lionsden

The issue is Fullback is the one of , if not the most physically demanding positions on the field and it's an area where age and athleticism matters significantly if a player is to perform to standard on both ends of the pitch. I can't trust a 30 plus year old fullback , for eg, to be bumping up and down the pitch while doing so at an elite level unless the player in question is maldini or Zanetti.

If that was the case Coutinho and Lucas Moura would have made the squad and starting 11 even in place of Paulinho/Ramires and Hulk respectively. And what's entertaining about hulk? is it how regularly he falls flat on his arse or how often he surrenders possesion in embarrassing fashion. I'm not exaggerating when I say he's one of the most frustrating players to watch in world football which makes your post a bit weird.

Why are people surprised? This is typical oscar. he rarely plays badly for brazil, club level on the otherhand is a different matter entirely. He's a odd one really because most players usually have their best games at club level. in Oscar's case it's the other way round and he needs to fix that if he wants to stay at the club.

Credit where its due, he's been Brazil's best player in the 1st half. why he never brings his NT form to Chelsea, i will never understand.

Of what use was the counter attacking "pace and suitability" of Oscar and ramires against parked defence last season? most of the teams we face domestically employs tactics that renders our counterattacking football useless. which is why we need to be more versatile offensively and both Modric and fabregas gives us another option and dimension.

Fabregas and Modric are not the same at all, not even close. The former is an attacking midfielder while the latter is a proper DLP. If we get both Fabregas will replace oscar in the hole and Modric partners Matic in CM. Just because he's played in Cm doesn't mean he's a CM. fabregas skillset is more suited to playing behind the striker. I have always thought playing him in CM wastes alot of his creativity and goal scoring potential.

Well it's official Chelsea FC ‏@chelseafc 6h Defender Tomas Kalas will spend next season on loan in Germany.. Thoughts?

The "new John Terry" aka flavour of the month would have emerged by then and like you said Kalas would be too old and irrelevant by transfer muppets standard

Imagine the meltdown if both deals somehow collapses.

I also find it quite contradictory to the "he's not ready/good enough" bandwagon how they aren't championing the idea of Oscar being sent out on loan to prove himself and polish his skills (God knows he needs massive amount of work and improvement from a technical standpoint). Afterall he was bought on the back of his performances at the U20 WC and friendlies for Brazil and he has yet shown or proven anything at club level. If other youngsters are on loan for this reason, then it's fair to conclude Oscar is in the team on the basis of his transfer fee and hype. Henceforth anyone that supports Oscar and think he deserves a starting spot in the first team have absolutely no right whatsover to claim Lukaku, for example, a player who has shown far more in the premier league than Oscar ever has, isn't ready yet or good enough for first team football at Chelsea as that will just be contradiction and double standard of the highest degree. Also we have set a precedence that we are a learning school for young players afterall as long as they cost a lot of money so the excuse that we cannot afford to accommodate/ integrate (inconsistent/relatively unproven youngsters (Oscar was unproven when we bought him) as we have aspirations to challenge for and win titles and we aren't "Southampton" no longer holds weight . You can't support Oscar and then frown at the idea of bringing through a youngster like Chalobah for example who also has shone at youth tournaments . . . . . . . once you give Oscar a chance, you have to give other youngsters with similar talent and career path one as well.

He's not showing signs of progression and getting any better that's for sure and he's never shown any consistency at club level be it internacional or Chelsea to suggest it's just a long barren purple patch. It's the same excuses that were made for countless failed youngsters "he's too talented not too make it", "he's just experiencing a purple patch" "He's not suited to the tactics, the managers isn't getting the best out of him" "He was fantastic (insert timeframe) and so on. we have seen it all before.

That's confirmation that we have signed fabregas if you ever needed one.

But the corner he won in munich alone eclipses anything Lampard has ever achieved with us

Who is this Torres fella that you speak of ?

And that's the issue. Any player "can be amazing on their day". I have seen Titus fecking Bramble and Lee Cattermole producxe motm performances before. heck even Torres has had some amazing performances for us yet he's deemed not good enough and rightfully so. we need a player that can be relied upon atleast 7x out of 10. And since you are "sure" he will step up next season the matter is settled and we can all sleep happy and comfortably.

He totally bossed Brazil midfield. he's remarkably nimble for someone his size and excellent in tight spaces where others would normally lose possession, he manages to retain it. He will be the heart of our midfield for many years to come.

They are similar in terms of career path. . . . . . highly rated and touted to reach great height but ultimately faded into oblivion and failed to fulfill the early promise and "potential". That's what Henrique means and tbh I thought his point was quite straight forward and unambiguous.

What stops another club from coming in with a bigger/better offer in the last minute? break down in communication/negotiation? even small details can cause this, Last minute change of heart by Bartomeu or the player himself which links back to the second point and so on. These things happen often in football but are rarely revealed publicly.

Willian and Robinho seem to suggest that nothing is ever clear cut until the player has put pen to paper. Also Man utd lost Ronaldinho to Barca in 2003 at the very last minute in similar fashion.

The only thing that confirms is that he's leaving barca which has been common knowledge for a while. That doesn't mean he's heading for Chelsea even though it looks that way by all indication.

If Ramires can rediscover his form of 2011/2012 (that season i felt he should have won the POTY ahead of mata), I wouldn't mind him as a solid squad option however £25m is alot of money and there's no guarantee nor indication that he can rediscover top form.

These are the list of excuses that has been used to defend his constant mediocre performances and form since he joined Adaptation to a new league,climate and style of football, age, fatigue and exhaustion, unsuitable tactics, world cup fever, baby fever. Unfortunately it shares a striking resemblance with Torres who was also fervently defended with excuses ranging from unsuitable tactics and style of play, lack of service, lack of proper pre season rest, malouda's selfishness (pathetic I know), Drogba taking him out of the spotlight and so on. At some point the uncomfortable question and evaluation has to be made i,e "is he good enough" "what is the guarantee that he isn't like the other hundreds of "talented" (I used that loosely in Oscar's case) youngsters who failed to fulfill their potential" There are not enough questions being asked. all I see are bunch of excuses being made.

global warming and wars going on around the world are weighing on his mind. The sun, earth and moon must form a perfect alignment before he can perform. He was "mangnificent", "zidane like" "world class" in the first half of last season apparently and he also has these mythical and imaginary huge potential and has been tipped by "experts" to become a world class playmaker in the future so it's all right

How many overrated youngsters have we seen fizzle out and fail to build on early promises over the years? too many to count. He is going the way of gazillion other Brazilian flops like Robinho,Anderson,Ganso,keirrison et al. the former two werer even more highly rated and talented than oscar as a youngster and in Robinho's defence, he actually fulfilled some of his potential at Madrid before deteriorating. The truth is Oscar never showed anything at club level and was purchased strictly off the back of his Brazil U20 and national team exploits in meaningless friendlies.

Piers isn't a sport/football journalist.