By Daniel Finton (Deputy Editor)
What up, Pimps?
Welcome one and welcome all to the Finton's Frolic right opinion zone. I'm coming at you off of the back of a 0-0 draw at home to Manchester United -- luckily I've taken some time after the match to relax and stop thinking about Arsenal for a while, so I'm not just going to be an insufferably angry Gooner for like 400 words. In fact, in retrospect, the draw was a fair result. While I was really disappointed with a number of particular performances, it is fair to say that we were lucky in some ways to avoid a loss. Edinson Cavani missed an absolute sitter and should've buried another chance that he normally would have later on in the night, so I'll take the point, and 8th place too.
One thing I won't take, however, is any more criticism towards Willian seriously. I know, it sounds crazy, especially coming from me, the guy who just wrote a Finton's Frolic saying how crap he and Nicolas pepe have been, but I'm gonna apathetically say it. It's time to stop.
The Brazilian has been a mess of a signing. A failure to put it lightly. I'm not sure why he looks so disinterested but it becomes more apparent that he clearly can't be bothered week in and week out. Yet, Mikel Arteta still picks him. While he looked far better today than he has in recent matches, he still flattered to deceive, missing a clear cut chance soon after coming on.
So, why is it that he continues to be given minutes? Sure, today it came off (somewhat), but no one can seriously say that they were happy to see Willian come on, or that it was a tactical master stroke by Arteta. The former Chelsea man was not that good, he just wasn't terrible for the first time in months.
Arteta stated after the match that it was for "tactical reasons" that Willian came on for Gabriel Martinelly but I'm sorry, I call bullshit. It seems to me (Conspiracy Theory Warning) that Arteta is persistently choosing Willian from the start or off the bench for one of three reasons. Either he is stubborn, and is desperate for the Veteran winger to do well, or Willian's contract demands a certain amount of game time otherwise a large sum of money will be forked over, or the Brazilian has pictures of Arteta's "Willian". Either way the situation is not a good one -- the only one that sees Arteta not at fault is the latter.
The young manager pleaded for the signing of the 32-year-old, so any repercussions that come because of Willian's surely ridiculous contract are rightfully negatively impacting the manager. If the former Manchester City number two is just being stubborn, than he is doing so to the detriment of the team. I sincerely hope it's not that, or this team is fucking built on nepotism. Shoutout Runarsson; the man who can't even dictate his own goal line. I'd rather it be Willian having his nudes to be honest, at least then this all makes sense.
What I'm trying to say is, you can be mad at Willian all you want, and shit I still am mad at him, but I'm done caring about what he does for the club because he is nothing short of a lost cause. It's disgusting how players can just coast through the latter stages of their top-level career without giving a shit, but that's football and if you're ignorant enough to buy a player the age of Willian, you'll get burned from time to time. Deservedly so at that -- not every older signing can be a David Luiz-esque one.
Supporters can be frustrated with Arteta though. There is no reason for Willian to be a part of any more match day squads for the rest of his contract with Arsenal. That's not even being mean, or hyperbolic either. There is genuinely no reason for him to play ever again. The likes of Joe Willock, Reiss Nelson, and Martinelli would all benefit from taking game time away from the outdated winger. But Willian will keep playing. He'll keep making the squads. He'll keep underperforming and we'll keep criticizing him to no avail. He will stay, he will play and he sure as hell, will get PAID.
To close, stop being so mean to the lackadaisical, Willian. He's not going to start giving a fuck so don't expect him to. As long as the manager continues to choose him, nothing about the player's demeanor will change. Hear me out through this closing poop analogy: if you were a dog, and you liked eating your own shit when taken on walks, and your owner got pissed off, but never did anything, and kept taking you on those strolls, what would you do? You'd continue eating shit, just as Willian will.
Toodloo...!
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