (@ItzMaxK) 18 August 2019
There were some supporters who defended Willian, though:
He just came out from injury. Let him be
— Zindiwet (@zindiwet) 18 August 2019
Little to no pre-season.
— Phil Slattery (@philipslattery) 18 August 2019
Willian is not even 70% yet. Cut him some slack.
— Ugochukwu Ugwu (@Ugoougwu) 18 August 2019
It is important to emphasize the mitigating circumstances here. The Brazilian international did not play any minutes in pre-season due to a hamstring injury, and he hasn’t played a match since the semi-final of the Copa America back in July.
Even so, manager Frank Lampard would have expected a lot more from an experienced player in the closing stages. He trusted him to make the difference and the winger failed to make an impact.
In any case, there will be a lot of competition for that left-wing slot with Callum Hudson-Odoi set to compete with Pulisic when the teenager returns to fitness.
