Melanicus

Hulk > Ramires > Moses > Sturridge > Schurrle > Ben Arfa

I'm sure you will be great dad! And great selection of name of true Chelsea fan! Little Didi is so cute!

You will get a lot of rep's for this, won't you? Great article (I didn't read it whole yet)! I like you as a poster on this forum and I think we need more posters like you on here. Keep up the good work!

Looking good Gary!

We will get him in August mark my words. Porto is trying to be tough, but we are the ones who are dictating the rules. They won't to milk our money as much as possilbe. We will act like we are not interested anymore and later Porto will see that no other club is interested. They will ask us if we are still interested and will lower the price and Hulk will be ours.

First of all, Slovenia isn't Eastern Europe but Central Europe - it's right below Austria. And second, fans here aren't violent, Balkan fans are violent (Serbs, Croats), but not all too...

Sorry to all English guys here, but your fans are disgrace. There should be teasing in football between fans, but this is too much. I mean, how can you insult someones family or mother? What the fuck? If I was Terry, I'd never play for England again and would see how those fuckers play without me.

Cole is elegant!

Hmm... Isn't there some law or something (I know for Slovenia) that no one should say anything when there is case in the court. You can say after it, but not in the middle of it.

How do you know Ash is there than?

Is there any stream?

That's it. Why the fuck is the case still opened?

No, he isn't.

Roberto Di Matteo has shortlisted two wide players from Porto and Lazio respectively to add competition to Chelsea's first-team squad. The new Blues' boss wants to beef up competition by providing back-up to Branislav Ivanovic and Ashley Cole. Di Matteo is seeking a right-back, a versatile left midfielder-cum-defender and a replacement for Didier Drogba as top of his list of priorities. Two names near the top of his shortlist are Porto's Cristian Sapunaru and Senad Lucic from Lazio. Sapunaru is seen as being able to provide cover for Ivanovic ahead of what is sure to be a testing campaign for the Champions League winners. And Bosnia international Lucic, who has enjoyed an excellent first campaign with Lazio, has the added attraction of being able to play either as a wide midfielder or at left-back. Source: DailyMail

Oscar represents a new emphasis on youth from Chelsea and is tipped to be their Mesut Ozil There is a quiet, albeit typically expensive, revolution taking place at Stamford Bridge. With the Champions League mission accomplished, Chelsea’s long-mooted root and branch reboot can begin. The old guard are being replaced by precocious young talent. Pinning your future on potential brilliance is a risky strategy, but in the case of Brazilian Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior there is little reason for concern. Already a picture of composure as a 20 year-old, he has the attributes to become a shrewd signing for Chelsea, even at the expected fee of £22 million. A central playmaker, Oscar walked out of Sao Paulo in 2010 to join Porto Alegre’s Internacional due to non-payment of wages. A court ruling ordered him to return in March of this year, but Internacional settled the matter with a compensation payment of around £5 million. Oscar scored a hat-trick in the final of the 2011 Under-20 World Cup which won Brazil the title, and has thrived in an Internacional side controlled by his dependable passing and easy mastery of space. “He’s quick, dynamic, very athletic,” says Rupert Fryer, founder of southamericanfootball.co.uk. “He’s very much a contemporary player. Versatile, quick in transition, he can play between the lines and burst beyond the back line at speed. He’s also got much better in front of goal recently.” While Oscar has the legally-required silky Brazilian skills in his locker, he is rarely flash. The midfielder’s balance is one of his biggest assets, and his unerringly straight-backed running style allows him to play with his head up and drift away from markers with ease. “He’s not the greatest tackler in the world, he’s not terrific in the air and will probably need to bulk up, although he’s by no means weak,” says Fryer. “He’ll just get a lot less protection in England than in Brazil, where if someone blows on you get a free kick. “He’s been compared to Kaka as he’s quick, but I think Oscar has a better eye for a pass. Kaka’s main gift was speed, Oscar prefers to operate in the spaces between the lines. I’d say he’s more like Mesut Özil, though perhaps not technically as gifted.” Rather than enjoying a streaky goalscoring run or relying entirely on youthful pace, Oscar is blessed with permanently fashionable footballing gifts. If he can adapt to the Premier League he could become the linchpin of the most exciting Chelsea side in a decade. Source: Telegraph

On Oscar And His Potential Position Since the Oscar link exploded yesterday evening, there has been all sorts of talk about the player and how he'd fit in terms of need with Chelsea FC. He's not Luka Modric, and he hasn't played the same role as Luka Modric. Many fans seem to feel this is reason enough to say he doesn't fill a need. Luka Modric, however, doesn't play the same double pivot with Tottenham Hotspur that he would (in theory) at Chelsea. So why is it we're so willing to move Luka to a somewhat new position without even a second of hesitation and not even consider it with Oscar? Today I think we need to do an exercise that works out well with any youngster. As kids develop physically, sometimes their ideal position on the pitch will be different than what they have been playing previously. Axel Witsel seems a perfect example. As a youth player, he was always one of the most gifted attackers in the Standard Liege system. When he reached the senior level, a move deeper seemed appropriate in order to maximize his talents. John Terry came through the youth ranks as a midfielder, as did David Luiz. Mikel was an attacking midfielder when we signed him. We still don't seem to know what Ramires best position is, but we all seem fairly confident slotting him in almost anywhere. With those players in mind, we're going to look today at what Oscar does well as opposed to where he has played to date. First of all, I'm going to direct you back to the profile we linked on the front page yesterday. It's just excellent. I've seen a fair amount of Oscar at both the international and club levels, and frankly I have a hard time disagreeing with anything written there. I'm going to briefly sum up what I see as Oscar's best attributes in bullet point form: Great passing range Two footed ability Calm in possession Excellent acceleration and agility Great balance Good in tight spaces Decent size Excellent work rate Sees the action as it develops exceptionally well for a player so young Now we'll look at some of the weaknesses in his game Lack of top end speed Not the strongest at this point of his development Not a great leaper Just looking at those attributes, I'd immediately rule out center forward and the center of the defense just due to his physical limitations. His lack of top end speed should also rule him out of playing out wide, as wings and fullbacks often have far more runs into open space. It would seem that Oscar would be an ideal candidate to play in the central midfield then. As he's played more, he's begun to develop some patterns with the way he plays. Let's take a look at those: Likes to pass the ball while running Prefers the higher percentage pass to the 'homerun" type of pass. Like to come back to receive the ball, turn, and move it forward. Likes to immediately move into space after passing Isn't hesitant to play any type of pass So what do these tendencies tell us exactly? When I look at them I see a central midfielder that can fill basically any role in the center of the park. He doesn't seem to be the Juan Mata type of player that's going to go for killer ball after killer ball, and his less than eye popping assist totals would seem to back that up. What he does seem to do well is find the player that's in a perfect position to deliver that final ball, a potentially mouth watering ability with players like Mata and Hazard working ahead of him. Should the defense leave a lane for a long ball or through ball, Oscar is more than capable of exploiting it. Even from a more advanced position, he'd be an asset in transitioning from defense to attack. He'd certainly seem quite capable of lining up in a deeper role though. One other thing I've noticed with Oscar is his tendency to play deeper now as opposed to a year ago. In the U20 World Cup last summer, Oscar acted almost like a second striker for much of the tournament. In the recent string of friendlies, Oscar still played as a advanced midfielder, but was often found dropping deep to receive the ball and help transition the squad to attack. He still wore the #10, but he didn't really play as a traditional #10 at all. Watching the transition and the ensuing performances, it's not hard to envision Oscar moving even deeper into the exact same role Luka Modric makes his own at Tottenham. The fact that I feel Oscar could play deeper doesn't mean that's what the club envision at all. It's not fair to the player, however, to pigeonhole him as strictly a #10 due to the fact that he's played there for most of his very short career. Look at what he does well and what he likes to do, and odds are you'll see a talent that could fill in any number of roles in any number of formations. Considering his peak is still likely 5-6 years away, where he's been playing for club and country to date is largely irrelevant. Think outside the box. Look at what he brings to the table. Forget about what formation we want to play to start next season, as we change primary formations more often than we change managers. The formations we play are best chosen by the talent available to put on the pitch at the time. Oscar would be a purchase for the next 10 years (hopefully), we're not looking at him as a temporary fix in our double pivot. Then again, he might well be that fix anyway. Source: WAGNH

Signing Schurrle just means end for Sturridge... It's simple as that. I'd rather keep Danny here. Blues Set To Increase Schurrle Bid - Telegraph - http://sbn.to/RZUCrK Chelsea are considering a second improved offer of around £20m for Andre Schurrle after £17m bid was rejected [telegraph]

For those guys who are wondering how will Oscar fit in our formation. I'm sure Roberto will slowly convert him into deep lying playmaker and he will share his playing time with Frank. In my opinion this is a really smart move by the club - this guy will be big name in future and for God's sake, he is Brazilian national team player - you don't get there by luck. Signing of Oscar means no Modrić or any other midfielder this season. Club will still buy one more winger and right back in this transfer window.

This is the first part in a series I want to do profiling each potential playmaker Brazil has for the 2014 World Cup: Oscar, Ganso, Hernanes, Diego, and Kaka. (I’m discounting Ronaldinho because I refuse to consider him a viable option.) We’ll start off with everyone’s darling of the moment, Oscar. Oscar is the most fundamentally sound player in the Brazilian national team. Quick qualification on that statement – I’m not counting players who Mano hasn’t called up yet. But of all the many players who’ve donned the yellow jersey in the last 3 years, Oscar is more versatile and more well-rounded than any of them. Different players can do individual things better, and he’s not the first I’d pick to build a team around, but after re-watching the USA and Argentina matches, and parts of Denmark and Mexico, I’m going to make a prediction. Oscar will be the team’s starting number 10 for the 2014 World Cup. Now, granted, I’m not saying anything revolutionary. And I’m not saying that, if the World Cup were tomorrow, Oscar would be the one I would pick. (I’d still pick Hernanes or Diego; maybe even Kaka.) But after re-watching those matches, I was curious to see if his level of play would hold up on second inspection. It did. I wasn’t sure if I would do this article because it’s hard to talk about what makes a player play so well on pictures alone, but then I discovered that videos of every single one of Oscar’s touches in the Denmark, USA and Argentina matches were posted to YouTube. So without further ado… http://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=kcxnTNTd3sU Let’s discuss some of the things that make Oscar such an effective player: Ball control/body control One of the things that make Oscar so fantastic is that he has immense control over both his body and his feet. When watching the videos, watch the Denmark match at the 0:38 mark and 3:14 mark, or against Argentina at the 1:48 and 2:11 marks. Not only does he usually display a good first touch on the ball, but watch his body. It’s almost always completely vertical. He has great balance when he moves, rarely learning one way or another. It’s this quality that allows him to get by his man without having to perform a complicated trick or rely on sheer pace; it’s also this quality that allows him to pull off some spectacular one-touch passes, like the one to Hulk starting at 2:11. When a player is off balance in any sport, it makes it much harder for them to control themselves. Off-balance shots are much harder shots in basketball, make for harder strokes in tennis, and make for more inaccurate passes and shots in football. But Oscar’s balance – in part – is what allows him to be so effective. It was a factor in his absurdly high pass-completion rate in the four friendlies, and it prevents defenders from knowing what he’s going to do. The balance gives him the time to wait until the last possible second before passing or dribbling past his man. The 2nd clip against Denmark is the perfect example of this. During the U20 World Cup, I also wrote that Oscar has superb turning ability. He was able to use his ability to turn on the ball to great advantage in that tournament, even against much more athletic players. In addition, while Oscar is not a very fast runner, he has an excellent first step. Johan Cruyff always used to say that it wasn’t about who was the fastest, but rather who moved first. Oscar’s quick first step allows him run with the ball at speed for a longer period of time than you’d expect. You won’t see him go on any long solo runs, but it adds an extra dimension to his game so that he’s not always just making passes at a standstill (like Ganso often seems to do.) Contrast this with Kaka, who was one of the fastest players I’ve ever seen, once upon a time. Now that Kaka’s pace has deserted him, his ability to run with the ball is greatly diminished – and he doesn’t have a particularly quick first step to rely on. (His pace always was built around the fact that he could pick up speed the longer he ran, not how quick he was out of the gate. Lucky for Kaka, though, that he is also possesses excellent balance.) Comfort in every area of the pitch I said after the U20 World Cup that one of the things I loved about Oscar was his ability to range all over the pitch and contribute no matter where he was. He demonstrated the same ability in spades in the last four friendlies. For example, look at 1:04 against Denmark. A lot of players, when on the ball that deep in their own territory, will panic and just boot the ball down field, or try to win a throw-in. But Oscar keeps his composure and sends a perfect long ball up to Leandro Damiao. In addition, in all four friendlies he consistently would drop deep to either help defend, or, in possession, would drop deep to help the build-up. Watch in the videos how often he will fall back, collect the ball, and then quickly pass and move. Of course, we know how comfortable he is in the center of the pitch, as that’s his primary home. But check out 0:33 against the USA to see how good he is in congested positions (keeping the ball even in traffic, before slipping a perfect, casual through-ball to the marginally-offside Hulk.) He showed how comfortable he can be on the wing, popping up on the right wing, easily evading the Argentine leftback, before firing in a very dangerous cross that could have resulted in a goal for either Damiao or Neymar. (2:00 in the Argentina video.) And of course, he’s also got no problem playing in the box itself. (2:59 in the Argentina video.) Passing skills There’s a bit of ’82 legend Falcao in Oscar, due to the things I mentioned above, like his comfort in all areas of the pitch. Another similarity is his underrated passing. To put it short, it’s very accurate. More importantly, it’s very intelligent: you always see Oscar playing the percentages when he has the ball. He’ll usually choose the more conservative option when given the choice, hoping to develop a more clear-cut scoring chance rather than try to make something out of nothing. But there seems to be a myth in some places that Oscar doesn’t really ever play killer passes, or attempt defense splitting through balls. Well, witness 1:00 against Argentina (gorgeous long-ball to Hulk, who should have scored) or 1:18 against Argentina (diagonal lofted-ball over the top of the defense to Neymar, who should have been awarded a penalty) 1:54 against Argentina (perfectly lofted through-ball to Hulk) or 1:08 against the USA (another lovely lofted through-ball to Damiao who should have scored, or 3:19 against the USA (through-ball to Neymar, who crossed to Pato who hit the post.) A little while back, I wrote a long post to Zetona about the fact that playmakers, despite their reputation, aren’t really creators. You can’t really create a chance to score with a pass – you can only exploit chances. It’s the movement and positioning of your teammates, a long with the defenders, that create chances. A good playmaker is one who recognizes a chance and then tries to seize it. (To this day, Zidane is the best I’ve ever seen at this.) Oscar seems to understand this basic principle well. He rarely tries overambitious things that can’t be pulled off. But he’s also excellent at recognizing a chance, and then attempting to seize it. Watching the replays of these friendlies, I didn’t I see a single time when there was an obvious scoring chance created by his teammates that he failed to recognize and exploit. There were a few times where Oscar should have attempted to swing the ball to the opposite flank, instead of a more conservative layoff to a teammate close to him, but this is a minor issue. Another aspect of Oscar’s passing skills is that he can basically complete every type of pass there is. What I mean by that is: - He’s two-footed, so he can pass with both feet - He’s adept at both the long-ball, the through-ball, the lofted-ball, and simple diagonal passes along the ground - He can pass while on the run - He can pass with every part of his foot. This one cannot be overstated. A lot of players can only pass with the inside of their foot, but Oscar can pass with his toe, with his backheel, and, most importantly of all, with the outside of his foot. This actually is not very common. Have you ever watched a match on TV where you see passing angles open to the dribbler, who makes no attempt to exploit them? It’s often because it would require passing with the outside of your foot, a skill many players don’t possess. But Oscar does it on a routine basis. The reason why the outside of your foot is difficult is because you get less feel for the ball, and it’s harder to generate power. Just as a backhand is a harder shot in tennis or hockey, passing with the outside of your foot means moving your leg away from your body rather than across. It’s a more awkward – and thus, more difficult – movement. Other fundamentals I’m running out of time on this article (I can hear my kids waking up) so I’ll be brief. While watching the videos above, pay attention to the following: - Oscar’s work rate. He is constantly moving around the pitch, pressing the centerbacks, dropping back to defend, or harrying the dribbler in the midfield. It’s this quality that led to Hulk’s 2nd goal against Denmark. - Oscar’s grasp of the pass and move idea. After every pass he makes, especially in the center of the park, you’ll see him immediately run forward-and-diagonally off the ball, to create a passing angle and catch the defenders napping. Pass and move is so simple and so fundamental, it always drives me nuts when players don’t do it. This was one of the single biggest flaws with Mano’s team in the Copa America. No one was doing it. (In retrospect, isn’t it incredible that Oscar wasn’t called up for that tournament? I mean, we knew Mano wasn’t going to call Hernanes or Kaka, and Diego hadn’t yet found his game in Madrid yet. But Oscar was a domestic player playing for a huge club. You’d have expected Mano to at least give him a look.) - Oscar always plays with his head up. 1:04 against Denmark is a perfect example of this. He wins the ball off a Dane, drops deeper to evade any challenges, and then fires a perfect ball up the touchline to Damiao. He could have only done this if his head was up the whole time, and it was. So, in short, while Oscar may not be quite as obviously dynamic as some of the other potential #10’s in the Selecão, he’s the most fundamentally sound. A lot of players are heavily weighted in one or two areas, meaning they suffer in others. So just as they can help the team with the skills, they can hurt the team with their flaws. That really isn’t the case with Oscar. Now, the one thing to watch out for though is that Oscar came into these friendlies as a relative unknown. Of all the young phenoms playing in Brazil today (Neymar, Lucas, Damiao, Ganso, even Dede) Oscar is easily the least heralded. So it’s probable that all four teams didn’t know much about him, choosing to focus their attention on the more famous names. I expect that, very soon, Oscar will start receiving a lot more attention from defenders, so I don’t expect him to play this well all the time. In fact, I expect we’ll see him struggle a bit in the next round of friendlies. But given the fact that Oscar is a domestic player, an extremely skilled player, a fearless player (look how comfortable he was playing against a senior European side in his first start for the Selecão!) and a young player (he’s only going to get better and better), I’m going to hold to my prediction: Oscar will be the starting #10 for Brazil in the 2014 World Cup. Whether he’ll be the most deserving remains to be seen. But it’s heartening to see a young player perform so intelligently and maturely. All you can ask of a player is that they seize the chances given to them, and Oscar has definitely done that. Source: http://brazil.worldcupblog.org/world-cup-2010/the-playmakers-oscar.html

Same here mate... And as a moderator I need to check every thread, all of them.

Come on John!