One of the few high notes in Chelsea's current season has been attacking midfielder Willian.
Stepping up his game after once again facing competition for the starting right-wing position, this time against former Barcelona player Pedro, the Brazilian has not only been on point with his tactical work, he has also been a good offensive threat with his free-kicks, having already scored four goals through them this season.
How does he do it? According to the player himself, it's only a result of applying work to improve in an area that many wouldn't expect him to be so good at.
"I've been practicing free-kicks for a long time, but until this season I haven't had many opportunities to take them during the game. Now I have, and it comes from something I've been practicing."
"I've been hitting the ball with a lot of intensity and I've found a way of striking them from wide on the left with a lot of pace and velocity so there is a chance for my teammates to get a touch on the ball, but if it happens that no one gets a touch, it passes straight into the goal."
It's quite clear that Willian more than anything believes that you can improve on something if you put enough work on it and for him, the solution for Chelsea to get out of their current slump lies in the club's daily routine -- and taking the extra mile to show their effort on the pitch.
"In my opinion, the way to turn thing around is through the daily routine. Every day, we come to train and that is where we have to do the work to change things."
"Then, in our performances on matchdays, we have to show the hard work we are doing on a daily basis to win games and turn the situation around."
-Willian; Source: Chelsea official magazine via Sambafoot
Chelsea have shown signs of improvement in their past few matches, which means we've been getting better in coupling hard work in training sessions with hard work on the pitch. Eventually, it should translate into better results despite our bad luck.