Estevao Willian announced himself as a Premier League player in Chelsea’s destruction of a West Ham side which could have Nuno Espirito Santo as manager by the end of the weekend.
“Just you watch,” warned 1994 World Cup winner Bebeto, setting Chelsea fans’ pulses racing like many other Estevao advocates when it was announced a £29m deal had been agreed with Palmeiras in May 2024 for the teenager’s transfer to Stamford Bridge just over a year later. “He’s a cut above the rest. It’s like Ronaldo [R9] all over again.”
Excitement levels rose in the summer as Estevao scored a brilliant goal against the team he now plays for in the Club World Cup, and after a promising debut off the bench against Crystal Palace, it will be difficult to contain the giddiness after Cole Palmer’s pre-match niggle granted him his full debut against the most willing of all patsies in West Ham.
He was actually at fault for Lucas Paqueta stunning opener, attempting a flick in his own half which was cut out before his compatriot spanked his shot into the top corner. It was a misstep among a couple of other very similar ill-advised examples of inexperience which can indeed easily brushed off as youthful exuberance – he only turned 18 in April – and Chelsea may also simply need to come to terms with the compelling reality of him likely (and hopefully) always being a player who will take risks in the name of entertainment.
Chelsea had already taken the lead by the time Estevao truly announced himself in the Premier League to set up Enzo Fernandez for Chelsea’s third in the 34th minute, with Joao Pedro getting off the mark with a simple headed finish after a neat corner routine, before Pedro Neto volleyed in at the back post.
Having been involved in the build-up, Estevao burst onto Liam Delap’s excellent lay-off, taking the ball in his stride before gliding past a couple of admittedly lackadaisical West Ham defenders (they all were, all night), before sliding the ball across the six-yard box for Fernandez to tap the ball in. It was less Ronaldo and more his namesake Willian, both in the way Estevao moved with the ball at his feet and the searing acceleration he showed to leave his opponents for dead.
And it is significant that he provided that assist and showed further glimpses of his outstanding talent as a replacement for Palmer, without whom in his two seasons at the club Chelsea have been roundly f***ed in their attempts to break down opposition teams.
All of this game – Estevao’s performance, the fluent football, five goals from five different players in a dominant victory – must be qualified by Chelsea playing against a dismal West Ham producing an early contender for worst Premier League performance of the season.
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The ease with which Chelsea played through them as laughable as their inability to defend set pieces – or any cross into the box for that matter – was depressing. Mads Hermansen had another nightmare in goal while Aaron Wan-Bissaka slept at the back post and the obligation to buy Jean-Clair Todibo for £33m this summer becomes more painful by the game. It was him and Niclas Fullkrug who were hooked at half-time but it could have been any one of them.
Even the one positive of the game – Paqueta’s quite extraordinary opener – was cancelled out by the Brazilian’s trampoline touch on the edge of his own box which led to Neto’s goal for Chelsea to take the lead.
Somehow none of us predicted Graham Potter would be the first manager sacked this season, and ‘fuming’ Nuno Espirito Santo may yet deny him that honour as he pushes for his own exit from Nottingham Forest, but it’s very hard to see after this display how the West Ham boss will make it through the first international break at the start of September. He’ll be lucky to make it to the League Cup clash with Wolves on Tuesday.
And while Nuno’s seemingly imminent availability will be a hugely enticing prospect for the West Ham owners as they consider their options, the idea of a manager swap will not be further from the mind – unhinged though it is – of Evangelos Marinakis.
Because having been one of the hottest managerial properties a little over three years ago, two horrible career decisions to take charge of Chelsea and then West Ham means Potter will soon be sacked from his last-ever Premier League job.