Chelsea Legend 11

Joey Barton is better he makes 2.5 key passes a game... Jesus Navas makes 2.2.... Victor Moses makes 2.1.... Zlatko Junuzovic(who???) makes 2.4

What does Mourinho know?? He got rid of Mata and DeBruyne!! Kevin is the best player in the bundesliga!

Yes actually I DO.... lol. they agreed with your argument so its fair grounds to lump them in. What is the point? You claim we need a guy who attempts difficult passes regardless of whether or not he is successful at them! That is poor! Look around Europe you will not find ONE decent no.10 whose pass completion percentage is lower than 75% I don't care if that person tries to attempt 80 yd passes, a no.10 for a top club can't have a worse pass completion percentage than Phil Bardsley! How does this make us a better team??? Yes we have a hard working team! And Oscar fits that mould, its the squad we've constructed. And this argument that Oscar is only doing well because of the players around him is poor. You can't possibly say that in this squad one player is leaning on another, they all have assignments and Oscar's is intrinsic to how we play. The fact that Firmino unsuccessfully tries difficult passes and dribbles doesn't in no way, shape or form make him a better no.10 for our team. As a matter of fact, with the way Jose likes to play someone like Firmino would be the antithesis. Poor passer, slow, makes terrible decisions. How are we supposed to counter? How are we supposed to break teams down that sit deep with a guy who passes worse than Ramires when under pressure? So now we're gonna compare the stats of Oscar's World Cup which represented him in a completely different role and in 7 games at the end of a long campaign? Man this straw man argument is gonna burn up quickly! Why are you comparing Mikel to Oscar and Firmino? The reason why I put those names in there is because nowhere in the premier league is there a no.10 who passes the ball so poorly, those numbers are reserved to rubbish players. Mikel is a very good passer too! his assignment has his making shorter passes than what is required from a deep lying playmaker. Are you mad? Firmino is a good two paces slower than Oscar! Yes Firmino has good technique I've mentioned that but how is that going to make us a better team? We have dribblers all over the pitch. All you are demonstrating here is you don't understand how Oscar is being utilized in the team. He is not our playmaker, that is Hazard and Cesc... For them to be effective we need people to do the dirty work and that is where Oscar comes in. Its about balance and chemistry... We could have 4 of the best dribblers in the world on our team and we would lose if it wasn't also met with ball winning, tackles and tactical awareness. When Cesc goes forward Oscar knows to fall back and cover, when Hazard goes dribbling through the middle of the pitch, Oscar knows where to be to keep shape. Do I wish he was nicer on the ball? hell ya that would be fantastic but for all he does for the team and for what we got him for I'm content. We have enough risk takers(as a matter of fact our actual no.10 is Hazard when you think about tactical deployment) Oscar provides stability and tactical awareness. If FIrmino is all you say he is why hasn't he even been capped yet? Why is he at Hoffenheim? Is there no team in Europe that see's how vastly superior he is to Oscar and how much he would make a top 5 team that much better? Are all the scouts directors and managers missing something here? Or is it you who is romanticizing his lovely dribbling and ignoring his poor passing and tactical awareness? Hmmmm....

I wouldn't go that far. Still one a lot of headers and also held up the ball decently... Everything else was brutal. Remy to start for sure.

Because that was LAST YEAR, THIS YEAR Oscar has clearly improved and is besting him.

Yes anything can happen! Oscar could go on and get better too!

EVEN BETTER! Clearly Oscar has improved this season!

So even last year he bested Coutinho? Great!

Ummm... WHAT??? So you want a guy who attempts difficult passes but rarely connects on them and gives up possession at an alarming rate as our no.10???? hahahaha Dude... We are a possession based team who also play on the counter, what good is a CAM if he tries all these difficult passes and never connects them? You, Skipper and Lionsden are just exposing yourselves mightily with these poorly constructed arguments. First you guys say you don't want Oscar because he's not good enough and attacks break down when its at his feet, that his decision making is poor. Then to counter that buy selecting a guy who is a poor passer, very slow and an even worse decision maker than Oscar when playing in a league that is way slower??? (BTW that's why DeBruyne is excelling the league fits his pace) Brother, you do understand that the Premier is played at a break neck speed right? If you actually believe Firmino is a better option in the 10 than Oscar I can't really argue with you but I will say this, 73% pass completion rate is PALTRY and if you think Chelsea are supposed to be a top 5 team in the world having a 10 who can't complete 80% of his passes is hardly even premier league status.... Here are a few names from the premier league who complete 73% of their passes none of them play for top clubs.... Phil Bardsley 73.4 Paul Konchesky 73.3 Danny Ings 73 Joey Barton 73 Leonardo Ulloa 73 Aaron Cresswell 72.9 To name a few... I somehow doubt our board and Jose agree with you on this.

Honestly, if Coutinho is the best name the peanut gallery can come up with as a replacement we should move on from this topic because clearly they have no clue. Coutinho..hahaha flavor of the month once every 2 years! LOL

HILARITY! If Jose thought Oscar was poor he'd sell him. If Jose thought Oscar was poor he wouldn't have sold DeBruyne and Mata... I don't know... Jose seems to know best.

http://weaintgotnohistory.sbnation.com/2014/10/16/6968855/chelsea-ffp-database His amortized fee is 5.9M (Transfer fee and salary broken down for the duration of the contract, he signed a 5yr deal) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_%28footballer,_born_1991%29 Wiki claims 19.35m based on the Internacional financial statement for that year.

So what is it about his game you like more than Oscar's? I admit to not knowing much about his game please tell me how a guy whose pass completion is worse than Oscar's by more than 10% is gonna improve our ACM? How is a guy that is obviously way slow gonna improve our counter? He does seem the type to get stuck in and seems to have decent technique but I can't for the life of me see how you think he displaces Oscar. I'd say his first touch is pretty much on par with Oscar's wouldn't agree?

Ya and I'm sure you watch loads of Hoffenheim games in your spare time actually watched a few last year when we were linked with him in the summer. He's slow, can't pick a pass, looks uncoordinated when running and looks out of shape. If that is the type of player you think is gonna make Chelsea a better team than the one we we with Oscar... LOL!! The Premier league is by far the fastest pace competition in Europe, you put Firmino in Oscar's role and he will struggle mightily to keep up. I have no idea what your middle rant is all about. You claim Chelsea are competing against teams who have world class players in every position, I don't agree with you at all. What Chelsea are doing is building a team in the philosophy of the managers style while still adhering to FFP, my proof of this is directly from what the club have publicly said and went out and done! We are looking to build a balanced team capable of playing and winning in any particular fashion. If you look at the purchases we've made none of them have broken the bank, in fact, we've made modest profits in the process. Like I've said our opinion in World Class is in stark contrast. I do not believe Kroos, Boateng, Rakitic, Benzema, Pepe, Casillas, Carvajal, Pique are world class. You may convince me that Alaba is in and around there but it would take a serious debate. World class is not a title I throw around to anyone because they play for big teams.

Oh but it is! and you have no proof of the contrary. We have a 40,000 seater stadium, modest endorsements and FFP which states we can only spend what we make so Roman can't underwrite purchases anymore. Barcelona Pique Mathieu Alba Rakitic Bravo Munich Dante Alonso Alaba Boateng Madrid Kroos Pepe Carvajal Benzema Casillas If those players classify as world class to you its clear our definition of the term world class is in stark contrast. I'd encourage you to watch Firmino play before you make some wild assertion that he makes penetrating passes. This is Firmino...

Yes things he is good at and got better! Why is that not enough? (in my opinion he's gotten better at seeing passes too) What is this fascination with being world class? You expect in the 2/3 years that we've had Oscar(who was bought young) under contract for his net worth to double if not triple? He wasn't purchased because he had world class potential! He was bought because he filled a tactical need in the squad. In what world can you get a world class player for under 20M??? Maybe the problem is you guys have set the bar much too high and can't appreciate the fact we have a tactically astute player who scores goals, assists, tackles, man marks and works extremely hard all for the low price of 19m.... Not saying he can't get better but man you guys are way off in terms of what the expected return should be.

To suggest Oscar hasn't improve under Jose Mourinho is laughable. What have you guys been watching the last 2-3yrs? Tactical awareness Finishing Strength Composure

The easy answer is we have to spend before we buy. It's been the club policy for a while now. So when you can find a replacement for Oscar in the price range of his valuation then we can start talking about who is a better fit. And what team in the world has world class players in every position? Real Madrid? What kind of money can they spend? Can we compete with that? I don't even think they have world class players in every position. I don't mind Willian in the 10... Not sure he would provide the same sort of offensive production Oscar has, not sure he will win as many tackles either. I have a feeling you'd have a problem with a no.10 who can't complete 75% of his passes. If Oscar is terrible, like some of you are suggesting, Firmino is horrific.

I swear people in this forum are completely spoiled and have no idea about balance, return on investment and how players function in the team philosophy. We bought Oscar for exactly £19.35M! In that time he has worked tirelessly for the team and In a lot of ways helped gel the team. I think what's lost on some of you is what he does for the team and what the expected return should be for a 23yr old we paid 19m for. I'm still waiting for any of you spoiled little brats to find me a better no.10 for Jose's system. And please do so by matching the valuation you have for Oscar.

Ya we've seen that this year... Not a fan at all. We lose an attacking threat in the final 3rd when that happens. That strategy may work when we're looking to counter but not really a fan of cesc in the 10.

Explain please. What role would Cesc have in the 10? are we strictly playing on the counter or are we trying to build attacks from the back? I know I'm not alone when I say Cesc in the 10 takes away from the overall quality of our play. We need him on the ball as much as possible and in the 10 he see's it less.

I didn't think it would be. Look at how well Lukaku played last year under Martinez and also Deulefou. Thought Atsu had a chance to get his spot in the rotation.

He was the most dangerous player on the team that looked the most threatening. Scored some ridiculous goals too

could very well be the player of the tourney

Brother.... just because Silva isn't a pylon anymore doesn't mean he is effective in defensive areas on the pitch. Why are you comparing Hazard to Sanchez? this is about Oscar. Isco is in the team because Modric is injured simple as... He does not possess the all around game needed to play in Jose's no.10, and its not even close to open for debate.