Chelsea's Willian admits he’s 'not a natural leader' and lets his talent do the talking

Inspirational: Willian, who led Chelsea’s fightback against Burnley in vain, is more than happy to let his feet do the talking
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Simon Johnson18 August 2017

In times of trouble, some players scream and shout at their team-mates to try to spark the side. At Chelsea, Willian just lets his feet do the talking.

Now in his fifth season at the club, the Brazil international is one of the most experienced members in Antonio Conte’s dressing room. The 29-year-old has won two Premier League titles since snubbing Sunday’s opponents Tottenham to join from Anzhi Makhachkala for £30million and was voted fans’ player of the year in 2016.

Normally, that CV would give a player even more belief to speak out when things are going wrong, as they are for the champions now. A lack of signings, speculation over Conte’s future and the Italian’s bust-up with striker Diego Costa was bad enough before the shock defeat at home to Burnley last weekend added to the pain.

Conte made it clear during pre-season that he wanted players to become more vocal to help fill the void left by John Terry’s departure.

But, as Willian told Standard Sport, that is simply not his style.

“I don’t like to be a leader,” he said. “I like to play football. Yes, this is my fifth season at Chelsea and it’s good to have a long time at one club and to win titles like we did last season, but I don’t like to be a leader. I give this post to players like Gary Cahill, David Luiz, Cesar Azpilicueta and Cesc Fabregas. I just want to enjoy my game and help the team. I will never shout in the dressing room, I don’t like it. It’s not that I’m shy. I will sometimes shout on the pitch, but never in the dressing room — it’s not my profile.”

When things were going awry against Burnley, Willian led by example. As bigger characters like new skipper Cahill and Fabregas were losing their discipline and seeing red, Willian raised his game.

It was his sublime bit of trickery and cross that set up Alvaro Morata to score his first goal for the club and breathed hope into a team that trailed Sean Dyche’s side 3-0 at the break. And with Willian at the forefront, the nine men in blue almost rescued a point.

However, the spirit shown in the last 30 minutes was not enough to stop talk of a crisis at Stamford Bridge.

In Pictures | Chelsea vs Burnley | 12/08/2017

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The size of the squad is of great concern to Conte and they take on Spurs at Wembley without the suspended Cahill and Fabregas.

Summer signing Tiemoue Bakayoko is working his way to match fitness, Pedro is struggling with an ankle problem and star player Eden Hazard is still not ready to play after fracturing an ankle. It means there is even more onus on Willian to provide Chelsea with the magic in attack — a challenge he is more comfortable with.

He said: “Hazard is a great player and we know he makes the difference when he plays, but as we are playing without him I know I have to take more responsibility to try to make the difference. So, maybe in a different way, in a technical aspect, I can be a leader. But I don’t play alone. Everyone has to take this responsibility together. We are a group, we play as a team. We don’t just have 11 players, we have more than that. We showed that last season.

“A team can’t win trophies with only 11 players. We need the whole squad. I think we can do good things this season. We know it is a bit difficult to start with in the first few weeks, but then you feel more confident. Now we have to look forward to the games to come, starting with Spurs.”

One bright spot amid Chelsea’s first opening-day defeat since 1998 was Morata’s encouraging display off the bench and it would be a surprise if he is left out of the starting XI in favour of Michy Batshuayi again, despite Conte continuing to stress that the 24-year-old forward needs to improve his physical condition and knowledge of the team’s system.

Willian has seen enough from the Spain international to know that he will succeed. “Alvaro has just arrived, but we know he has great quality,” he said. “Of course, we expect him to score goals, but there is no pressure. He has time to adapt, but we have to help him.”

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