Why Willian Is Chelsea's Most Improved Player in 2015/16

It hasn't been difficult to stand out at Chelsea this season. Reigning Premier League champions they may be, but the Blues haven't lived up to their billing in any sense.

It's only in the past few weeks they've broken into the top 10 in the table, yet it's a factor that's counted for very little. Chelsea are out of the UEFA Champions League, out of the FA Cup and out of hope. With little chance of qualifying for Europe next season, the club really is at its lowest ebb.

Which is why Willian deserves to be acknowledged for all he has achieved this year. In the face of adversity, as mediocrity set in, he has looked anything but mediocre.

In a team that has failed, the Brazilian has been outstanding. Willian has been the inspiration when Chelsea needed it most, bucking the trend to perform in the way that salaries and reputations dictate his team-mates should.

Without Willian, it doesn't bear thinking how Chelsea's season would have collapsed more spectacularly than it actually did. From rescuing their Champions League bacon with that late free-kick against Dynamo Kiev, he's been a big part of any magic we've seen at Stamford Bridge.

We couldn't have said that 12 months ago. This time last April, we were falling over ourselves to indulge Eden Hazard with the superlatives, but now times have changed. Chelsea aren't the force they were, and major questions continue to be asked about how the club will fare in the future.

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This year has been a sobering one for all involved at Chelsea, so when we consider how Willian has performed, it makes it all the more remarkable.

The Brazilian has seized the moment to become a major part of what Chelsea ought to be about. From being a face among many, he's the standout name in the dressing room right now.

Where Willian has impressed most is the way in which his endeavour and commitment has suddenly produced an end product. We were never quite sure before what we would get from him, yet now he looks like Chelsea's biggest goal threat outside of Diego Costa.

Hours on the training pitch practicing set pieces have paid off, and now Chelsea finally seem to have another weapon among their repertoire. Not since Gianfranco Zola have Chelsea been a genuine threat from free-kicks, and that weapon has got the Blues out of trouble on more than one occasion.

We've mentioned that Kiev effort that snatched a valuable three points in the Champions League group stage, but it wasn't in isolation. There was Willian's goal against Maccabi Tel-Aviv to start a 4-0 rout in September before he rescued a point away to Newcastle United later that same month.

Chelsea were rocking at that time. The season had started miserably, and Jose Mourinho needed a reaction from his players to inject something resembling inspiration. Willian was on hand to provide it, but the problem was that nobody around him quite reacted in the way we expected.

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Indeed, that Newcastle game was a watershed moment for Willian and this Chelsea side. However fortuitous his free-kick was, it was a turning point for him. It gave Willian the belief that he was much more than a water-carrier to indulge some of the more talented players around him. He stepped up and showed he could be Chelsea's match-winner (or saviour in this instance).

As for Chelsea, this was when we realised the issues from pre-season and August were here to stay. The club wasn't in the throes of a blip; the Blues were entering a full-on crisis. After the Newcastle draw, Chelsea lost back-to-back matches against Porto and Southampton. They won just once in all of October, conceding nine goals in just six games.

It's those moments of individual influence that give us something tangible to measure Willian's improvement this term. They set him apart to outline just how valuable he is.

Whereas we were questioning his importance at Stamford Bridge, the narrative has changed. Before it was about him being vulnerable to change, and that the signing of Juan Cuadrado in January 2015 was supposed to be the end of his Chelsea career.

Now it's others who aren't looking irreplaceable. Willian has transformed himself from being superfluous to indispensable. Chelsea look weaker without him.

Surveying the Chelsea squad, there are few others who can claim that status right now. Costa's form since the turn of the year has put him back in that bracket, but who else will be as highly regarded when the new manager is eventually appointed? The answer doesn't include many more names.

In a season when Chelsea have regressed, Willian has marched forward to become one of the club's most valuable assets.

Garry Hayes is Bleacher Report's lead Chelsea correspondent. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @garryhayes