Daniel1980

I wasn't able to watch this game. Just checked the stats and saw that whoscored gave him a rating of 5.7/10 for the game and, according to them, apparently he made a error leading to a goal. Is that true? Did Oscar play that bad?

Sure, but it's well-known that Jose loves Ramires. In this case, it's unlikely it's just words.

Pogba makes no sense unless we sell Oscar and use Cesc as #10, and so far, there have been no signs of us intending to sell Oscar. Oscar will have no place in the same team as Pogba and Fabregas. Alternating Oscar with Fabregas won't work all that well, because with Fabregas on the bench, we're back to square one--little creativity from midfield. Pogba is good, but he's no creative midfielder. It's also worth remembering that Jose seems especially fond of Ramires. As much as I would have liked it, I doubt Ramires is going anywhere. Remember what Jose told about Ramires: Jose clearly thinks we have a "very complete midfield" already. And he's right. I would have liked having Pogba instead of Ramires, but I doubt it's happening. Our midfield is pretty good as it is. We have options, and I want Van Ginkel to be given a chance too.

Not surprising at all. Their board seems unable to make any sensible decisions. They've been needing proper defenders for years, yet they keep making luxury signings instead. Hell, they could have bought T.Silva when he became available and sorted out their defence, but no, of course buying shiny new toys is more important.

The head looks a bit big to me compared to the body. Might be photoshop.

Yep. During WCs people get hyped up too easily and drool all over the players they didn't even rate much before, demanding the club to buy the "next Zidane, Vieira, etc" for insane prices. I don't think Oscar was that bad, actually. I was actually more disappointed with Hazard in this WC than with Oscar. That being said, Oscar has to step up and try to regain his form. If he doesn't, his place in the first team isn't guaranteed, since we have several players capable of playing #10. P.S. Don't keep your posts short. Seriously.

I agree that we shouldn't judge any player only by his performance in the WC, but to be fair, Costa was after an injury, was new to the NT, was booed by the Brazilian fans, not to mention that Spain NT's style doesn't suit him at all; Cesc didn't look bad in the WC--he played only for half an hour and looked good, creating chances and making an assist. And I don't remember Azpi looking all that bad overall. Anyway, I think Oscar is criticized not only for his form in the WC--Hazard was no better in that regard, and you're right that Scolari's tactics certainly didn't help Oscar--but Oscar hasn't looked good offensively for the club too in a very long time. So it's natural that people aren't optimistic considering Oscar's performance for the club and the NT. I hope he finds his form, but recovering from 1:7 won't be easy for any Brazilian player. We can only hope that it'll make him stronger rather than lessen his confidence.

Worry not, we can always play Fabregas as a centre forward. It's not like he doesn't have the experience.

While I would have liked a bit younger player, this is a very good signing nonetheless. We can't have a squad full only of promising, talented youngsters with no experience at winning, and Jose knows this.

Yes, with his work rate, box-to-box seems like a logical thing. Let's face it: he's not going to be a world-class playmaker, because at his age, it's unlikely that he'll suddenly get a better vision and tremendously improve his passing and creativity. But he's still a good passer, has an okay creativity, great workrate and defensive contribution. If he puts on some muscle, IMO, he might become a good box-to-box.

Yes, but only on the main page of the forum.

It's a very bad idea to have only one source of creativity in the team, and it puts too much pressure on Eden--and makes everything harder for him. Defenders know whom to mark to neutralize the team's creativity. Oscar's got very good work rate and defending skills, but he must have different skill set to play at the #10 position. Most good teams have multiple playmakers, not one. To expect that Hazard will save us on the creative front every game is not only unfair, but also unrealistic. Granted, if Hazard has a great season and Fabregas plays a deep-lying playmaker, the lack of creativity from the player who actually occupies the #10 position might not be so noticeable. I don't want Oscar to leave. He's a good kid and very useful, but it's true that he must seriously improve to be considered a playmaker. Right now he plays like a midfielder that was forced up the pitch into a creative position where he doesn't belong.

Yes, his lack of creativity for #10 is worrying, but everyone in the team was shit, not only him. I don't think he deserves to be made the scapegoat. I bet Neymar is glad right now that he missed this match and won't be blamed.

He looks destroyed. Hope they won't make Oscar the scapegoat. He definitely wasn't the only one to blame.

What a goal. Hopefully next season Andre will shine. He makes amazing runs and with Fabregas in the team that will come in handy. Andre definitely deserves to be started more. The lad has immense potential.

Arsenal should have signed Sanchez before the WC. There were rumours that Barcelona's board wanted to sell him for cheap, but after a great WC, his rating--and price--has obviously increased. His work rate is amazing, one of the best I've ever seen in a winger. However, his finishing isn't. Out of all Barcelona attackers, he usually missed clear-cut chances the most. He improved his finishing last season, but he's still not the greatest finisher out there. Hell, even Cesc, a midfielder, was a far better finisher than him at Barcelona. Alexis's finishing is what Barcelona fans mostly criticized him for.

It's a great signing for Arsenal if it's true. Both Sanchez and Fabregas never quite fit in Barcelona, limited by the team's style. I would have liked if we signed Sanchez too, but Fabregas is far more versatile and creative, so I believe we got a better deal.

Personally, I'm wary of such comparisons. And you have to be careful with Serie A stars. They don't necessarily shine elsewhere. A very recent example is Javier Pastore who was named Serie A's Young Footballer of the Year, likened to Kaka, and predicted an amazing career. In last season, he scored only 1 goal and a few assists for PSG. You can never know these things. It's always a gamble.Not saying Pogba won't live up to the expectations; he might.

I wonder how many here have actually seen Pogba play in Serie A on a regular basis. I try watching Serie A when I can and from what I have seen of him, I'm not sure I would pay 60 million for him. Yes, he's a very promising and talented young midfielder, but he isn't something spectacular(at least not yet). Like every young talent, he has a share of bad games and great games. I would be more than happy to have him compliment Matic and Fabregas in midfield, but I think Oscar is no worse when it comes to workrate and defending; and Oscar knows the club and knows the EPL well. If we do get Pogba for such a high price, I think many are going to be disappointed. With a high price tag come high expectations. The grass is always greener on the other side. Fans of other clubs are envious of our midfielders(Matic, Fabregas) and AMs(Hazard, Oscar). Personally, I'm pretty happy with Matic-Fabregas-Oscar.

We don't need more attacking midfielders. We already have enough young AMs and we have two most creative players in Europe(literally): Yes, they both suffer from inconsistency, but between the two of them, we have more than enough creativity, and we finally have a decent CF to use those chances. We'll be fine.

That's why I don't like when we depend on one player too much. Having only one creative, game-changing player isn't good, no matter how good he is. It makes us limited and predictable. With our new signings our attack should be more dangerous, and Hazard will have some breathing room.

Feels like an alternate reality.

Offtopic, so I replied in Fabregas's thread.

Cesc did play as #10 in 4-2-3-1 at Arsenal in 2010-2011. In 2009-2010, he mostly played as the most advanced midfielder in 4-3-3. Before that, yes, he played as the deep-lying playmaker. As for Barcelona... My wife is a Barcelona fan, so I had to watch many of their games. Cesc played LM, RM, winger(LOL), centre forward, and of course, false nine. He rarely played centrally as a true CAM behind forwards(they have Messi in the centre and even when they didn't, they used Fabregas as a false nine). This is one of the few games he was allowed to play more like a CAM at Barcelona: http://vimeo.com/86228084 Looks like CAM is the position he prefers, though he was good when he played deeper in his earlier seasons at Arsenal. We'll see what position Jose wants him for.

I'm pretty sure it's the opposite. Cesc likes playing the #10--that's what he was in his last year at Arsenal. They didn't let him play there at Barcelona because Messi plays in the centre and they don't use a traditional CAM.