Oscar

[Hutcho 8,443]

We were much more solid the latter half of the season than under AVB. Also with these great signings, oscar or no oscar, i think we can all agree the lineup we will put out will have greater stength in attack, as well as torres seemingly being in better goalscoring shape. And even if that is not truly the case he is gonna be better than last season. All this should mean we should have a greater control and possession of the ball. And a great thing about having the ball is with the exception of weird OG's they cant score. Therefore the age old cliche of Attack is the best form of defence is actually relevant. And i know that extra attackers leave us vunerable on the counter attack, however it is not extra attackers we will have but just better alterantives from the likes of Malouda and Kalou and our defence will still be there.

Cech

Ivan Terry Cahill Cole.

Theres not too many better defences in the prem.

[Term-X 7,891]

Listen, this is not £25m, its £19,8, since that 25 is not english pounds, but euros.

There is no winger crisis, we dont need wingers like Robben and Rybery to win things, and its not true we dont have wingers, since we have Marko Marin and Ramires.

We still are in the beginning of the transfer window, buying Oscar doesnt mean we won buy a winger to solve the "winger crisis".

If you look back at the post.. I was using last season as an example. 'Had' a winger crisis, not 'have', so you've misinterpreted my post.

[Term-X 7,891]

Also, I wasn't referring to euros, merely quoting the daily mail article, in which they claim the fee is £25m (£!)..

http://www.dailymail...ernacional.html

[Hutcho 8,443]

Wikipedia is funny. I assume someone else has posted this though i only skimmed through the first 10 pages.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oscar_dos_Santos_Emboaba_Junior

So unless wikipedia have inside sources.... , more bullshit.

[Sheva. 5,373]

It really shocks me that people have already forgotten where we had our real problems the last 2 seasons.

One of our main problems was creativity. Even last season with the addition of Mata we still struggled in games he was marked out or didn't play well.

Now we've added 2 very creative players in Hazard and Marin, and also hopefully Oscar who can do his creating from a deeper midfield role.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

I wasn't necessarily saying we should or are going to play like Barca but was more trying to point out that under AVB our system was a mess when playing with the high line defence. I agree it will take time for these young prospects to develop and gel together but with the experience already in the squad (Champions Of Europe) the chemistry will hopefully come good sooner rather than later. You say we only have technically gifted smaller players? So what of Torres, Lukaku, KDB and Sturridge... these are technically gifted AND strong players. I think maybe we could do with bringing in Moses to bolster the strength of our attack but i really don't believe that this tactile powerhouse attacking style is so essential and even if it is, it's not like we don't have three strong strikers already! With two strong midfielders sitting deep say Mikel and Lampard then what is wrong with three nimble, agile and gifted players in front of them to work magic for a strong striker like Torres?

So far Hazard is talent. Oscar is talent. Marin is talent. Kdb is talent. Lukaku is talent. Torres is out of form striker. And I dont think Moses, another talent will give us anything more chances to compete for PL trophy. Someone who is a bit older is necessary. After all this problems with young players, we will now depend only on them? I know what you mean, but we should have some backup plan, we cant only depend on technical play, but there should be one player that can go past few defenders on his own, using his speed, strenght. And that player is Hulk. With Oscar and Hulk I wont complain a bit. Even that will cost us so much money...

[The Big Drog 1,110]

This exact same thing happened last summer, we had a winger crisis, yet signed Lukaku for £18m. Regardless of the 'investment', he was not a necessity, we left our priority signings until the last hours of the window. Oscar isn't a natural winger and he faces stiff competition for the number 10 role. This is £25m that 'should' be going towards the Hulk transfer fee and a right back.

Prioritisation..

We've signed Marko Marin, a winger. We have Kevin De Bruyne, somebody who can play on the wing. The signing of Oscar would mean that Mata and Hazard could be played in wider positions. I think its naive to assume that we will play with set wingers like Man Utd do, Hazard, Mata and Oscar would all be given the freedom to roam. I also dont see why signing Oscar would mean we wouldn't be signing a right back.

[bababoom 4,478]

Wikipedia is funny. I assume someone else has posted this though i only skimmed through the first 10 pages.

http://en.wikipedia...._Emboaba_Junior

So unless wikipedia have inside sources.... , more bullshit.

Anyone can edit Wikipedia, it's not reliable whatsoever.

[Henrique 9,133]

Also, I wasn't referring to euros, merely quoting the daily mail article, in which they claim the fee is £25m (£!)..

http://www.dailymail...ernacional.html

Oscar's agent himself told brazilian press it was 25m euros. As you said, you were quoting a daily mail article...

[Santiago. 1,500]

So what will be our starting 11 be then?

[Amblève. 4,995]

One of our main problems was creativity. Even last season with the addition of Mata we still struggled in games he was marked out or didn't play well.

Now we've added 2 very creative players in Hazard and Marin, and also hopefully Oscar who can do his creating from a deeper midfield role.

Our main problem the last season was that we missed a "boss" in the midfield who dictates our tempo etc. I don't see how we have solved this problem so far. Hazard and Marin will be playing on the wings, Mata isn't defensive enough to be Mikel's partner next to him and Oscar hasn't shown yet that he's competitive in a European league. We rather should go after the likes of Moutinho who are experienced enough to be the missing part in our team.

[Shane 2,275]

So what will be our starting 11 be then?

Ask that at the end of the transfer window.

[bababoom 4,478]

So what will be our starting 11 be then?

Haha you really want people to post their Fifa fantasy starting line up?

Ok, i'll give it a go...

Mikel-Lampard

(Oscar------------------Mata--------------Hazard

Hazard-----------------Oscar---------------Mata ) ----------------> any of them could change position e.g Mata in the middle, oscar on the right etc

Torres

We may try and change Oscar into a deep lying playmaker, it's not that odd to see a Brazilian change positions in the EPL for example Lucas at liverpool, he used to be a CAM now he's a DM, Anderson at Man united, used to be a CAM, RW now a CM... so who actually knows.

Also i promise not to do a fantasy starting eleven again.

[Term-X 7,891]

We've signed Marko Marin, a winger. We have Kevin De Bruyne, somebody who can play on the wing. The signing of Oscar would mean that Mata and Hazard could be played in wider positions. I think its naive to assume that we will play with set wingers like Man Utd do, Hazard, Mata and Oscar would all be given the freedom to roam. I also dont see why signing Oscar would mean we wouldn't be signing a right back.

De Bruyne won't play a major role in the upcoming season, Marin was signed as a squad player, so let's not refer to him as if he's going to be the first name on the team sheet. Even under the assumption RDM won’t play with set wingers, we still need natural wide men, and then there’s the argument of physicality, having all these similar small technical players gives us little to no balance/dimension. With the Hulk deal in the balance it's somewhat of a mindfuck, that we're supposedly going to splash out on another number 10.

[CHOULO19 24,332]

I agree with TX. This signing is not by any means necessary since we have more pressing needs. I'd opt against it especially for 25m