Can Willian kick on at Arsenal after vital Leicester performance?

Arteta praises Willian

Arsenal managed to pull off a impressive 3-1 victory away at Leicester City on Sunday afternoon much helped by the performance of Willian.

The Brazilian arrived at Arsenal from Chelsea and the summer on a free transfer after his contract expired in West London. He has so far been unable to convince Arsenal supporters that it has been worth the wages and time invested in him so far.

However, the two assists and stellar performance from the 32-year-old buoyed many fans and especially his manager Arteta.

“He was really good,” Arteta said. “We’ve seen that in training the last few weeks. He’s rebuilding himself and he’s not accepted the situation.”

“I think he was the player who changed the game against Benfica in the last few moments when he came on, and today I think he was terrific.”

“The same with the other senior players. Laca, I think the way he played, Nico grew in the game and had a big impact as well. Granit as well. A player who has played that many minutes, to play with the heart and the passion he showed in every action, I think it’s a great example for the rest of the players.”

What next for Willian?

It is important that the former Chelsea winger does not linger on the successes he has finally produced in the last match.

The ex-Brazilian international is costing The Gunners a significant amount of money per week on wages and needs to repay that faith with consistency across the remaining games of the season.

The question will be is where Willian will play? It is unlikely that Arsenal supporters would be in favour of seeing the Brazilian start in the next game over the likes of Bukayo Saka. However, the injury to Emile Smith-Rowe could open up an opportunity for him.

The England youth international was taken off against Leicester with a suspected hip problem. Arteta, whilst bringing in competition for the 20 year-old in Martin Odegaard, has decided at times to play both attacking midfielders together with Smith-Rowe operating on the left.

With him out, Willian could stake a claim for the left wing position with Bukayo Saka operating on the favoured right hand side. This then begs the question where Nicolas Pepe will play after he too has discovered some form in 2021?

The end result is a selection dilemma which will come as a good problem for Mikel Arteta to solve. It will be interesting to see whether or not Willian can in fact push on and turn the tide of opinion surrounding him from a proportion of The Gunners’ supporter base.

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Source: 101greatgoals.com