This is such a great point, and it absolutely infuriates me.
The number of times he has played it to Willo, in a position where he has space to then take the ball forward a bit and pull the opposition out of place, so he can then play the ball (on the ground!) back to Anita or another of the midfielders so they can turn and be in a position to open up the pitch man!
Instead Willo looks at the ball in terror and just hoofs it ... he's an embarrassment.
Anita plays the way he does in anticipation of others continuing to shift the ball quickly over short spaces as they then look to move into better positions.
Everyone has to have at least a similar mentality or it just doesn't work.