With Chelsea trying to stay above the tightly-contested top five in the English Premier League, manager Antonio Conte will likely be busy in the next few weeks to make changes when the January transfer window opens. With the backline and midfield roles fully stocked (though still in process of reshuffling) and the attack options more-or-less filled, some players have been made redundant – most notably, Willian Borges da Silva.
More famously known as just "Willian," the Brazilian winger has been with Chelsea since 2013. Having spent roughly six miraculous years at the Ukrainian giant, Shakhtar Donetsk, Willian made his career decision to bring his talents to West London where he had been instrumental in Chelsea's League success. His technical abilities, off-the-ball movements, spatial awareness, and excellence in dead-ball situations had made him one of the most popular Chelsea players of recent memory. In only his second season, the team was crowned league champions for the fifth time.
But by the middle of the 2015-16 season, the team (and Willian) faced three major changes in quick succession: 1. the sacking of José Mourinho - the manager who brought Willian into the team, 2. the appointment of current manager Antonio Conte - who prescribed completely different formations, and 3. the signing of Pedro.
Above: Mourinho as Chelsea's manager in 2014.
At the time, Mourinho liked to play 4-2-3-1 formation where the Hazard-Costa-Willian trio would form a three-pronged attack which proved deadly on the counterattack, especially from dead-ball situations (e.g. corner kicks and free-kicks). After winning the league in 2015, however, many other Premier League teams began to adopt the formation as well as Chelsea's tactics to balance out their respective offense and defense.
As Mourinho's tactics waned in efficacy due to the efforts of the EPL's copycat tacticians, he figured that a fresh set of players and increasing squad depth would create new strategic possibilities. Among those he signed was Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma ("Pedro" for short), who was one of the leading right-wingers in European football at the time.
Now possessing two excellent right-wingers in his arsenal, Mourinho experimented with squad roles and ultimately opted to rotate the two between starter and substitute roles, and soon, Willian was relegated to the bench for League games, starting only for cup ties. Many members of sports press speculated that in the following transfer window Willian would be loaned out like Cuadrado, but even though playing only small minutes off-the-bench, Willian played so well that he was voted Chelsea's "Player of the Year" at the end of the 2015-16 season. With the fans behind him and club operators happy with Willian's performances, Chelsea decided to have him stay though was not against selling him.
Then when the 2016-17 season started, Willian sustained an injury, and other teams didn't want to gamble on an injured player - however good he may be. Willian thus stayed in Chelsea for the 2016-17 season; Pedro began playing first-team minutes at the right-wing position. When Willian came back, he returned with determination, and soon, the two natural right-wingers were sharing playing time again.
Below: A rudimentary, visual explanation of Mourinho's transition play on the attack at Chelsea from 2013 to 2016.
After the second sacking of Mourinho and avoiding relegation through Guus Hiddink's interim management, Chelsea soon named Antonio Conte as the new club manager. Experimenting with team formations from even before his arrival to Stamford Bridge, Conte decided to rehash his old tricks from managing Juventus and the Italian national team and apply his signature 3-5-2 formation; later, a more solidified 3-4-3 position which would suit the team's talented wingers.
The 3-4-3 formation complimented Chelsea's long-running preference of a three-pronged offense as well as the team's tactical affinity for playing on the counterattack. For example, last season when Chelsea was again crowned champions for the sixth time, Diego Costa was the center forward (CF). He played physically and stayed close to the opposing line of defense. Costa, however, was never the quickest nor the most technically gifted player, and as such, he rarely played off the shoulder of the last defender (to beat the offside trap) as he would be chased down and closed out rather quickly.
This was an issue with Mourinho's 4-2-3-1. The best Costa could do was hold the ball until help arrived, and with two wide players (aka wingers and "side midfielders") playing defensively in the 4-2-3-1, Costa would either have to dribble by himself or lose the ball trying to wait.
In the 3-4-3, however, the defensive duties of the two wingers would be assuaged by a side midfielder behind them, who would more often play like wingbacks - occupying the wide midfield on the attack while coming back to bulk up the backline when defending. Without the constant worry of coming back to support the defenders, the wingers could instead focus on supporting the CF or perhaps running the ball towards the opposition's goal themselves. So during the 2016-17 season, Costa used his physical prowess to size-up and disrupt the opposing center-backs while the Hazard-Willian or Hazard-Pedro duo occupied the opposing full-backs.
Under Conte's system, the wingers were given more creative freedom yet also more team support, and all Willian could do was watch that newfound creative freedom from the sidelines. Naturally, Willian has claimed that though he is still Chelsea through-and-through, he is unsettled and seek first-team football. Unless Conte can justify benching the Spanish winger who is arguably better, Willian will most likely be left out of Chelsea's starting XI in the EPL. In fact, given Antonio Conte's recent preference for a two-man attack (Hazard-Morata duo), both Pedro and Willian have been relegated to supporting roles, so it's becoming even more unlikely that Willian is to begin playing more first-team minutes.
Above: Willian scored the lone Chelsea goal away at Liverpool to bring them level in a crucial 3rd vs. 4th clash. Though his playing time has waned considerably in the last 18 months, Willian has still been performing well off-the-bench.
One piece of good news for Willian, however, is that because Chelsea advanced through to the Round of 16 of the Champions League, there is a good chance that he is to play as a starter for Champions League matches. While they are definitely more sporadic than the weekly League games, it's still a lot better than sitting on the bench.
To lose a player of Willian's calibre would be a shame; a player who has delivered consistently stellar performances throughout his Chelsea career. But both the player and the club need to openly and honestly discuss playing time, roles, and long-term plans. Player dissatisfaction will always affect the player's performance, but sometimes the uncertainty of one player's future can disrupt the focus and morale of the entire team. When January comes and when the season ends, Conte will undoubtedly feel the pressure of selling principle players - let alone selling players without fully assessing their potentials only to show up in rival teams (most notably, Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Man City's Kevin De Bruyne). Until then, we can only sit and watch and assume that Chelsea's subsequent actions have weighed both the good of the club and the good of the player. Here's to hoping Willian's transfer won't be as disastrous and sour as Diego Costa's.
What do you think will happen? Will Conte sell Willian? If so, in January or at the end of the season? Should Willian leave to gain first-team football elsewhere, or should he take one for the team and remain to bolster the offense off-the-bench? Let me know what you think.
