Estevao Willian produced a wonderful performance on Saturday evening with Chelsea’s teenage sensation netting his side’s sixth goal in the 7-0 win over Port Vale
A club like Chelsea, with all the money they have spent to assemble their squad, should not rely on an 18-year-old as much as they do. But when it comes to Estevao Willian, they really do.
That in itself does not reflect too well on the Blues but equally it emphasises what a special talent Estevao is. There is an obvious caveat when reflecting on the Brazilian’s performance on Saturday evening; with the opposition being Port Vale, the side rock bottom of the League One table.
This, though, is not a one-off. Estevao has been producing moments of magic throughout his debut season at Stamford Bridge and Liam Rosenior is, understandably, delighted to have him to call upon once again after a lengthy spell out of action.
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“We’ve missed him,” said Rosenior about Estevao to BBC’s Match of the Day. “He’s been injured for pretty much six weeks in terms of his hamstring, which was a real tough one for us to take.
“He comes in and just plays. He enjoys playing football and just wants to get on the ball. Wherever he is on the pitch, he’s a threat, and he’s going to be a real, real plus for us going into the run-in.”
It was actually a frustrating first half for Estevao. The Brazil international was playing on the left-hand side, somewhere we have not seen him used too much this term, and was being crowded out by Port Vale bodies at every given opportunity. The League One strugglers clearly had a plan to swarm Estevao whenever he was given possession. And for the opening 45 minutes, it worked.
Rosenior then switched his wingers at the break, with Pedro Neto going out to the left side and Estevao moving to the more familiar right flank. There was much more space down Chelsea’s right and Estevao looked twice the player immediately. Estevao did not record a shot in the first half but registered four attempts in the second.
It looked as if it was going to be a frustrating evening in front of goal for Estevao up until the 82nd minute when he tapped in after Alejandro Garnacho struck the post. The goal was the least he deserved for a captivating second-half display and one that got Stamford Bridge singing on an evening where the atmosphere seemed quite flat.
‘That’s The Way (I Like It)’ rang from the speakers at full time, as the Chelsea supporters turned the famous KC and the Sunshine Band into their own version once again. The teenager can salvage something for the Blues this season, ironically after the club’s recent tweak in their transfer policy.
As football.london reported last week, Chelsea are looking to slightly alter their transfer model ahead of the summer window. Since buying the club almost four years ago, BlueCo’s focus has been on bringing in the world’s most exciting young talent but this summer, there will be more of an eye on players with Premier League experience already.
While that seems like the right thing to do, special talents like Estevao show that BlueCo’s original model still has its benefits. And they are not ditching what got them to this point completely, instead Chelsea will look to find the right balance in order to hand Rosenior the tools he needs to compete next season.
