Barbara

I didn't want to use my wildcard and my changes gave me around 30 points - as I predicted they would, so it was still worth it. Now it's time to start collecting

and who in their right frame of mind would compare anyone to Hazard? Hazard is special, he's a hell of a player and one most people here know is our most talented player... we should compare Oscar's development to players his age that are around the same quality as he, like Schurrle who's 24 and other players in other teams. There are few players in the world you can compare to Hazard at age 23...

I think it may be down to him struggling to adapt and not being on his best form yet as Azpilicueta hasn't been nearly as good as last season in the two matches he's had this season. It's been a significant drop imo - which just shows how immense he was last season as despite not being even 80 or even 70% as good, he hasn't been bad. He's made a few mistakes we didn't watch and maybe he's either not in shape either or he's feeling a bit threatened by the competition... I don't know, but either way he hasn't upped his performances to create a problem to Mourinho. I think Luís has a problem in his hands to solve about himself whether it's shape or adaptation struggles, but I feel like once he becomes confident and gets used to the league, he won't leave the team. Azpili has been averaging a 6.5 so far this season whereas Iva is averaging something like 9.0 (or maybe 8.5, as I'm highly excited about Iva and I may be biased), so it's not that hard for Luís to displace Cesar if he doesn't up his game - which I hope he does. It's great to have players at the best of their qualities. I won't deny though that I'm really anxious to watch a well adapted and in form Luís linking up in our left wing and crossing. Azpili has been nearly anonymous supporting our attack in those first two matches (and something he was never widely known for imo - even last season). Also, Luís is very consistent defensively, so it doesn't make much sense to keep a RB playing in the LB without offering top performances, if we have an in form LB for the position. The key words here are 'in form' though.

my tumblr dash

We've been talking about this guy and fapping about him (please someone teaches me some slang, fapping sounds so crude, but I don't know another word), but it's understandable when we haven't had a striker of this caliber in so long. But I wanted to dissect a bit of his instinctual and superb movement and goal awareness. Look how just after Iva cuts he two defenders (and how priceless is it that he leaves the two of them sitting on their arses? This reloaded Iva is mouthwatering) everyone keeps running forward. André - who's also a master on positioning and movement - also stops, but he's a couple of seconds later in his decision. That's why Iva can find Diego unmarked two meters away from the 6-yard (I suppose?) box. That's the awareness and the instinct of a goal scorer making him do just the right thing, at the right time and be in the best possible position to score. It's not only about being a poacher, but being smart and instinctive about how to score a goal. He's really been amazing to us.

Class everywhere

you just said last page that his performance yesterday was the nail in the coffin when he was the player that was mostly involved in the best chances we created in the second as I broke down. You started attacking people for acknowledging he was good, that was your second post in the thread if you want to be literal about it. You worded in a way as if there was anyone trying to say that 20 minutes erased the second part of the season - which nobody did. Just because people didn't single him out in a stretch of time seemingly nobody played well - according to José our whole midfield was weak - and praised him for playing well in the second - which he clearly did given how he took part of the first goal and in two other clear chances - as if US, CHELSEA FANS were WRONG for praising OUR player for turning a bad presentation around and being instrumental coming back from half time. My main instance on this thread yesterday was how people chose to focus on 45 minutes of bad football - when it had been collective bad football - and not even recognize how he was one of the players that helped us to turn things around in the second. For me he's tied with Ivanovic in the second half performance. Both were our brightest players. that was the initial discussion here. Then you gave the argument that the only reason he started against Burnley was because Ramires was suspended (and I do wonder whose fault was that in the first place...), but you didn't offer anything as to why Ramires didn't start the second then, only saying Mourinho wanted to keep the winning side. So in one hand Oscar is part of the starting eleven because he's part of what's considered the winning side, but on the other hand he was so awful against Burnley and then again against Leicester saved 20 minutes that he should be dropped promptly for Ramires... There's no logic that can conceive that he's kept because he was part of a winning side, but at the same time is horrible, unless you're calling Mourinho stupid or biased. that was my point, Mourinho gave Oscar a second chance in the first match of the season after terrible months, then he probably thought Oscar did well and gave him yet another start. If he doesn't start against Everton it might have nothing to do with Mourinho being happy or unhappy with his performances (I doubt he's unhappy though) and more with the tactical plan for that match. There isn't a reason for Mourinho to be unhappy about him exclusively about the first half and Mourinho himself said the team was bad, Cesc said the team was bad, Cahill said the team was bad. Everyone agrees the team was bad in the first ahlf, so why should Mourinho or anyone else single out Oscar? Then in the second half Oscar was one of our best players, why would Mourinho be unhappy and see that performance as the nail in the coffin? Sorry if from my angle it makes no sense at all.

I still haven't watched the first half yet - my internet has been acting up until now, and I was posting through my phone basically... I plan to catch up with the match soon, but based on the vid posted last page, I don't know how could someone call his first half bad. People go from one extreme to another with Hazard so often... He seemed quite good and tried to create something. Maybe he wasn't flashy enough and that's why people labeled him bad in the first... I swear I don't understand it.

He's simply doing what he does best - trying to save face from an initial weak or nonsensical point by turning the attention to something else as if that has been what he's been talking all along. Once his point is greatly refuted by others (or proved wrong) he starts to stray from it post by post and makes it about something else. Everyone - including himself - was talking about Oscar's match yesterday, but while it was only the biased Brazilian against him he was adamant about how Oscar had been terrible in the first half, how there hadn't been a worse player and how people were overrating his second half and talking positively about it when his first half wasn't being held accountable. Then others started to disagree with him and he tried to avert the attention towards my supposedly unfair treatment of Ramires, then more people joined disagreeing with him and people who normally talk a lot of sense and he started to stray every time his opinion was confronted and turned it to a direction not many would disagree, which was Oscar's form in the second half of last season. He does it every single time a lot of people disagrees with him or proves him wrong or points he's talking nonsense. Once he runs out of arguments from his initial point, he starts bringing attention to something else as if that has been his point all along as well as him being right. The last few pages are a testament to that.

Did you just put Oscar and Torres in the sentence/bracket or whatever? I rest my case then if Oscar's poorness is only second to Torres for you...

so let me be really precise about it. We had 5/6 collective really good chances in the second half (as Hazard's goal was a genius individual goal). Oscar assisted one (the pass to Schurrle in a through ball from defense), Oscar's own shot on the wood (from which came a second chance a few seconds later, but I'm counting them separately), Iva's header and Costa goal - that started with a through ball by Oscar and Cesc's curler - that I don't remember if Oscar was involved or not before Iva's assist. That's him being involved directly in 3 out of our 5/6 best chances created... DIRECTLY. Yep, I see your point just fine... As someone said, if the ball to Schurrle and the ball to Ivanovic had been done by Cesc or Willian or whoever, people would be fapping about it, but it was little uncreative and average Oscar, they're brushed off as nothing.

I did explain I haven't watched the first half and he was involved in some of our most dangerous chances... the pass to Schurrle who was selfish and didn't pass to Hazard, his own shot that hit the wood, the pass to Ivanovic in the Costa goal. And if the info in tumblr is correct, he was rewarded the official competition MOTM... I guess I'm not that off mark and in the same post you refer to, I said I could have given the vote to Iva who had just as a good match as Oscar. What @pgleo meant and any child could understand is that I've criticized Oscar (a lot btw) in the past when he was shit. That wasn't the case yesterday in the second and in the first I just read Cesc even own-tackled Oscar and that Schurrle took the ball away from Costa, etc... either way, I don't have anything else to say to you about this... and that still makes him only 22... he could be here for 5 already, it doesn't change his age and the fact he's still a talent under development.

you can only have three players in the official fantasy game...

I'm having a slow start with this thing. I have two players to still play and not even 50 points and I made a couple of additional transfers so I'll have points discounted from my total. But I'm happy with the team, so I think that's what matters. Still another 36 match-days to go.

have him, Hazard and Costa. I don't feel bad about my chosen Chelsea representatives

and still when he does something slightly good technically, I praise him. Ramires - unlike Oscar - doesn't have consistency issues, he has technical issues and isn't a player to be starting nearly all matches for a team as big as Chelsea, but it's a great squad member to have for certain kind of matches that favor his style. That's said there with all words. And I won't deny his lack of technique pisses me off. I don't have patience for certain things... stupid people, non-technical players, dirty players, Pep Guardiola etc... it's bigger than me. But I'm against selling him and I can praise him and done in the past. But he needs to be born again to be considered a technical player. my last two posts on Ramires' thread are clear where I stand about him Much more supportive of the Chelsea player than most things I read about Oscar in this thread, even though Oscar is the best player between the two of them (imo). Both players had a good start of season last year and had terrible matches from January on. Still I rate Oscar higher than Ramires...

I'm not angry, I'm annoyed beyond words. I don't get it, instead of getting behind OUR player, keep the positives in mind - I don't mind acknowledging the negatives - people just focus on the negative, using a double standard as basically no one says a word about the other 9-10 players that were also bad in the first half. Fans are also called supporters, but some just fail to do the supporting part. It's annoying.

weren't you and a few others that nailed Ramires to start today on his place? Or am I mixing my facts... you talked all those words, but didn't talk about it, did you? Why hasn't Ramires started? Or Willian? Willian had a better PS than Oscar did... he started really bad the first match, but he improved a lot in the second, played better than Oscar. Then another bunch here also chose Willian to replace Oscar in the starting XI today... all massively disappointed, I suppose. Wasn't around when the lineup came, but I can imagine the pouts. And what is this about winning combo? Isn't Oscar the weak link? It doesn't matter if it's a winning combo or not, weak links simply leave the starting eleven, don't they? It's the tone of the thread, how people can't say anything good. I don't see other players' threads being filled with posts about how awful their first half was, still it's a consensus the whole team was bad. Hope Ramires does start next match, otherwise you might pout.

and do you think I give an actual fuck who José plays in the big matches? All I care here is that Chelsea wins matches, plays well and for the players to do well. If he wants to play his daughter and wife against City, Everton, Arsenal and we win, I don't give an actual fuck. I'm talking about this season, the fact that Oscar didn't do a good pre-season, clearly still out of form and started our two official matches back me up, not what José said 12, 6 or 3 months ago. I'm building my opinion on facts, not guesses. He's an important player - so much that even when he's clearly not playing his best yet - far from it - he's still nailed in the starting XI. Who starts against Everton next week will hopefully do a good job, whoever that is. I'm positive Mourinho doesn't have major - if any - complaints about Oscar right now. He'll choose the best system, the best players and hopefully we win. I just hope Oscar - as well as our other players - keep progressing, playing better and making us competitive. This thread sucks because it almost feels like some here want him to fail or rejoice in his bad moments. It's a shame. I don't expect everyone to understand something so basic though. It seems common sense isn't that common after all.

Yes, we have a striker! Two matches, two goals, great contributions in both matches in general.He was tackling the heck out of Leicester winger (or FB) in the second when we were already ahead in the scoreline, near the corner flag. This man is just invaluable for us. He's great and he gives everything. I don't care if he tries to fuck his sister-in-laws, he's a boss.

someone's been happy to see the King back. Actually someone's been happy all the second half. I loved all Roman takes. He's such an awkward, nearly embarrassing fanboy watching our matches (although it could be he was happy to have finally signed a striker that scores and was actually clapping Costa He probably doesn't even remember Torres is part of the squad now). edit: who won the MOTM by BPL? I never know where to find out this information... thanks in advance.

I think I'll stick with Twitter for today. This forum's been toxic today

As I said I haven't watched the first half, but can't people let it go? Can't people cut the team some slack? Courtois, Eden and especially Oscar, Schurrle and then Ramires and Willian have been back training for just a few weeks. The team is still shaping up, we're changing tactics, new players are settling and we've been winning the matches convincingly. That's why I said in the Burnley thread that in the first few weeks all I cared about were the results. We have scored 5 goals in two matches, we kept a CS today, the players are working their socks in the pitch, and the results are there, two comfortable wins, even if the first half was as bad as you keep saying (I know whose opinion to trust and whose to ignore though). Give it time, we have a striker, I think our three AM's and then Willian did a great job in the second half, we will progress but it needs time. I know it's hard for the Mc Donalds' generation to understand that sometimes you need to wait things, but well, that's life, the earlier you get used to it, the better for you.

I didn't watch the first, but it seems like general consensus for some is: fuck what he did well, let's crucify him for what he did wrong. I suppose we played an amazing football in the first too... wasn't that the case? Let's blame the weak link of the team. Better yet, let's blame José for thinking Oscar is one of his key players. He must be on drugs. Or be Brazilian inside...

sometimes it feels he plays for Arsenal, Spurs, City given how much people want to make him look bad or worse. I don't get it.