Willian has been speaking to Rio Ferdinand on the FIVE YouTube channel, where he made a sad revelation about his time at Arsenal.
What’s the story?
Well, the 33-year-old told Ferdinand that part of the reason why he left Arsenal was because of the abuse he received from fans.
Willian said: “Yes it did (help me make my decision). I received a lot of messages on social media from them, but also because I came from Chelsea I think if I came from another club maybe the fans would be better.”
Now, that is very sad to hear.
Admittedly, Willian was woeful for the Gunners, scoring just one goal in 37 appearances, although that doesn’t mean he deserves to be abused.
Of course, players can be criticised, as football is a game of opinions after all.
However, there’s a line, and more often than not nowadays through the anonymity of social media, people are more than happy to cross that line.
No matter how poorly a player is performing, fans must always remember there’s another human being on the end of their messages.
Willian is now playing his football back in Brazil, where he has scored two goals in 26 appearances for Corinthians.
Arsenal must learn from Willian error
The signing of Willian – on a contract worth £220,000-a-week – was arguably the biggest mistake of Mikel Arteta’s time at the Emirates Stadium so far.
It was a brainless move, which lacked logic as the South American was clearly in decline before he left Chelsea.
Now, the Gunners must learn from it, and in fairness, Arteta and Edu seem to have already shown signs that they are.
Younger options, such as Martin Ødegaard, are now being targeted instead, which is a much better recruitment model as Arteta’s coaching skills help the player develop.
In the case of Willian and other older players, they are too far gone to be developed and coached – they are the finished product.
It’s good to see Arteta learning, and hopefully, those fans who abused Willian will also learn something after hearing his comments.
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