Mikel Arteta has moved to defend under-fire Arsenal star Willian.
It’s been a difficult start to life in North London for the veteran Brazilian winger, who joined the Gunners on a £220,000-a-week Bosman deal this past summer after being released by Chelsea.
The 32-year-old kicked off his Arsenal career with a couple of assists in his Premier League debut away to Fulham, but there’s been little to write home about since then for him.
Five top-flight games later and those heroics at Craven Cottage remain the only goals that Willian has set up, having failed to do much in either of his Europa League appearances either.
But the former Shakhtar Donetsk gem didn’t have much by way of a pre-season in comparison to his team-mates at London Colney, and also missed a couple of games last month due to injury.
And although Arteta has acknowledged his difficulty in getting any momentum, the Arsenal boss is adamant that Willian – who started the 4-1 win over Norwegian side Molde on Thursday – is going to ‘get better and better’.
He said to Goal.com: “I can see a development in the last two games and the understanding of things that we do but he’s not used to. He’s getting better and better and we all know the quality that he has and he’s a great option to have on the pitch.
“I think he started really well with his first game against Fulham, then he had an injury and he didn’t have any time to train, he didn’t have any pre-season and he was later than the others.”
Arteta hasn’t done Willian many favours, it has to be said.
Last month, he spearheaded Arsenal’s attack from a false nine role in the defeat away to Manchester City, a position that he clearly isn’t used to.
There’s been times when Arteta clearly hasn’t known what to do with him, which must make it frustrating and difficult for the player himself.
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