Oscar

[Nike 373]

Dont really know what oscar role was today. Seem to be in the back or on the wings more than playing cam.

Im guessing jose told him to.

[Sheva. 5,373]

This is the kind of game that makes me unsure about Oscar to be honest.

He won't play big games when Ramires is fit.

I just hope he can maintain his current form vs lesser sides.

[Joker10 946]

He won't play big games when Ramires is fit.

I just hope he can maintain his current form vs lesser sides.

I don't see where he was at falt in this game. I definitely would argue he should have stayed on more, press the oposition and helped in possession. He llwas wasteful in this game, but was still important piece in our strategy.

If we learened anything from our 2 draws this season in Manchester is that we can't stay back and let the opposition have the ball without pressure. If Ramires is playing that is exactly what is going to happen. Its not the same when you have another passer in midfield with Oscar.

[Barbara 15,149]

Bad match by him. His passing was awful, terrible. It didn't help that Cesc was just as bad.

Still he created that chance for DD during first half and we certainly looked better with him holding the ball than with Mikel. But he had a yellow, he was trying too hard, he was making too many mistakes. I agree he was the one who should have been subbed off (even said in the live thread he should be subbed off).

I don't think it cements the idea he can't play against a big team because in all honesty, it didn't feel like we played like a big team today. United played better than they've been playing, but they were really, nothing, nothing, nothing special.

Collectively we played bad. Oscar and Cesc were probably the worst imo, but I think he played well against Arsenal - who played much better than United imo. United was a hot mess in the second and instead of capitalizing, Mourinho brings Mikel.

[Cescy 40]

Considering the criticisms people are making of Oscar today, I'm a bit lost as to how Ramires (or Mikel) would be the answer .

Anyway, not a great performance from him, but I'm not too worried about it either. He had some good moments as well as some poor ones. Obviously has to work on executing his passes better and more consistently.

[meetdoscar 335]

I don't think he played bad at all. In a match like this too much was expected of him. Drogba is old and can't press leaving oscar to suffer mostly untill he got exhausted yet he was still creative and was involved in most of our best attacking moves. When he went off we couldn't keep possession any longer. His distribution might have helped. Drogba should have gone off as he was totally spent at the end.

[chelseafc9010 224]

He was back to his old self today like last season; awful on the ball, very wasteful, was pretty lost, got out done physically.

[Supermonkey92 1,428]

Didnt control the midfield, this was the game he should have! Fellani and mata pressed matic and cesc, di Maria doubled up on hazard, januzuia or however you spell his name, on willian. That literally just left blind who was more of a protector off space than to mark Oscar. Started off the game dropping deep and initiating but stopped completely soon after. Didn't use his freedom to keep the ball and take the sting out of united. We play great when we keep the ball and move methodically forwards until an opening appears, but because if our lack of control we just seemed to rush forward a lot. Not suited to big pitches either, which is the main reason Ramires is always beast there.

[Rom2013 446]

Horrible again. But at least he played well against Bolton and Sporting and because of that smoe here think he is doing an increadible season... but in reality he is between the 10 players with an almost garanteed spot in the starting eleven the weakest link.

In half the games he does nothing in attack and Cesc needs to do the job of both.

[mikeholiday 209]

Good work rate. All over the pitch again. Headscratcher with that yellow the way he kicked Smalling (or Rojo cant remember) while the ball was at manure's defensive half.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Im very pro-Oscar but games like this one give me serious questions should we target Pogba to play in Oscar role with Cesc getting more freedom.

[nono 791]

Bad match by him. His passing was awful, terrible. It didn't help that Cesc was just as bad.

Still he created that chance for DD during first half and we certainly looked better with him holding the ball than with Mikel. But he had a yellow, he was trying too hard, he was making too many mistakes. I agree he was the one who should have been subbed off (even said in the live thread he should be subbed off).

I don't think it cements the idea he can't play against a big team because in all honesty, it didn't feel like we played like a big team today. United played better than they've been playing, but they were really, nothing, nothing, nothing special.

Collectively we played bad. Oscar and Cesc were probably the worst imo, but I think he played well against Arsenal - who played much better than United imo. United was a hot mess in the second and instead of capitalizing, Mourinho brings Mikel.

Maybe, but I feel that at least both he and Willian should not be starting together. They are similar in their deficiencies going forward and it just combines to make the attack very poor at times. Same for Ramires. Defensively they are both good but they misplace too many passes and ruin too many counters, which is how Mourinho likes us to play. It is like when we had Ballack, Lampard and Mikel starting together which I feel had the side too unbalanced in favor of resilience vs fluidity. But who knows, maybe this is Mourinho's way ? Maybe he is happy like this and wants to play a defensive game and just plan to nick a goal and then sit back against good teams ? They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and that is what we have with Mourinho. He is what he is. Unfortunately there are few who are better and we've already wasted too many good years in managerial circuses. Had we kept Mourinho United for sure wouldn't have won as many titles these last few years as they have. On the other hand our play is really dreadful in the last minutes of these games and I feel like we are really going to come undone against a good team in the Champions League. Sigh ...

[Barbara 15,149]

Maybe, but I feel that at least both he and Willian should not be starting together. They are similar in their deficiencies going forward and it just combines to make the attack very poor at times. Same for Ramires. Defensively they are both good but they misplace too many passes and ruin too many counters, which is how Mourinho likes us to play. It is like when we had Ballack, Lampard and Mikel starting together which I feel had the side too unbalanced in favor of resilience vs fluidity. But who knows, maybe this is Mourinho's way ? Maybe he is happy like this and wants to play a defensive game and just plan to nick a goal and then sit back against good teams ? They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks, and that is what we have with Mourinho. He is what he is. Unfortunately there are few who are better and we've already wasted too many good years in managerial circuses. Had we kept Mourinho United for sure wouldn't have won as many titles these last few years as they have. On the other hand our play is really dreadful in the last minutes of these games and I feel like we are really going to come undone against a good team in the Champions League. Sigh ...

I actually agree. Between the two of them I'd rather have only one in the pitch instead of both. They're too shy in the attack.

I don't think Oscar in general misplaces a lot of passes. His average is over 80% for most matches, but he was awful yesterday.

[Cescy 40]

I actually agree. Between the two of them I'd rather have only one in the pitch instead of both. They're too shy in the attack.

I don't think Oscar in general misplaces a lot of passes. His average is over 80% for most matches, but he was awful yesterday.

Saw a stat that his first half passing accuracy was 45% . He finished his time in the game on 80% though tbf.

[robsblubot 3,502]

Oscar is far more similar to Fabregas than Willian. While Fabregas has better technique, Oscar is more rounded and better at defending.

Pass completion is a useful stat for players whose jobs involve keeping possession of the football. That is hardly what Oscar is on the pitch to do. Granted, his pass-completion should never go into the teens, but having a high percentage of completion means very little without realizing the quality of those passes. Was the team setup for counters or possession? That’s another big variable in taking that controversial stat – all down to not knowing what Jose told them to do.

He did misplaced most if not all his through balls in the first half. Kudos to United for blocking well, but also shame on Oscar for not mixing it up a bit. However, on the second half he did much better and I reckon Jose taking him off was a mistake. He also set up a goal by making the run and brilliantly waiting until the play unfolded so Didier could get into position – shocking miss by Didier though.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

As poor as he was yesterday, we were far poorer without him on the pitch. As soon as he came off we couldn't keep hold of the ball. That said, his passing in the final 3rd really annoys me. I mea even simple passes he was getting wrong.

This one in particular pissed me off. https://mid.vncdn.co/vine/videos/14793D711C1138497838137958400_3ffca1b740e.0.0.10594276347886385080.mp4

Such an easy pass and gets the weight of it woefully wrong and forces Eden away from the goal.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

As poor as he was yesterday, we were far poorer without him on the pitch. As soon as he came off we couldn't keep hold of the ball. That said, his passing in the final 3rd really annoys me. I mea even simple passes he was getting wrong.

This one in particular pissed me off. https://mid.vncdn.co/vine/videos/14793D711C1138497838137958400_3ffca1b740e.0.0.10594276347886385080.mp4

Such an easy pass and gets the weight of it woefully wrong and forces Eden away from the goal.

He actually does that a lot. Messing up the weight of his ground passes.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

Yes, he had a bad game, but it's just one game, FFS. I'm not Oscar's biggest fan, but he was wonderful in the previous 4-5 matches. Hopefully it was just a one-off.