Oscar

[Barbara 15,149]

sure my lady... whatever u say!!! all i am saying is i am SHOCKED that he does not start!!! truly shocked!!! i mean i could not have ever predicted oscar not starting today!!!

ps - i read he had a virus as well as did his ankle in training... ooohhhh interesting!!!

you came here to brag to have a point, but didn't stop to think that it was weird for him not to be involved in the match at all. Anyone with a little bit of brains would have thought something happened as why else wouldn't he even be in the bench?

But no, you had to be the smart ass you somehow think you are, and posted just after someone posted the report. You were so eager to be proved right, that you didn't even try to get your facts straight... we don't know who would have started, we have City in nearly a month from now, come back then with your gaudy theories, we'll be eager to read it.

I even said in this very thread, in an answer to you it doesn't surprise me if Mourinho changes the system when playing bigger teams and Oscar is the sacrificed part. It doesn't take too much of brains to understand if we play defensively we need pace in the counter and that's not something Oscar can offer while all other options are very pacey (Schurrle, Hazard, Willian, Salah and Ramires). So it doesn't come to a surprise that Oscar is benched in matches we'll mostly defend and will aim to counter. I mean, it can't be that hard to comprehend, can it?

[The only place to be 11,313]

Anyone with a little bit of brains

Think I've found the problem.

[didierforever 7,349]

you came here to brag to have a point, but didn't stop to think that it was weird for him not to be involved in the match at all. Anyone with a little bit of brains would have thought something happened as why else wouldn't he even be in the bench?

But no, you had to be the smart ass you somehow think you are, and posted just after someone posted the report. You were so eager to be proved right, that you didn't even try to get your facts straight... we don't know who would have started, we have City in nearly a month from now, come back then with your gaudy theories, we'll be eager to read it.

I even said in this very thread, in an answer to you it doesn't surprise me if Mourinho changes the system when playing bigger teams and Oscar is the sacrificed part. It doesn't take too much of brains to understand if we play defensively we need pace in the counter and that's not something Oscar can offer while all other options are very pacey (Schurrle, Hazard, Willian, Salah and Ramires). So it doesn't come to a surprise that Oscar is benched in matches we'll mostly defend and will aim to counter. I mean, it can't be that hard to comprehend, can it?

i cant be arsed to answer to this when we are 2-0 up!!!

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Definitely missed today somewhere in the middle. Hopefully recovers soon.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Definitely missed today somewhere in the middle. Hopefully recovers soon.

Without him on the pitch it was far too easy for Everton to isolate Fabregas and we lost any distribution going forward because all we had in the first half was Ramires, and Matic was off-form today.

I think we missed him big-style today.

[Myself 793]

This match.. this is why Oscar is so important to us.

[hjperdeath 2,226]

Wait for the " But Willian took part in the Olympics" to start...

[Joker10 946]

Without him on the pitch it was far too easy for Everton to isolate Fabregas and we lost any distribution going forward because all we had in the first half was Ramires, and Matic was off-form today.

I think we missed him big-style today.

Yep Everton absloutely controlled the tempo and midfield in this game, Oscar distribution ability and droping back in our build up was seriously missed.

[Barbara 15,149]

And to make his absence worse, none of the our midfielders had a good day in the office when pressing, defending and marking.

Yes, they had assists and scored, but they were also poor. I don't know how much of their poor performance is because Oscar wasn't there to provide stability and how much it was just them being bad.

I'll check their passing stats and defensive stats, but sometimes they don't tell the whole story and the starting trio were awfully weak without the possession and even worse trying to recover it. So Oscar was missed helping to dictate the tempo and hold the ball in possession and even more missed harassing the opposition. In both matches this season many times we saw Oscar doubling when someone else was tacking the opposition. So not only he has his own tackles stats, but he supports his teammates tackling and pressing, helping their tackling stats as well.

So we either drill those three that played today better or we play with those three, plus Oscar for Willian (but I'd rather Schurrle in the team tbh)

[CHOULO19 24,332]

Whos managing Talk Chelsea twitter account? I've read that story about the virus there.

TalkChelsea @TalkChelsea · 36m

Clarification: Oscar is out with a stomach virus according to Chelsea TV. #CFC

Chelsea TV first said virus then corrected it when Jose said it was an ankle injury in the prematch interview. I corrected it in Twitter feed as well.

[Rom2013 446]

This match.. this is why Oscar is so important to us.

Don't really understand why. In 2 minutes we were winning 2-0. Ater that we had to defend and did it well. In the first time Everton made something they scored. We were defending well, and the first goal it's absolutely normal and has nothing to do with the work of Fabregas. or any central midfielder.

The third one is a set piece, again no responsability for the center midfielders and Oscar would do nothing in there.

The only goal that was really poor defending as a whole was the second one. We scored 6.

The team played exactly the way we should play a game like this, after the 2-0 shut the game and we did it. They had a lot of luck in the 1-2 and the 3-4. They did nothing special to score 3 goals in this game, and 2 of the 3 goals conceded were individual errors more than the team defending badly.

By the way, this is a game against Everton at their stadium, when they are losing 0-2 in the second minute, it would be expected a reaction from Everton in the 90 minutes they had to react.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Don't really understand why. In 2 minutes we were winning 2-0. Ater that we had to defend and did it well. In the first time Everton made something they scored. We were defending well, and the first goal it's absolutely normal and has nothing to do with the work of Fabregas. or any central midfielder.

The third one is a set piece, again no responsability for the center midfielders and Oscar would do nothing in there.

The only goal that was really poor defending as a whole was the second one. We scored 6.

The team played exactly the way we should play a game like this, after the 2-0 shut the game and we did it. They had a lot of luck in the 1-2 and the 3-4. They did nothing special to score 3 goals in this game, and 2 of the 3 goals conceded were individual errors more than the team defending badly.

By the way, this is a game against Everton at their stadium, when they are losing 0-2 in the second minute, it would be expected a reaction from Everton in the 90 minutes they had to react.

We rarely had control of that midfield from the moment we scored until the moment Everton pushed forward and the game became disjointed. Fabregas was our only creative outlet and that meant Everton could put pressure on him and leave Ramires to it.

[Tomo 21,733]

Without him on the pitch it was far too easy for Everton to isolate Fabregas and we lost any distribution going forward because all we had in the first half was Ramires, and Matic was off-form today.

I think we missed him big-style today.

True, which begs the question, could Cesc be the one sacrificed in big games in future?

[Muzchap 8,966]

True, which begs the question, could Cesc be the one sacrificed in big games in future?

With the through ball that started the scoring - unlikely

Willian, Matic, Ramires and Fab need to spend time together to sort things out - it was the first time Oscar was missing - so I expect some problems.

Fabregas is a real essential starter for us and he is as nailed on as Costa starting IMHO - sure he can do some silly things, but his passing vision and ability to increase tempo is second to none in the team.

[Daniel1980 1,425]

True, which begs the question, could Cesc be the one sacrificed in big games in future?

I don't think any player should be untouchable, but it's unlikely unless he has a drop in form. He's the only player in the team that regularly makes defence-splitting passes. Yesterday he created 2 clear-cut chances for Costa with through balls, nearly created another chance for Eden if Howard didn't get the ball outside the box. Even when Cesc is isolated, he's more effective than most players.

That said, no player should be untouchable, including Cesc and Eden.

[The only place to be 11,313]

True, which begs the question, could Cesc be the one sacrificed in big games in future?

I've thought this before. I actually was close to suggesting he could be dropped for the Everton game and we could've gone with Ramires, Matic and Oscar or even Willian. We were far too loose in midfield on Saturday and Everton's midfield dominated our's.

That is the great thing about our squad though. We're hugely versatile.

[Jase 43,479]

True, which begs the question, could Cesc be the one sacrificed in big games in future?

Maybe. Maybe not. The fact that Mourinho kept him on the pitch even though Everton constantly found gaps and spaces in our midfield rather than replace him with Mikel to tighten things up showed how much confidence he has in him. That being said, that midfield organization and defensive discipline certainly needs to be sorted out. We do not want to be as messy as that when we head to the Etihad this month. Would get torn apart by an even better side than Everton.

[ZOS 580]

Chelsea's success this season will depend on how well the cesc-matic-oscar midfield works against the majority of our PL opponents (that includes MUFC ) as much as anything else. We'll need a fit, hungry and consistent Oscar