Oscar

[Mufassir08 2,400]

The only reason I wish we kept one of Mata or KDB this season is exactly because of this - it was inevitable. Oscar's burn out was going to come sooner rather than later.

Exactly!I really wish we would have kept KDB because after Mata he had the best vision in our team.

[YouNameIt 1,511]

But when Lampard, Torres and Mikel are in the starting 11 everyone moans!

Salah isn't ready yet and I dunno what is up with Shurrle never being picked although, he's pretty average. Today's performance shows why Azpi starts ahead of Cole

Our bench is not that strong, it looked a lot better on paper when Mata was on it

Do you base this on his 15 minutes of fame in Chelsea FC so far?

If anyone would have watched Oscar's performance last night you could also say that Oscar isnt ready. If u know what I mean.

We need to see more of him, alot more.

[bushman 2,043]

Do you believe Oscar was burnt by Jose & he needs a rest ?

[Azpinator 2,325]

I believe he's overrated by people here, like calling his inconsistency "being tired". I don't see Cahill, Azpi or Hazard being tired at this point, can you?

We've seen that last season so it's no surprise.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

I believe he's overrated by people here, like calling his inconsistency "being tired". I don't see Cahill, Azpi or Hazard being tired at this point, can you?

We've seen that last season so it's no surprise.

no this kid is not overrated at all. Trust me we'd all be drooling over the prospect of signing him if he played for another team. A brief run of bad form is understandable and maybe a game or two on the bench will help him both physically and mentally also.

The positive side of Oscar getting rest will be that we'll see more of Willian in the number 10 role.

[Azpinator 2,325]

no this kid is not overrated at all. Trust me we'd all be drooling over the prospect of signing him if he played for another team. A brief run of bad form is understandable and maybe a game or two on the bench will help him both physically and mentally also.

The positive side of Oscar getting rest will be that we'll see more of Willian in the number 10 role.

I know, and I think he's a great footballer and I love him, but sometimes reading some of the opinions makes you expect so much more of him in every single game, and that's not what's happening atm. He needs time to reach that level.

He was already benched in the Man City games, it didn't seem to give him enough boost if that's the case.

He has a kid so I think calling him a kid/boy feels wrong, I don't know.

[bushman 2,043]

What more can anyone expect of Oscar ?

He has been playing well. Somehow, Jose overused him, lately. He needs rest & hopefully he will come back to his previous form.

Otherwise, Chelsea might be in trouble, later.

[Barbara 15,149]

I know, and I think he's a great footballer and I love him, but sometimes reading some of the opinions makes you expect so much more of him in every single game, and that's not what's happening atm. He needs time to reach that level.

He was already benched in the Man City games, it didn't seem to give him enough boost if that's the case.

He has a kid so I think calling him a kid/boy feels wrong, I don't know.

His wife is pregnant, the kid isn't born yet. I think Hazard was a father at age 19 or 20... being a father makes you mature in a lot of aspects in your life, your football isn't one of those, so this argument isn't really a valid one imo. He's a kid in the curve of his football development. As for what you are implying he's a man way before he's a father. He's been affording his mother and sister since he was 15... his first more significant amount of money was to buy his family a house, not get himself a fancy car while he was living in a big city. So this kind of maturity he has for a while now. It influences little or nothing in his development curve as a footballer.

I was thinking earlier today... when you look at a guy as Oscar, you know he'll only get better and better and be a top10, top15 player in the world because of the class, talent, flashes of amazing skills. It's about waiting him to mature. When you look to a guy like Piazon or Schurrle, you know they're good and they have some nice things about them, but as much as they progress in their game (and they will), they won't ever become one of the big stars.

That's the difference about Oscar and some nice prospects. We can't look to a 22yo and think he's ready, the final product or something near it. He's far from it and I think he's been amazing the past couple of years given his age.

Right now he's at most very good (if not just good) in most of the aspects of his game - except work-rate, which he's great. But he's showed many times before (but also quite far and between) that he can improve his vision, his dribbles, his passes, his finishing based on key passes, outstanding strikes, movement, sprints, etc... We can see when he does those really well isn't just a coincidence, but rather the conscious decision. It's a matter of him practicing them (in training sessions, but also executing them in matches) until he improves them. Some he might become better than others, but the prospects about this kid are great.

Could we be wrong and he never live up the expectations? Yes, we could. But as some of us keep repeating, very few players in the world were able to do some of things he did at age 21-22, and then when they were 25-26 which is about the time players peak, those other guys were great. So if Oscar was better than them at age 22, it's only natural you expect him to be better than them at his peak. We're very lucky to have him and also Hazard. I have no doubt they'll be two of the biggest names of this generation in 3-4 years from now. Oscar is very technical, tactical and smart. He isn't anywhere nearly talented as others, or maybe he isn't that far behind and his simple talent compared to flashy talents just pales in comparison. But those three aspects of his game makes up for his minor talent compared to others. With Oscar and Hazard for the next few years with us, we'll be one of the most difficult teams to play against because they compliment each other ridiculously well given their characteristics.

[DanishBlue 426]

He is still very young and he has time on his side. I love Oscar and I think he is amazing even though he has been playing bad for a couple of games. I promise you that this guy will rock our world in 2 or 3 years when he gets older and knows about the Premier League. Just watch him when he plays for Brazil - that's evidence that he is a very good player.

[bababoom 4,478]

He hasn't been awful the last few months. Don't know which team you've been watching, but definitely not Chelsea if you state such a thing.

He's had a few very poor matches recently, but they were still mixed with good ones and decent ones.

And, no, we are not trying to win the league, but we may win the league. The goal was never this and as the team progressed more than Mourinho maybe expected, or preferred to bet on, we're very much in the title race. This team isn't being built for this season, but if stronger teams such as City or more stable such as Arsenal won't win it, we gladly will.

We can agree to disagree though.

Maybe i'm overreacting with him being awful, but the last few months, yes months, he's been hit and miss. No where near the level he was at earlier in the season. He should be dropped for awhile.

Of course we're trying to win the bloody league... we're top with only 11 games left, obviously Jose is playing it down but inside the camp he'll be telling the players we can win it. I agree with the fact that we're trying to build a team for the future and maybe Jose has over achieved but we're top, that's the reality.

[Mohammed Seif 1,451]

Of course we're trying to win the bloody league... we're top with only 11 games left, obviously Jose is playing it down but inside the camp he'll be telling the players we can win it. I agree with the fact that we're trying to build a team for the future and maybe Jose has over achieved but we're top, that's the reality.

Totally agree. Maybe winning the league wasn't Jose's main target at the beginning of the season but now the belief is there. With few games left like you said, the players must be feeling that dream. The fact that Mourinho says that we are not going for it doesn't take that ambition away from the team. His comments are only to take pressure off of the players and put it on City and Arsenal.

[Barbara 15,149]

Maybe i'm overreacting with him being awful, but the last few months, yes months, he's been hit and miss. No where near the level he was at earlier in the season. He should be dropped for awhile.

Of course we're trying to win the bloody league... we're top with only 11 games left, obviously Jose is playing it down but inside the camp he'll be telling the players we can win it. I agree with the fact that we're trying to build a team for the future and maybe Jose has over achieved but we're top, that's the reality.

Ofc we're trying to win, but that's not a season where we're in a position to win it more than we're in a position of other teams choking and us taking advantage of it (although I do think Mourinho has the winning experience to make a difference now).

Who wouldn't be trying to win as they stand at the top of the table? What I'm telling you is that the manager and club's highest priority isn't winning any titles this season, but building a very strong team for next season that they expect will be high level for a few years to come. And that's why we can afford what you call passengers because passengers is what we have the most now (Ramires, Oscar, Willian, strikers, Ivanovic, Luiz, among others all had hits and misses performances lately). We may win the league, but it's more about City losing it than us winning it imo because our players aren't there yet. So some of them will be passengers in some matches... And that's not only regarding Oscar.

Mourinho hasn't playing down our chances just for the sake of mind games. We aren't a final product team yet. We have showed to be inconsistent - smashing a team and then struggling against the next one and looking absolutely clueless and sometimes dire. We - AS A TEAM - haven't been playing well in the last few matches - including the FA Cup where Oscar didn't even play. So that's why I said we may win the league, but we aren't exactly fighting up there with Arsenal and City because this team stills struggles a lot more than a real contender should and that's because we have some young players mixed with players still adapting to the league and least but not last, we don't have strikers. How can we overlook all those things and just put us at the same level as City? I don't overrate City at all - never said they'd win the treble, let alone the quadruple as some here did, but I'm not going to pretend they aren't a couple of steps ahead of us, especially because they have great strikers.

Blaming Oscar or implying his passenger performances can't be afforded anymore when the team as a whole is oscillating too damn much is not only biased, but also unfair. At least you admitted he hasn't been awful for months, but has hits and misses for as long. Except for our defense (and let's not forget december was just two months ago when we conceded 9 goals to the last teams in the table in two matches) and Hazard lately, we've been having up and downs for a while now and if we were indeed ready to fight for the league, we'd be leading it by a few points, as the results against Stoke, WHU and West Brom - among others, would have been different.

Yes, he should be benched, but that's because we should try to recover him physically, not because we can't afford his misses. If we'd drop every player who's had misses and hits in the last three months, we'd be dropping more than half of the team and the reason is simple, we aren't ready and despite having to mature and overcome our ridiculous attack (strikers wise), we're still at the top of the table. Imagine when this team is ready...

[dee25 1,044]

I pretty much expected that around this time he would hit a slump. Imo, the way he was being used wasn't sustainable at all, I said so a few months back. You can't ask your no.10 to run himself into the ground, covering for a weak central midfield and not rotate him. From August to about early December, Oscar was playing practically every match and he was doing an awful lot of defensive work.

It's one thing if he had the stamina of Ramires and Willian or if he even had a stockier built like Hazard but he doesn't. How he was being used and our reliance on him defensively, just didn't sit well with me at all because all the signs were pointing to burnout.

He probably won't play against Galatasaray since he's apparently injured but I would also have him sit out the Fulham game and bring him back for Spurs. After spurs, he needs to be probably rotated, with probably Willian.

[didierforever 7,349]

Have not said much cos there is not much to say but tge way people are defending oscar is just irritating. We have GC, IVA, AZPI, HAZARD, WILLIAN. ATLEAST these 5 pkayers who have been used more than oscar for 2 whole months now. His drop in FORM ( not to be in anyway confused with CLASS) is simply that, drop in forn. He had 10 whole days of rest after the wba game. He played 20 minutes of pro football in those 10 days and to say that he was poor, no wait, down right pathetic against everton due to lack of rest is simoly silly and for a lot of users (considering what I have read in other players' thread) a HYPOCRITE

Oscar has been average at best for sometime now and he has got more rest than a lot of our other players. He will get back to his best and I feel thwre is only one way to go from here and that is better as this evertin performabce was rock botton.

[different level 1,056]

So, I'm not the only one who wasn't fully convinced by Oscar. Apparently Mata wasn't Jose's AM, because of the new system and whatever, but judging from his 1,70 seasons with us Oscar might not be the one as well. He was arguably the weakest link from our attacking trio last year, while he had his moments of brilliance early in the season, he was completely overshadowed by Mata and Hazard later on. You might say he was played on the wings back then, because his spot was fully occupied by Juan, but this year the CAM spot is all his and we still notice a similar trend. In the first couple of months he played well, but recently he doesn't look very good and is about to be benched even though he's the only natural CAM left in the team. Of course he's young, he might even go on to prove me in the next couple of weeks and that outlook can change in a flash. Hopefully he'll do that.