Marco Silva described working with Willian as a privilege, on account of the attacker’s quality and attitude.
The 34-year-old has been a consistently impressive weapon in Fulham’s armoury this season, laying on three assists for teammates, and scoring the same number himself.
“When you have the quality that Willian has, when you are a good professional like he is, and when you’re still hungry and motivated to play football, I think you have all the ingredients to take the right things from him,” Silva said of the playmaker.
“I think the conversation we had at the beginning of the season was really important, for me to understand certain things from him, and for him to understand myself and my ideas. Because all the other things, Willian has. He’s a top, top player, a top class player still.
“In that moment, I knew some things, but I didn’t know that he was such a good guy, such a good professional, really humble for the career that he’s made. He’s a really humble guy who trains hard and does what the manager wants and demands from him.
“When someone has the quality of Willian, it’s really easy to work with him. It’s a privilege. He is always striving to improve, always open to learn, he comes with the right mindset to training every single day.
“He doesn’t like to lose even one session. Even if sometimes we try to manage [his workload], he wants to be always there. And this is the main thing for me, to keep him enjoying every single day, coming in and training with a smile on his face, and I’m sure we can.”
Willian’s wonder strike against Nottingham Forest last week prompted plaudits across the football landscape – but it was the same quality that his Head Coach witnesses on a daily basis.
“You can see every matchday how he is playing so well, how he’s improving every game as well, how he’s decided games and how he’s enjoying – and everyone is enjoying – his games,” Silva said.
“We, as a staff, his teammates, we have the privilege to see it every single day because, what he’s doing in the matchday, he’s preparing himself for on a daily basis.
“You have to give the tools to him, to help him understand arriving in certain areas, to demand something more from him, like scoring more goals.
“He’s had an outstanding career so far, but in terms of goals he should have scored even more, because it’s something we’re always demanding from him.”
