Oscar

[Styles 9,790]

Im starting to believe #10 must be Oscar ...with Mata resting him at times

Against the good teams in the league and the big Champions League games I'm sure Oscar will be playing through the middle. What that means for Mata I don't know. The good teams are ruthless and will exploit any weaknesses, so Mata's inability to defend/pressure the ball is something that will almost certainly cost him a place in the big games.

[Jase 43,479]

Nope. He does that on his own even when he plays for brazil especially in confed. Cup final against spain when brazil were 3-0 up he just sat deep and distributed the ball to run out time its part of his game.

You just don't go suddenly decide to drop back and play the ball out of the back and go against what your manager wants of you. Either Oscar has been told that by Mourinho during the game when we went 2-1 up or has been briefed about that role beforehand.

[Peace. 4,352]

I want Oscar to be the player to be given the keys of our midfield (could it be as a n°10 or a central midfielder), and the game against Hull showed why. To my eyes, out of Mata, Hazard and him, he is the only one to act/play like a midfielder. Against all the quality clubs, winning the midfield battle will be important. That's why he should be the player to sit on top of two other central midfielders more defensive minded (Ramires-van Gikel for example).

First off, he drops deep — on offensive phases he will drop deep in order to collect the ball and to conduct the play (to build the play, in other words) ; on defensive phases he will also track-back to help the other midfielders with the defensive work. If last year our pivot was defensively exposed and was a weak point in the building of the game, that's because the player in front of the pivot — Mata for most of the time, and a few time Hazard — didn't do that job.

Secondly, Oscar is head and shoulder better than any of our other advanced midfielders when it comes to defensive works. He is very good at harassing and pressuring opponents, and for an attacking-minded player, he has great technique for intercept the ball and do tackles. His defensive abilities plus the fact he drops deep / track back will considerably strengthen defensively-wise our midfield — and eventually to our whole defensive unity —, something he cannot offer when playing on the wing.

Finally, into my eyes, he is the more suited to be the playmaker, because he has the better understanding of the game. His movements and positional sense show this ; he knows when to leave spaces for other players (like he did for Brazil and Neymar), he knows when he gots to be involved in the play or when he has to fade away to not hinder others, etc... And he has also a better understanding of the tempo (i.e. he knows when to free the ball quickly, or at the contrary when he has to keep hold upon the ball). And, once again, the fact he drops deep is a strength, because as we dont have any deep-lying playmaker (or anyone able to decently build the game), it will help to ease the transition between the defenders and the attackers.

Therefore playing the Brazilian there will grandly strenghten defensively our midfield — the back-line will have more cover and thus will be better, which as I said will strenghten the whole defensive unity of the team. Moreover, when on the ball, our midfield will be quicker execution-wise, sharper and more incisive in the tempo, more clever in the distribution of the ball. We have al lot to gain by doing this, at it seems that Mourinho knows this as well, which is a good thing !

[Mufassir08 2,400]

I gotta feeling that Oscar might play in midfield against teams who park the fucking bus against us alongside ramires.It would look something like this:

Ramires

Oscar

Willian/KDB Mata Hazard

Striker

Then against quality teams i have a feeling that mata would drop down to the bench and Oscar would start as the CAM as his workrate would be extremely useful.So the team would look something like this:

Ramires Mikel/MVG

Willian/KDB Oscar Hazard

Striker

Thats my understanding of this willian signing.

[Gilvorak 3,734]

Reckon he'll rotate briefly between AM and CM this season. He briefly played a deeper position in the 2nd half against Villa and excelled.

[Bir_CFC 3,455]

Yeah def a good chance of him dropping back into the pivot late in games. We already saw that against villa.

[meetdoscar 335]

He was the best of our attacking midfielder's in the 1st half but was absent in the second half. Mata would have provided more attacking wise but also considering the pressure on us would have exposed us a lot also.

[polo 18]

he was quiet last season but now waw he has confidence. good for him. continue boy

[yuvala 2,167]

He's so much better than how he was mid-(last)season to end of the season.

The #10 role really suits him well.

[Jase 43,479]

Offensively, still don't think he provides as much as threat and creativity as Mata. The latter is miles ahead in that aspect. One and arguably only reason he is favored for that No.10 role now is because of his defensive workrate.

[Mceachran 109]

In case some were wondering, Oscar said about his favorite music:

My early memory and one of my favourites is Every Breath You Take by Sting and The Police. I have the tattoo of some of the lyrics around my arm, which is in memory of my father who passed away.

Love this guy.

[Peace. 4,352]

I read here and there than Oscar might be picked-up ahead of Mata solely because of his defensive work-rate... This is such a narrow way to see things. And to my eyes it's pejorative towards Oscar's qualities and abilities.

To my beliefs, there's much more to it. The primary reason is, as I explained on the previous page, that Oscar plays like a midfielder, or at least have more midfielder's abilities than the spaniard — and it might be what Mourinho is looking for. I can't stress enough how the midfield battle is important in today's game. And today, we only play with two "deep" midfielders — and whatever the paring is (Ramires/Lampard, Ramires/Mikel, etc...), it is far to be functional, let alone world class. As a matter of fact, we need another player who will play nearer the pivot in order to help them, both in offensive and defensive tasks.

That's where Oscar intervenes. I'll start off with his defensive contribution, since it seems to be what strikes the more in people's eyes... Oscar not only drops deep to help in defense, but he also has a splendid work-rate and a has a great defensive capacity for an attacking-minded midfielder. Thus, he is a great asset for the midfield so we cannot sink.

But there's also an offensive side to the debate. Indeed, the first thing I'd like to mention, it's that Oscar can keep hold on the ball under pressure — a thing that Mata can hardly do, which is highlighted against every game against Manchester City. Mata is not good at it, because he is very weak physically, and he has no dribbling side to his game ; with no dribbles and no physical power, it is very hard to keep hold of the ball. Which does result by an inevitable loss of possession (either directly or indirectly). Then, just as in defensive phases, Oscar drops deeper than Mata (how many times can we see the Brazilian near our back-line ?) and help to get the ball forward.

The bottom line is that Oscar is a better asset than Mata for our midfield, both off the ball and on the ball. And it will the case as long as our pivot won't be good enough on its own.

Into my eyes, that's the reasons why José could be favouring Oscar over Mata (could, because as Mata is unfit we still don't know the role he'll have into the team).

[Barbara 15,149]

I want Oscar to be the player to be given the keys of our midfield (could it be as a n°10 or a central midfielder), and the game against Hull showed why. To my eyes, out of Mata, Hazard and him, he is the only one to act/play like a midfielder. Against all the quality clubs, winning the midfield battle will be important. That's why he should be the player to sit on top of two other central midfielders more defensive minded (Ramires-van Gikel for example).

First off, he drops deep — on offensive phases he will drop deep in order to collect the ball and to conduct the play (to build the play, in other words) ; on defensive phases he will also track-back to help the other midfielders with the defensive work. If last year our pivot was defensively exposed and was a weak point in the building of the game, that's because the player in front of the pivot — Mata for most of the time, and a few time Hazard — didn't do that job.

Secondly, Oscar is head and shoulder better than any of our other advanced midfielders when it comes to defensive works. He is very good at harassing and pressuring opponents, and for an attacking-minded player, he has great technique for intercept the ball and do tackles. His defensive abilities plus the fact he drops deep / track back will considerably strengthen defensively-wise our midfield — and eventually to our whole defensive unity —, something he cannot offer when playing on the wing.

Finally, into my eyes, he is the more suited to be the playmaker, because he has the better understanding of the game. His movements and positional sense show this ; he knows when to leave spaces for other players (like he did for Brazil and Neymar), he knows when he gots to be involved in the play or when he has to fade away to not hinder others, etc... And he has also a better understanding of the tempo (i.e. he knows when to free the ball quickly, or at the contrary when he has to keep hold upon the ball). And, once again, the fact he drops deep is a strength, because as we dont have any deep-lying playmaker (or anyone able to decently build the game), it will help to ease the transition between the defenders and the attackers.

Therefore playing the Brazilian there will grandly strenghten defensively our midfield — the back-line will have more cover and thus will be better, which as I said will strenghten the whole defensive unity of the team. Moreover, when on the ball, our midfield will be quicker execution-wise, sharper and more incisive in the tempo, more clever in the distribution of the ball. We have al lot to gain by doing this, at it seems that Mourinho knows this as well, which is a good thing !

That post is so perfect and beautifully written that I want to marry it and have all of its kids (sorry for the double fangirl moment). Simply liking it wouldn't have made it enough for me.

[GodZola 630]

I read here and there than Oscar might be picked-up ahead of Mata solely because of his defensive work-rate... This is such a narrow way to see things. And to my eyes it's pejorative towards Oscar's qualities and abilities.

To my beliefs, there's much more to it. The primary reason is, as I explained on the previous page, that Oscar plays like a midfielder, or at least have more midfielder's abilities than the spaniard and it might be what Mourinho is looking for. I can't stress enough how the midfield battle is important in today's game. And today, we only play with two "deep" midfielders and whatever the paring is (Ramires/Lampard, Ramires/Mikel, etc...), it is far to be functional, let alone world class. As a matter of fact, we need another player who will play nearer the pivot in order to help them, both in offensive and defensive tasks.

That's where Oscar intervenes. I'll start off with his defensive contribution, since it seems to be what strikes the more in people's eyes... Oscar not only drops deep to help in defense, but he also has a splendid work-rate and a has a great defensive capacity for an attacking-minded midfielder. Thus, he is a great asset for the midfield so we cannot sink.

The midfield has always been

But there's also an offensive side to the debate. Indeed, the first thing I'd like to mention, it's that Oscar can keep hold on the ball under pressure a thing that Mata can hardly do, which is highlighted against every game against Manchester City. Mata is not good at it, because he is very weak physically, and he has no dribbling side to his game ; with no dribbles and no physical power, it is very hard to keep hold of the ball. Which does result by an inevitable a loss of possession (either directly or indirectly). Then, just as in defensive phases, Oscar drops deeper than Mata (how many times can we see the Brazilian near our back-line ?) and help to get the ball forward.

The bottom line is that Oscar is a better asset than Mata for our midfield, both off the ball and on the ball. And it will the case as long as our pivot won't be good enough on its own.

Into my eyes, that's the reasons why José could be favouring Oscar over Mata (could, because as Mata is unfit we still don't know the role he'll have into the team).

Defensively Oscar has the superiority over Mata, I cannot question that, he has a good engine and will get 'stuck in' also will improve after a years experience in the prem but my belief is he needs to improve ball retention - he losses possession too often for my liking and shoots when he could pass to other players in better positions, this is the area where i feel jose can up Oscar's game to another level, thankfully jose is playing him centrally as opposed to stuck out on the wing - thank you Mr Benetiz!

Offensively he is not a patch on Mata, in every way shape or form bar physique, Mata is clearly streets ahead of anyone at the club as a playmaker or N10 or whatever position they call it nowadays, so I totally disagree with your comment on the ball but concur off it.

We may see Mata benched for games like City as for reasons you've stated but I still expect to see him to play the majority of our important games this season, there is still a possibility that he may well be sold so renders my post useless, however I just cannot see a manager of Jose's calibre selling arguably our best player. The good news is we are rich in the midfield attacking area's and our bench looks so much stronger now, we can look to it with some confidence which cant be said for sometime.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I read here and there than Oscar might be picked-up ahead of Mata solely because of his defensive work-rate... This is such a narrow way to see things. And to my eyes it's pejorative towards Oscar's qualities and abilities.

To my beliefs, there's much more to it. The primary reason is, as I explained on the previous page, that Oscar plays like a midfielder, or at least have more midfielder's abilities than the spaniard — and it might be what Mourinho is looking for. I can't stress enough how the midfield battle is important in today's game. And today, we only play with two "deep" midfielders — and whatever the paring is (Ramires/Lampard, Ramires/Mikel, etc...), it is far to be functional, let alone world class. As a matter of fact, we need another player who will play nearer the pivot in order to help them, both in offensive and defensive tasks.

That's where Oscar intervenes. I'll start off with his defensive contribution, since it seems to be what strikes the more in people's eyes... Oscar not only drops deep to help in defense, but he also has a splendid work-rate and a has a great defensive capacity for an attacking-minded midfielder. Thus, he is a great asset for the midfield so we cannot sink.

But there's also an offensive side to the debate. Indeed, the first thing I'd like to mention, it's that Oscar can keep hold on the ball under pressure — a thing that Mata can hardly do, which is highlighted against every game against Manchester City. Mata is not good at it, because he is very weak physically, and he has no dribbling side to his game ; with no dribbles and no physical power, it is very hard to keep hold of the ball. Which does result by an inevitable loss of possession (either directly or indirectly). Then, just as in defensive phases, Oscar drops deeper than Mata (how many times can we see the Brazilian near our back-line ?) and help to get the ball forward.

The bottom line is that Oscar is a better asset than Mata for our midfield, both off the ball and on the ball. And it will the case as long as our pivot won't be good enough on its own.

Into my eyes, that's the reasons why José could be favouring Oscar over Mata (could, because as Mata is unfit we still don't know the role he'll have into the team).

I think it remains to be seen if we'll be better with Oscar than with Mata. Oscar is perhaps a better fit for this system because of his work rate and defense, but Mata is a vastly better offensive player at this point. Mata last season had 12 goals on 70 shots, Oscar 4 on 60. Mata has 12 assists to Oscar's 5. 2.7 key passes to 1.4. Mata is capable of moments of offensive genius on a fairly regular basis and has rescued Chelsea many times due to them. Oscar has not shown the ability to lead Chelsea the way Mata has.If Hull showed the benefits of Oscar in the centre, running our offense then Villa showed the drawbacks. He was maybe our worst player against Villa, doing very little. He got into dangerous scoring positions three times and didn't even hit the net on any of them. Mata, when in form, would almost certainly have scored on one of them and maybe on two. So, yes, he does offer us something that Mata can't, but he also isn't nearly as effective in attack. I imagine they will both get time at multiple positions so I don't think it's an either/or proposition.

[The only place to be 11,313]

.

[Chelsea? 892]

I read here and there than Oscar might be picked-up ahead of Mata solely because of his defensive work-rate... This is such a narrow way to see things. And to my eyes it's pejorative towards Oscar's qualities and abilities.

To my beliefs, there's much more to it. The primary reason is, as I explained on the previous page, that Oscar plays like a midfielder, or at least have more midfielder's abilities than the spaniard — and it might be what Mourinho is looking for. I can't stress enough how the midfield battle is important in today's game. And today, we only play with two "deep" midfielders — and whatever the paring is (Ramires/Lampard, Ramires/Mikel, etc...), it is far to be functional, let alone world class. As a matter of fact, we need another player who will play nearer the pivot in order to help them, both in offensive and defensive tasks.

That's where Oscar intervenes. I'll start off with his defensive contribution, since it seems to be what strikes the more in people's eyes... Oscar not only drops deep to help in defense, but he also has a splendid work-rate and a has a great defensive capacity for an attacking-minded midfielder. Thus, he is a great asset for the midfield so we cannot sink.

But there's also an offensive side to the debate. Indeed, the first thing I'd like to mention, it's that Oscar can keep hold on the ball under pressure — a thing that Mata can hardly do, which is highlighted against every game against Manchester City. Mata is not good at it, because he is very weak physically, and he has no dribbling side to his game ; with no dribbles and no physical power, it is very hard to keep hold of the ball. Which does result by an inevitable loss of possession (either directly or indirectly). Then, just as in defensive phases, Oscar drops deeper than Mata (how many times can we see the Brazilian near our back-line ?) and help to get the ball forward.

The bottom line is that Oscar is a better asset than Mata for our midfield, both off the ball and on the ball. And it will the case as long as our pivot won't be good enough on its own.

Into my eyes, that's the reasons why José could be favouring Oscar over Mata (could, because as Mata is unfit we still don't know the role he'll have into the team).

Oscar is a better midfielder, but not as good at #10 as Mata. When O is playing at #10 you realize the other 3 guys upfront generally have bad games. Mata has better positioning than O and Mata drops back just as much as if you pay attention. Oscar is better defensively and faster, which is better for a counter attack. If Oscar were better for our midfield we would control games alot better when he plays in the #10

[communicate 2,703]

I read here and there than Oscar might be picked-up ahead of Mata solely because of his defensive work-rate... This is such a narrow way to see things. And to my eyes it's pejorative towards Oscar's qualities and abilities.

To my beliefs, there's much more to it. The primary reason is, as I explained on the previous page, that Oscar plays like a midfielder, or at least have more midfielder's abilities than the spaniard and it might be what Mourinho is looking for. I can't stress enough how the midfield battle is important in today's game. And today, we only play with two "deep" midfielders and whatever the paring is (Ramires/Lampard, Ramires/Mikel, etc...), it is far to be functional, let alone world class. As a matter of fact, we need another player who will play nearer the pivot in order to help them, both in offensive and defensive tasks.

That's where Oscar intervenes. I'll start off with his defensive contribution, since it seems to be what strikes the more in people's eyes... Oscar not only drops deep to help in defense, but he also has a splendid work-rate and a has a great defensive capacity for an attacking-minded midfielder. Thus, he is a great asset for the midfield so we cannot sink.

But there's also an offensive side to the debate. Indeed, the first thing I'd like to mention, it's that Oscar can keep hold on the ball under pressure a thing that Mata can hardly do, which is highlighted against every game against Manchester City. Mata is not good at it, because he is very weak physically, and he has no dribbling side to his game ; with no dribbles and no physical power, it is very hard to keep hold of the ball. Which does result by an inevitable loss of possession (either directly or indirectly). Then, just as in defensive phases, Oscar drops deeper than Mata (how many times can we see the Brazilian near our back-line ?) and help to get the ball forward.

The bottom line is that Oscar is a better asset than Mata for our midfield, both off the ball and on the ball. And it will the case as long as our pivot won't be good enough on its own.

Into my eyes, that's the reasons why José could be favouring Oscar over Mata (could, because as Mata is unfit we still don't know the role he'll have into the team).

I am not sure it has anything to do with ability to hold the ball. Defensively it is obvious the difference between the two. Oscar is really discipline in term of doing his marking duty where as Mata is quite poor .

Offensively they are somewhat different. Oscar is like mezut Ozil. He does not always want the ball. He will move to the wing to create space for our winger to cut inside. Simply put, tactically he is brilliant both Offensively and defensively.

Mata on the other is typical Spanish player. He wants the ball on his feet and will move into space to receive the ball. In term of technical and playmaking skill, it is not even close, he is by far our best playmaker.

Oscar is definitely better suited for Mourinho type of football.