Oscar

[The only place to be 11,313]

He's a great talent who has been poor for almost six months. He needs to actually step up next season or he'll be sold and we'll bring through another top attacking talent. Not worth getting to bent out of shape over.

I feel no great affinity for the lad so if he goes it's no skin off my nose. I've defended him a fair amount and now he's actually got to start producing the goods on the pitch.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

I only say these thing because of the needs of the team. Chelsea's needs are different to Barcelona's etc. What was most troubling last season was our inability to break-down defences of smaller teams who sit back.

What good is a no. 10 who's 'good at winning the ball in advanced position' when a lot of the teams who face hardly attack us? Shouldn't he have something else in his locker? He is a no. 10 after all?! But even when we faced the big teams, Mourinho preferred Willian as 10! So he is ineffective at breaking down smaller teams yet when we face a team who attack us he isn't used?! Why is that? These are the difficult questions at the moment...

Overall, yes; Mourinho has asked him to perform a certain job but that does not mean he is exempt from creating hardly anything when we need it against defensive opposition.

EVERY TEAM IN WORLD FOOTBALL STRUGGLE WITH THIS! This is a problem for EVERYONE! Remember the greatest Barca XI in the history struggling to breakdown 10 man Chelsea? If teams do play like that against us its not because our no.10 is shit, its because it extremely hard for teams to find the exact amount of space to carve them open. It usually occurs when they make a mistake, and if you don't have the striker who can bury a chance once its presented then that only compounds the problem.

You guys claim to watch a lot of football but you need to get a dose of reality. We didn't have a striker, haven't had one since Drogba. Our main problems stem from this not the players who play behind Torres, Ba, Eto,o

[The only place to be 11,313]

Also, he's got a proper striker ahead of him and two top midfielders behind him. He's got no excuses next season.

[The Mak 4,459]

EVERY TEAM IN WORLD FOOTBALL STRUGGLE WITH THIS! This is a problem for EVERYONE! Remember the greatest Barca XI in the history struggling to breakdown 10 man Chelsea? If teams do play like that against us its not because our no.10 is shit, its because it extremely hard for teams to find the exact amount of space to carve them open. It usually occurs when they make a mistake, and if you don't have the striker who can bury a chance once its presented then that only compounds the problem.

You guys claim to watch a lot of football but you need to get a dose of reality. We didn't have a striker, haven't had one since Drogba. Our main problems stem from this not the players who play behind Torres, Ba, Eto,o

Sure, but when Fabregas is moved to no. 10 in the last 10-20mins of these sorts of games there will be a reason behind it...

When did I say our inability to break teams down was solely his fault? Stop polorising my view. I am saying his much lauded his defensive abilities and inability to create chances certainly does not help such situations (which he is supposed to do as no. 10).

[lionsden 4,689]

All you guys like Lionsden and The Mak need to take a step back and look at the situation before you start jumping to conclusions unnecessarily. Oscar just completed his 2nd full year in Europe for his 3rd manager. He never had a full training camp here and clearly didn't have the fitness levels required to play in Jose's midfield for an entire season. Is that so hard to grasp? That he didn't prepare well enough for the demands of Mourinho?

He is a fantastic player who was running on E long before the season was over. If he comes back this year incapable of coping with the demands, then and only then will you have a case. Jose also benched Schurrle at the beginning of the year because he wasn't fit enough to play for Chelsea.

Ok so if he continues to clock up huge minute and mileage (and there's little indication that his minutes will slow down significantly sine he's still an integral member of the brazil team and Jose seem to rate/like him) then what? How long should we give him to start showing some consistency? honest question.

[Dion 2,476]

He has to play better this season. I think nobody can argue with that. If not by creating, then by making runs and scoring - I reckon this will become easier than ever before with Fabregas. But he has to do better offensively.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Sure, but when Fabregas is moved to no. 10 in the last 10-20mins of these sorts of games there will be a reason behind it...

When did I say our inability to break teams down was solely his fault? Stop polorising my view. I am saying his much lauded his defensive abilities and inability to create chances certainly does not help such situations (which he is supposed to do as no. 10).

IF!! Not When... You're putting the cart before the horse again.

He will create chances, not at a clip similar to Mata for example, but what you get from him at both ends makes him more valuable.

[TorontoChelsea 4,064]

I agree to some extent, but managers actually make a hell of a difference, if any set of supporters should know that it is us.

Scolari is a awful manager, if we didn't have a group of experienced serial winners in or around their prime's he would have ruined us, as soon as Rafa showed how to counter his tactics every one else followed suit and he had no answer.

Yet despite spending about 60M more pounds, being able to mold a team in his own image, not starting in mid-season Mourinho who is a top manager, didn't accomplish any more than Rafa did. We finished third and trophyless and at the end of the season actually looked worse than we did at the end of the last season. Avram Grant had more success in the CL than Mourinho ever had with us. RDM won the CL. Managers don't matter much and certainly not a fraction of the way the media and fans treat them. Long-term successful managers are managers that are on high spending clubs.

Managers do matter in a couple of ways

1) Controlling egos. Big name managers can handle players' egos with their own. That is important.

2)There are managers whose games suite different styles of play and may be a better fit at different clubs.

3) Managers can make a little difference and at the top level that little difference could be between winning and losing.

People always blame managers for losing and give managers credit for winning but they relatively little impact, about, I would say, the impact of a squad player. It goes against everything people learn about football but football is in the dark ages still where people think teams win because of heart and will and so on. Teams win mostly because of money.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Ok so if he continues to clock up huge minute and mileage (and there's little indication that his minutes will slow down significantly sine he's still an integral member of the brazil team and Jose seem to rate/like him) then what? How long should we give him to start showing some consistency? honest question.

He's what? 22? 23 at the beginning of the season? He should well know the rigours of the Prem and Jose's system now and hopefully this term he will pace himself accordingly. Also, perhaps management will utilize him more effectively knowing that his fitness levels aren't quite able to endure 8-9 months of high level football. Both are responsible for form not just Oscar. If he doesn't have a decent year this year I would say he isn't quite cut out for the job and we may need to look another way.

[The Mak 4,459]

IF!! Not When... You're putting the cart before the horse again.

It will happen, the same way Oscar was replaced at the end of such games with Mata in the first half of the season. I'd put money on it if I could!

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

It will happen, the same way Oscar was replaced at the end of such games with Mata in the first half of the season. I'd put money on it if I could!

You have no way of knowing anything so please stop embarrassing yourself. We have a striker now so there may be less of a need for the most perfect pass to open up a defense.

Also I would imagine in those situations, if they occur, we would likely go 4-1-4-1 with Fab AND Oscar patrolling in the middle.

[Rom2013 446]

Gotze, Lucas, Coutinho, Pedro, neymar, Isco, jack wilshere, etc.....

Well.... Neymar is 10 times better than Oscar, Pedro I don't know where you saw him playing poorly for 6 months (if you are talking about Pedrito of Barcelona), the same for Isco... Isco doesn´t play in Madrid because with Di Maria, ROnaldo and Bale even Hazard would be on the bench. The same reason why Gotze has some problems in Bayern.

Coutinho is another Oscar, but even worst.

About Oscar and his future in Chelsea. Maybe is better to sell one of the wingers like Salah and buy a number 10. Someone like Ozil.

[meetdoscar 335]

Some just love to critize or love to hate.

[Tomo 21,736]

Yet despite spending about 60M more pounds, being able to mold a team in his own image, not starting in mid-season Mourinho who is a top manager, didn't accomplish any more than Rafa did. We finished third and trophyless and at the end of the season actually looked worse than we did at the end of the last season. Avram Grant had more success in the CL than Mourinho ever had with us. RDM won the CL. Managers don't matter much and certainly not a fraction of the way the media and fans treat them. Long-term successful managers are managers that are on high spending clubs.

Managers do matter in a couple of ways

1) Controlling egos. Big name managers can handle players' egos with their own. That is important.

2)There are managers whose games suite different styles of play and may be a better fit at different clubs.

3) Managers can make a little difference and at the top level that little difference could be between winning and losing.

People always blame managers for losing and give managers credit for winning but they relatively little impact, about, I would say, the impact of a squad player. It goes against everything people learn about football but football is in the dark ages still where people think teams win because of heart and will and so on. Teams win mostly because of money.

We had no identity on the pitch in the team in the 3 years between Carlo's 2nd season and RDM/Rafa season, we still managed to pick up the knockout cup's due to the fact the team still could do it in one of games, but there was a reason we kept falling short on the league. Jose has set a blueprint for solid, counter attacking football and for the first time in ages it feels we are heading in a good direction.

Im sorry but we will simply have to agree to disagree re the managers, money helps but the manager aspect is a lot more than the points you made, Moyes spent 65m to add to a team of champions and ended up taking them to 7th, below his old team, where he constantly used money as an excuse for not being able to take them any further, and to expand further his successor has argubly done just that.

While money helps, a lot, if your shit at your job like Moyes or Sherwood, then you ain't going anywhere.

[Barbara 15,149]

Yet despite spending about 60M more pounds, being able to mold a team in his own image, not starting in mid-season Mourinho who is a top manager, didn't accomplish any more than Rafa did. We finished third and trophyless and at the end of the season actually looked worse than we did at the end of the last season. Avram Grant had more success in the CL than Mourinho ever had with us. RDM won the CL. Managers don't matter much and certainly not a fraction of the way the media and fans treat them. Long-term successful managers are managers that are on high spending clubs.

Managers do matter in a couple of ways

1) Controlling egos. Big name managers can handle players' egos with their own. That is important.

2)There are managers whose games suite different styles of play and may be a better fit at different clubs.

3) Managers can make a little difference and at the top level that little difference could be between winning and losing.

People always blame managers for losing and give managers credit for winning but they relatively little impact, about, I would say, the impact of a squad player. It goes against everything people learn about football but football is in the dark ages still where people think teams win because of heart and will and so on. Teams win mostly because of money.

When the team didn't answer, he had to take a step back in the tactics.

The kind of football Benitez had working here can only be perceived as better if you think that Mata had a free role and therefore we were more creative, but as a team we were weaker, didn't present any threat to big teams and struggled to beat medium teams, the difference being we actually won 1x0 a few times, but there's no comparison between Mourinho's work and everyone before him since Carlo left. We actually had a competitive team, that yeah wasn't effective at all in the attack, but how is it Mourinho's fault that we have 20 shots during a match with 6 on goal as we did a few times.

I was blaming managers just yesterday and I think there were flaws in Mourinho's first season, but I think we also have a chronic problem in the attack. It seems like Hazard created tons of chances (towards the end of the season he didn't create as much as the middle of it), so while Mourinho should drill more attacking plays, our problem was mainly players not putting as much heart against small sides as they did against big sides. I cursed those matches where we seemed uninterested, lacking commitment from players who just didn't put a lot of effort because it was Stoke or Sunderland....

On Oscar, I'm not sure Mourinho has the same opinion as most here (I stand somewhere in the between) that his #10 should be the most creative while lacking work rate (and let's be real, nobody has energy to excel in both because it's demanding physically, also your brain can't be reset every 30 seconds). Unless he's changed his ideas from last season, he wouldn't have let go of Mata if he was expecting his #10 to be the same most of you expect. So while I read all those endless posts about how creative Oscar should be, I'm not sure Mourinho wants much more from him. I'm positive he wants him better than he was from january-may because he was terrible, but I think people are deluding themselves dreaming of having a new Mata playing under Mourinho... I want Oscar to improve offensively (and even in general), but I don't dream of him becoming the #10 you guys dream of and honestly, I don't think Mourinho does either. Mourinho's counter-attack teams - even with Özil - attack much more from the flanks rather than the middle. I think Mourinho values a lot the amount of tackles Oscar gets in the attacking half, which helps a lot a counter-attack team. Which doesn't justify or even entitles Oscar to play as bad as he has lately.

I just think there's an expectation around here that probably doesn't have much space in Mourinho's mind. He wants Oscar to play better in general - has said he had issues the last few months, but seeing how Oscar was his golden boy in the first months of the season - when Oscar was in general playing much better, but wasn't as creative as some want him to be, I think Mourinho wants him to play like those 3-4 months for a whole season. I'd like some slight improvement in his creativity from those initial months.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

On Oscar, I'm not sure Mourinho has the same opinion as most here (I stand somewhere in the between) that his #10 should be the most creative while lacking work rate (and let's be real, nobody has energy to excel in both because it's demanding physically, also your brain can't be reset every 30 seconds). Unless he's changed his ideas from last season, he wouldn't have let go of Mata if he was expecting his #10 to be the same most of you expect. So while I read all those endless posts about how creative Oscar should be, I'm not sure Mourinho wants much more from him. I'm positive he wants him better than he was from january-may because he was terrible, but I think people are deluding themselves dreaming of having a new Mata playing under Mourinho... I want Oscar to improve offensively (and even in general), but I don't dream of him becoming the #10 you guys dream of and honestly, I don't think Mourinho does either. Mourinho's counter-attack teams - even with Özil - attack much more from the flanks rather than the middle. I think Mourinho values a lot the amount of tackles Oscar gets in the attacking half, which helps a lot a counter-attack team. Which doesn't justify or even entitles Oscar to play as bad as he has lately.

It still remains to be seen how Mourinho is going to use Fabregas. If he is going to use him as a number 10, then I fear Oscar doesn't have much of a chance of displacing him. Also, Oscar is not going to be played on the right wing after Mourinho's criticism of how Benitez used him. Even if we play a 4-3-3, Oscar is not going to play in a deeper role. He's never played there and Mourinho is not going to play him in an alien position just to accommodate him. If we maintain the 4-2-3-1, Fabregas will most likely not play in the pivot as his creative impact will be limited there and he hasn't played there since 2009. Plus I don't see Mourinho dropping Ramires from the team. Oscar's position in the team might come under very serious threat next season.

[iseah100 5,612]

OSCAR SHOULD PLAY NEXT TO MATIC!!!

Why can't he be box-to-box? He's small, but strong. At least try it. Unless he doesn't want to.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

OSCAR SHOULD PLAY NEXT TO MATIC!!!

Why can't he be box-to-box? He's small, but strong. At least try it. Unless he doesn't want to.

Actually, Oscar is weak physically. Don't be deceived by all the tackles he averages per game. He gets brushed off the ball far too easily and he lacks the ability to protect the ball from the opposition like Mata used to do, so he can't compensate with that. He can't play in the pivot because he has never played there in his career.