Willian is once again linked to moves away and contract extensions. The next Chelsea manager will need to draw the best version of the Brazilian out.
Jose Mourinho’s 4-2-3-1 during his second Chelsea stint was incredibly lopsided on offense which led to it also being lopsided on defense. Cesar Azpilicueta would remain deep as Branislav Ivanovic would bomb up the right. Nemanja Matic would shield the now back three as Cesc Fabregas pushed up to offer himself for the ball. Diego Costa would sit on the defender’s shoulder as Eden Hazard took up a free role. And to help cover for the right side advancing would be Willian.
Willian arrived at Chelsea during a period where buying every promising number 10 was en vogue. Mourinho had to find a way to balance the formation with so many 10s, so he used Oscar and Willian because both were willing to come back and assist the midfield. Both could play as a 10 but had great characteristics for an 8 as well. Oscar ended up centrally and Willian ended up wide where he remains to this day.
Mourinho was the last manager to utilize Willian’s skill set like this. Antonio Conte preferred Pedro because the formation allowed for two inside forwards. Maurizio Sarri needed someone who could be more of a winger to balance out Hazard and Willian was not nearly as suited to that as his Spanish counterpart. The next manager (who is surely Frank Lampard), will need to play to Willian’s strengths once again.
Willian is often criticized for his lack of goals or assists (despite his chance creation being quite high). And part of that is because he is viewed as an attacking player in the same vein as Hazard which he is not. Mourinho understood this when he used Willian more as a center mid with Ivanovic overlapping. Willian started “wide” because that is where there was a spot for him.
Whoever the next Chelsea manager is will need to take similar notes. Pedro will still have a role as a winger or inside forward, but time will catch up to him because of his style of play. Willian’s style is more suited to aging and one of the two will need to be relied on until Callum Hudson-Odoi’s return.
Lampard’s tactics at Derby County had the wingers tuck in a great deal to overload the center. That would benefit Willian but unless Chelsea is looking towards benching Azpilicueta, which they will not for years yet, the fullback will be an issue.
One solution that could play to the Brazilian’s strengths would be to put him on the left with Emerson or Marcos Alonso overlapping. That would be similar to the setup Mourinho used to squeeze the best out of Willian but simply mirrored.
Like it or not, Willian is going to stay at Chelsea next season and likely longer. He is not nearly as bad as many believe him to be but he has had to be compared to Hazard and he has been played less than ideally for three seasons now. If Lampard can come in and set up the shape to help bring the best out of Willian again, Chelsea fans will be happy to have the Brazilian starting until Hudson-Odoi is ready to go again.