Former Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips has had his say on one player he describes as 'fantastic'
Xabi Alonso has been urged to use Estevao Willian more at Chelsea
Xabi Alonso has been urged to use Estevao Willian more at Chelsea (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)
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Shaun Wright-Phillips has insisted he is "worried" about Estevao Willian's situation at Chelsea. The winger has struggled for game time under Xabi Alonso so far this season, coming off the bench in four Premier League games.
He has amassed only 23 minutes of action in the league, although the 19-year-old did start the Blues' Carabao Cup wins against Luton and Leeds. Now away with Brazil, Estevao will hope to get some much-needed minutes on the pitch as he bids to show Alonso what he can do.
The former Palmeiras man's problem is that he simply does not fit into Alonso's system at the minute. Chelsea's front three of Cole Palmer, Morgan Rogers and Joao Pedro is arguably the most devastating in the league and Estevao is not seen by his manager as a wing-back, meaning he has to settle for a place on the bench.
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Former Chelsea star Wright-Phillips is a fan of Estevao but does not know how he can get break into the team and become a starter. Speaking to Betway, Wright-Phillips said: "I honestly don’t know. The only way for me to get him in is if they get rid of the wing backs, and I don't think Xabi will do that for now, because it was successful for him at Bayer Leverkusen. I don't think he will change it, so I'm worried about what's going to happen with Estevao."
He added: "I really enjoy watching Estevao. I don't know how he’s going to play at Chelsea this year because from what I've seen, a few of the times there's been a lot of wing backs.
"So, I'm not sure how it works for him there. But for me, I think he's a fantastic player to watch. He keeps the ball, but he does the other part that everybody wants to see as well. He gets the crowd off their feet, scores goals. I think he's a delightful player to watch.
"I do like [Yankuba] Minteh as well, but he just needs to work on his end product a little bit more. I do enjoy watching him. There's quite a few out there, but I'd say Estevao is the one for me that I'm hoping gets a lot more game time because I think he will just grow."
With Brazil playing three friendlies during the international break, Estevao will hope to get some valuable minutes so he comes back to west London fit and firing. Chelsea have five fixtures in 21 days starting on October 10 so Alonso may need to rotate his squad and that could work in Estevao's benefit.