Oscar

[Rmpr 8,977]

Strongly disagree. Work-rate is amazing, but you need your #10 to provide more than hard work. They have to be able to make a major impact on offense. He has now played 45 games in in the Premier League and has 8 goals and 5 assists. (11 games this season, 0 assists) That's abysmal. Oscar needs to play but like everyone else, he should have to earn it and hard work shouldn't be the only thing that matters.

Always messing up and manipulating stats at your desire!!!

Oscar was 21, in his first season in Europe and playing out of position; of course he has bad stats...

But this season (until the Newcastle game), he has earned it and has actually played better than everyone else who is competting with him. He has scored goals, protected the defense and created chances. However, it is not his fault he has zero assists if his teammates cant score after a good pass (like today).

Our attack had been very poor, most of it not his fault. It took 3 months for our strikers to score, Hazard is a shell of himself, we cant find a DLP for him to share the responsibilities, etc. It makes things harder...

The numbers itself arent very good (although better if only looking at the current season), but when you see the reasons behind it, you realise they arent abysmal!!!

Now: Oscar has had some very bad games lately. If he continues to perform like that, he must be benched...

[Ainsley Harriott 2,732]

Always messing up and manipulating stats at your desire!!!

Oscar was 21, in his first season in Europe and playing out of position; of course he has bad stats...

But this season (until the Newcastle game), he has earned it and has actually played better than everyone else who is competting with him. He has scored goals, protected the defense and created chances. However, it is not his fault he has zero assists if his teammates cant score after a good pass (like today).

Our attack had been very poor, most of it not his fault. It took 3 months for our strikers to score, Hazard is a shell of himself, we cant find a DLP for him to share the responsibilities, etc. It makes things harder...

The numbers itself arent very good (although better if only looking at the current season), but when you see the reasons behind it, you realise they arent abysmal!!!

Now: Oscar has had some very bad games lately. If he continues to perform like that, he must be benched...

Given how much he works when he's on the pitch and how little rest he gets, it was bound to happen

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

Always messing up and manipulating stats at your desire!!!

Oscar was 21, in his first season in Europe and playing out of position; of course he has bad stats...

But this season (until the Newcastle game), he has earned it and has actually played better than everyone else who is competting with him. He has scored goals, protected the defense and created chances. However, it is not his fault he has zero assists if his teammates cant score after a good pass (like today).

Our attack had been very poor, most of it not his fault. It took 3 months for our strikers to score, Hazard is a shell of himself, we cant find a DLP for him to share the responsibilities, etc. It makes things harder...

The numbers itself arent very good (although better if only looking at the current season), but when you see the reasons behind it, you realise they arent abysmal!!!

Now: Oscar has had some very bad games lately. If he continues to perform like that, he must be benched...

These are not complex stats. Goals and assists for an attacking player are a crucial indicator of their performance. Not everything mind you, but they matter a lot. Even if you just look at this season. 11 games, 4 goals 0 assists. Still not good although a lot better than last season. (And it's not just statistical, Oscar plays too much with his head down and doesn't read the play as well as top creators can.) And yes, poor finishing is always a part of low assist totals but Oscar's problem is that he just doesn't create enough chances. Oscar has created fewer chances than Mata despite much more playing time. (Also, the same number of chances as Lampard and Schurrle and fewer than Ramires). Your #10 needs to be creating chances and he isn't. I agree that most of the attack's problems are not Oscar's fault, they're no one's fault in particular but the team's fault as a while, but right now, he simply isn't doing what he needs to do. 3 straight sub-par games on a team loaded with attacking midfielders should earn him time on the bench. Mata hasn't started 3 games in a row all season. I see Chelsea in the middle right now as combinations of Oscar-Lampard and Mata-Mikel. (Oscar doesn't create enough so with Mikel, we are way too defensive. Mata is poor defensively and Lampard simply does not give enough cover.) Right now, I think the second combination needs a chance to see what they can do for a few games. Oscar will (and should) still get a ton of playing time.

[Korea 734]

These are not complex stats. Goals and assists for an attacking player are a crucial indicator of their performance. Not everything mind you, but they matter a lot. Even if you just look at this season. 11 games, 4 goals 0 assists. Still not good although a lot better than last season. (And it's not just statistical, Oscar plays too much with his head down and doesn't read the play as well as top creators can.) And yes, poor finishing is always a part of low assist totals but Oscar's problem is that he just doesn't create enough chances. Oscar has created fewer chances than Mata despite much more playing time. (Also, the same number of chances as Lampard and Schurrle and fewer than Ramires). Your #10 needs to be creating chances and he isn't. I agree that most of the attack's problems are not Oscar's fault, they're no one's fault in particular but the team's fault as a while, but right now, he simply isn't doing what he needs to do. 3 straight sub-par games on a team loaded with attacking midfielders should earn him time on the bench. Mata hasn't started 3 games in a row all season. I see Chelsea in the middle right now as combinations of Oscar-Lampard and Mata-Mikel. (Oscar doesn't create enough so with Mikel, we are way too defensive. Mata is poor defensively and Lampard simply does not give enough cover.) Right now, I think the second combination needs a chance to see what they can do for a few games. Oscar will (and should) still get a ton of playing time.

So, question?

If Mata was playing under MOurinho tactics, do you think we would of had a better record right now? Do you think mata would have better stats?

[Rmpr 8,977]

These are not complex stats. Goals and assists for an attacking player are a crucial indicator of their performance. Not everything mind you, but they matter a lot. Even if you just look at this season. 11 games, 4 goals 0 assists. Still not good although a lot better than last season. (And it's not just statistical, Oscar plays too much with his head down and doesn't read the play as well as top creators can.) And yes, poor finishing is always a part of low assist totals but Oscar's problem is that he just doesn't create enough chances. Oscar has created fewer chances than Mata despite much more playing time. (Also, the same number of chances as Lampard and Schurrle and fewer than Ramires). Your #10 needs to be creating chances and he isn't. I agree that most of the attack's problems are not Oscar's fault, they're no one's fault in particular but the team's fault as a while, but right now, he simply isn't doing what he needs to do. 3 straight sub-par games on a team loaded with attacking midfielders should earn him time on the bench. Mata hasn't started 3 games in a row all season. I see Chelsea in the middle right now as combinations of Oscar-Lampard and Mata-Mikel. (Oscar doesn't create enough so with Mikel, we are way too defensive. Mata is poor defensively and Lampard simply does not give enough cover.) Right now, I think the second combination needs a chance to see what they can do for a few games. Oscar will (and should) still get a ton of playing time.

Oscar has been amazing in the first couple of months, I dont see how someone can ask for more...

However, I do agree he has not being near the same level in the last three games he played. He didnt create much and he hasnt enough flair to run at defenders. We should definitely try something else, like Mata and Mikel (just as you said).

[Blue Armour 4,158]

Oscar has been amazing in the first couple of months, I dont see how someone can ask for more...

However, I do agree he has not being near the same level in the last three games he played. He didnt create much and he hasnt enough flair to run at defenders. We should definitely try something else, like Mata and Mikel (just as you said).

He really needed some rest after starting the last two matches. Today was an opportunity to play Mata...Thought he actually was ok, not too great. The long pass to Hazard in penalty area was great to watch.

[remains of the day 564]

Oscar, at least to me, is putting in the same performances he did back in August/September - he created little chances then and he's still creating very little now. The only difference is that he's not scoring as much. I think the goals deflected attention away from the fact that he rarely had an impact in attack if he wasn't scoring.

I see Chelsea in the middle right now as combinations of Oscar-Lampard and Mata-Mikel. (Oscar doesn't create enough so with Mikel, we are way too defensive. Mata is poor defensively and Lampard simply does not give enough cover.) Right now, I think the second combination needs a chance to see what they can do for a few games. Oscar will (and should) still get a ton of playing time.

The Mata and Mikel combination creates the same problems we had last season, in that far too much of the team's attacking threat was dependent on the performances of just two players (mata and hazard). I've been saying for a while that Oscar is not as good as Mata in the no.10 position but there's a reason why Ramires and Lampard have quite a bit of assists between the both of them. Oscar-Lampard balances the team offensively (and also defensively) - well at least in theory.

[Barbara 15,149]

I'll skip commentating in the biggest lie known in football stats which is called 'chances created' stats. Anyone should really bother to go to Squawka and check the time of the chances created (all you have to do is click on the little circle to show the minute the chance created happened to see that there isn't any bigger lie or BS than this stat, it's ridic that no matter where or who the pass is done, whoever touched the ball before someone decided to shoot on goal is counted as a chance created, even if both things - the assist and the pass - happened in the midway line). But well, people won't look at that, will they?

Now on Oscar though... if Mourinho really wants him to tackle and nothing more he has two things to do. Play him as the most advanced guy in the pivot (something I'd hate) or play him like Felipão in Brazil did a few times as the third midfielder in the 4-3-3

We can't afford Oscar in the wing (I think playing there too much to accommodate other AMs or to rotate with them during the matches destroyed his momentum), we can't afford to have a CAM that has one splitting pass per game like Oscar now because most of our games are against good defenses or teams parking the bus.

So Mourinho has to start to reinforce a few aspects of his AMs if he wants this team to start having consistency. We can't play in a 4-2-3-1 when our AMs are ineffective and don't do any service to our strikers - especially now that we finally have strikers in form. If Mourinho doesn't fix that, sooner or later Torres and Eto'o will be affected by it, the same way I think Oscar was affected by going to the wings. It breaks momentum, it's very simple logic imo. If you have one player playing really well (Oscar back then, Eto'o now) you have to make sure those guys receive service and you don't change what you have them doing.

So Oscar is shy, he does play with his head down a lot and he isn't as nearly creative as Mata. So if Mourinho wants to keep Oscar as an untouchable in the squad, he has to move him to a midfield position instead of an attacking midfield position. The difference though is that when playing 4-3-3 he has different kind of guys ahead of him (I do think playing Oscar as a CM in 4-2-3-1 is a waste, but I'm sure he can execute Lamps' ridiculous role better than him as he defends better, and has a good long pass, so if we want to keep the bad pivot with that style of player, at least use someone that will fill the midfield better. I still think Oscar will be only slightly less counter-productive than Lamps there because none of them are DLPs, just my opinion though).

So Mourinho has to make choices about Oscar because right now his choices are actually un-building what was built when the season started. Of course other factors must have influenced Oscar's lack of form, but I don't want my CAM to be the guy with more tackles than the rest all midfielders (pivot and attack) combined. replace Lamps with him and improve those stats, but don't waste him in a position with clear directions for him to defend and go deep instead of trying to improve his vision, creative and do stuff in the front as he should.

Oscar can help make a brilliant line of 3 men behind the striker if he has two wingers by his side playing very well. He can't carry an AM line like Mata did (but neither can Mata if he isn't 100% free to roam as he pleases, which means, Mata wouldn't under Mourinho either. Now if the problem is the tactics, it's another discussion), and he won't do that right now, so either benches him for Mata (which imo is the same difference as instead of Mata growing and equalizing his level to Oscar by improving, they were equalized by Oscar worsening) and takes a risk defensively, and wait until Mata starts delivering again, or moves Oscar and the system in a way it's Oscar role to play deeper instead of having Oscar playing as a CAM in theory, but being too deep to impact anything. Also Oscar isn't ready to be the CAM that will solve all our problems. He can be excellent like he was earlier this season, but it was more a collective thing than him shining on his own. He - like Hazard - isn't on his peak and while I think Hazard is (or should be) a step or two ahead of him in the development curve, Oscar alone can't be the guy to lead us now. So Mourinho has a choice to make by either changing Oscar's position or bringing Mata to the team - unless the two wingers, whoever they are, start playing well again and Oscar can form with them a good line of three.

edit: rewriting the last part because I guess it was confusing, . What I mean Oscar can be brilliant, but not carry a team, he needs others to help him. Right now he isn't brilliant and therefore we'd need both wingers playing better than him, so he can be a third guy with one or two good passes a match. As none of those seem attainable now, I'd change the system to 4-3-3 or I'd play in the role Mourinho insists on Lamps playing - only to improve the team slightly collectively because Oscar isn't a DLP and he won't be much better there, but I guess he'll be better than Lamps at least or I'd just give Mata a chance.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Thought he was the best of the bunch today, or at least the least bad of the bunch! Worked very hard as usual, and his movement and passing were mostly very good. That pass over the top to Hazard....

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I'll skip commentating in the biggest lie known in football stats which is called 'chances created' stats. Anyone should really bother to go to Squawka and check the time of the chances created (all you have to do is click on the little circle to show the minute the chance created happened to see that there isn't any bigger lie or BS than this stat, it's ridic that no matter where or who the pass is done, whoever touched the ball before someone decided to shoot on goal is counted as a chance created, even if both things - the assist and the pass - happened in the midway line). But well, people won't look at that, will they?

.

You're absolutely wrong because you're missing the big picture which is sample size. All statistics are flawed if you look at them in tiny sample sizes. You can take 3 brilliant shots that force 3 great saves and one player takes an awful shot that the keeper whifs at and he gets a goal and you don't. Does that mean that goals are a useless statistic? You can get an assist when you completely miss a pass and it goes to the wrong person who scores. Does that mean assists are useless? Of course not and it's the same with key passes because we are not talking about one or two plays which may or may not be flukes, we are talking 30-35 games worth of play and over the course of that many games, the luck evens out. Chances created is extremely important. For example, last year, the top 5 in Key Passes in the Premier League were Silva, Baines, Suarez, Mata, and Gerard, All are creative players who set up chances. Players who are great at setting up chances always have high key pass rates and players that aren't, don't. It's actually incredibly indicative of a player's creativity which is why you see a lot of repetition among the leaders. Mata in his 3 years at Chelsea averaged 3, 2.7, and 2.1 key passes a game. Why? Because he is a creative player who sets other players up for shots. Ozil is averaging 3.1 key passes a game this year for the same reason. The super creative players get key passes and it's not a coincidence. Anyway, I don't even see your issue. A pass from the halfway line that sets someone up to shoot is almost certainly a good pass because at the very least, you're completing a pass from the centre of the pitch to a scoring position. What's wrong with counting that as an extremely positive play? (which it is)

[Rmpr 8,977]

Oscar said in a interview today that Mourinho tried to sign him two years ago when he was in Real Madrid, but the negotiations didnt go through due to Real's big number of CAMs...

[Dion 2,476]

Assisted Hulk's goal just a few minutes ago :blue scalf:

[lucio 5,371]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TfROxfEfC8

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

Brazil's high pressing is something to behold, 5 players up the field stifling the opposition until their knees buckle. I thought Oscar had a great game.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

Brazil's high pressing is something to behold, 5 players up the field stifling the opposition until their knees buckle. I thought Oscar had a great game.

That's exactly how i wish chelsea to play or like realmadrid's laliga winning season with mourinho. NO time for spains slow tika taka stuff.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TfROxfEfC8

we need more runners into the box in our team, thats the only way our high pressing can work. Hazard needs to make diagonal runs into the box more often just like he did once against westbrom for oscars long pass to him

[ChelseasMessiah 304]

That's exactly how i wish chelsea to play or like realmadrid's laliga winning season with mourinho. NO time for spains slow tika taka stuff.

No chance of doing that unless you've got machine like players in Luis Gustavo and Paulinho, who can defend, press and bomb forward with finesse all day long. That's why I'm so adamant when it comes to Frank having such a free pass in a vital position for us. It hurts the team.

[kellzfresh 7,226]

No chance of doing that unless you've got machine like players in Luis Gustavo and Paulinho, who can defend, press and bomb forward with finesse all day long. That's why I'm so adamant when it comes to Frank having such a free pass in a vital position for us. It hurts the team.

True, gustavo and paulinho's high energy alone allow them to bomb forward like that