Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta admitted the club “expected a lot more” from Willian.
The Gunners managed a free transfer from veteran Willian in August after seven seasons in London with Premier League rivals Chelsea. However, the 32-year-old Brazil international has yet to score for Arsenal since moving through the city of London and has had a disappointing impact.
Willian came off the bench to provide the pass for Kieran Tierney’s goal in Arsenal’s 3-2 Europa League win over Benfica on Thursday in a boost that Arteta hopes can lead to more impact.
“I was very happy with Willian on Thursday,” Arteta told reporters. “He totally deserves some credit for the way he trains every day and he tries. “In matches you can now see that he’s starting to produce what we think we can do for the team, so everyone needs to step up and create great moments in matches because the top players ultimately need to be. those who decide the game for us. “
“His teammates like him and we expected a lot more from him since he arrived, but for many different reasons he hasn’t found his best performance.”
“But I hope Thursday’s performance will give him the platform and the belief that he’s a really important player – he’s a player I really like and I’ve done a lot to bring him in and I hope he can still give us more. “
Two assists in two games for Willian ????️????️
Much more like it ???? pic.twitter.com/E4toyczWvG
— Goal (@goal) February 28, 2021
Arsenal travel to Leicester City, third, this Sunday with Willian who obtained his first start with Arsenal in the league since December.
Ahead of this game, Arteta’s Arsenal are 11th in the table, 15 points behind Leicester and 28 points behind Premier League leaders Manchester City.
And we must believe that the words of the former assistants of Pep Guardiola on the side of Manchester City have been beneficial to the Brazilian, this last having chained this Sunday with a new decisive step against the Foxes.
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